Foreign worker
Until the 1970s, more than four million migrant workers and their families thus came to Germany, mainly from the Mediterranean countries of Italy, Greece, the former Yugoslavia and Turkey.
Their destinations include Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia.
A 2020 Greenpeace investigation found significant evidence for the abuse of foreign laborers in the Taiwanese distant water fishing industry.
This demand was met by foreign workers, primarily those from the Arab states, with a later shift to those from Asia-Pacific countries.
[21] A rise in the standards of living for citizens of western Asian countries also created a demand for domestic workers in the home.
In 2001, $72.3 billion was returned as remittances to the countries of origin of foreign workers, equivalent to 1.3% of the world GDP.
[23] In detailed studies of Pakistani migrants to the West Asia in the early 1980s, the average foreign worker was 25–40 years old.
[23] Domestic work is the single most important category of employment among women migrants to the Arab States of the Persian Gulf and Lebanon and Jordan.
Domestic workers perform an array of work in the home: cleaning, cooking, child care, and eldercare.
Similar to other GCC countries, remittance payments from Saudi Arabia rose during the oil boom years of the 1970s and early 1980s but declined in the mid-1980s.
As oil prices fell, budget deficits mounted, and most governments of GCC countries put limits on hiring foreign workers.
Weaknesses in the financial sector and government administration impose substantial transaction costs on migrant workers who send them.
Although difficult to estimate, costs consist of salaries and the increased spending required to expand educational and health services, housing, roads, communications, and other infrastructure to accommodate the basic needs of the newcomers.
[22] The main concerns of developed countries regarding immigration centres are: (1) the local job seekers' fear of competition from migrant workers, (2) the fiscal burden that may result on native taxpayers for providing health and social services to migrants, (3) fears of erosion of cultural identity and problems of assimilation of immigrants, and (4) national security.
In host countries, expatriate labour is treated with prejudice despite government attempts to eradicate malpractice and exploitation of workers.
Recruiters charge high fees to prospective employees to obtain employment visas, averaging between $2,000 and $2,500 in such countries as Bangladesh and India.
In Saudi Arabia, foreign workers must have employment contracts written in Arabic and have them signed by the sponsor and themselves to be issued a work permit.
[26] Dependence on the sponsor (kafeel) naturally creates room for violations of the rights of foreign workers.
This bondage encourages the practice of international labour migration as women in situations of poverty can find jobs overseas and pay off their debts through work.
[26] When a two-year work period is over, or with a job loss, workers must find another employer willing to sponsor them or return to their nation of origin within a short time.
Foreign workers have become the primary, dominant labour force in most sectors of the economy and the government bureaucracy.
[21] In 2005, low-paid Asian workers staged protests, some violent, in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar for not receiving salaries on time.
Such nations as Indonesia have noted the maltreatment of women in the GCC states, with the government calling for an end to the sending of housemaids altogether.
[20] In GCC countries, a chief concern with foreign domestic workers in childcare without the desired emphasis on Islamic and Arabic values.
A report published by human rights organizations in 2022 suggested up to 10,000 migrant workers die annually in the West Asia.
Switzerland 0.53%, France 0.65%, Spain 0.88%, Italy 1.08%, United Kingdom 1.46%, Germany 1.81% (until 1990 former territory of the FRG) were countries where more than 0.5% of employees were not citizens.
