Episode 19: Seeking Justice For Wage Theft for migrant workers in Asia

The Migration & Diaspora Podcast

Hello and welcome again to the Migration & Diaspora Podcast, a show where we discuss everything migration. Today I'm speaking with a true powerhouse in the field of migrant rights in Asia, William Gois.

William is the current regional coordinator of Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), a regional network of grassroots organisations, trade unions, faith-based groups, migrants and their families and individual advocates in Asia working together for social justice for migrant workers and their families. represented in 26 countries across Asia and the Middle East. He is the former chairperson of the Global Coalition for Migration (GCM) and over the last twenty years, he has been at the forefront of international advocacy efforts engaging and influencing international and multilateral processes to promote rights-based migration and development policies, including co-chairing the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Civil Society Days (CSD) in 2011. In addition, William is a member of the steering committee of the Asia Democracy Network (ADN), the regional executive committee of the Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), and the World Bank-led Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD). At the regional level, William represents MFA in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue and the Colombo Process.

We're so lucky to have William here with us today to shed light on the issue of wage theft in Asia that many migrant workers have been exposed to. He gives us the lowdown on the scale and nature of the problem, where it's happening, and what its impacts are on the migrant workers and their families and communities of origin, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he walks us through the Justice For Wage Theft campaign he's been leading and the actions that he is calling on countries of origin and destination to take to both address the immediate needs of those afflicted by wage theft, as well as to build back better protections for migrant workers as we emerge from the pandemic. William is such a powerful advocate for migrant rights and it's an absolute pleasure to have him on the show, so without further ado, here's our conversation.

Useful links

• Justice For Wage Theft campaign
• Migrant Forum in Asia
• Twitter: @mfasia_
• Justice For Wage Theft and MFA's Facebook pages