The Vatican Migrants and Refugees third bulletin deals with Migrant workers discrimination and inequalities. It states that the reality shows cases of unfair access to the labour market for migrant workers and differences in standards between local and migrant workers.

To be specific, the difficulties faced by migrants in receiving the same pay as nationals. Other problems or challenges are gender discrimination affecting women migrants, difficulties migrants have in getting jobs that correspond to their level of education. exploitation, adding to that the abusive working and living conditions. It is noted that the COVID crisis exacerbated the gap between local and migrant workers. The Migrants and Refugees Section recognises the need for establishing and strengthening effective frameworks that govern labour migration.

As a reminder of the Holy See’s stance, among other things the Holy Father, Pope Francis is quoted saying, “many migrants and vulnerable workers, together with their families, usually remain excluded from access to national programmes for health.” Noting also the Holy Father’s remarks on the “urgent need to find dignified ways out of irregular situations”

The M&R Section draws attention also to its 20 Action Points for the Global Compact, which presents tangible responses from the Church to the needs of migrants and
refugees. In reference to Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio and former Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, it says the Nuncio called for the adoption of “specific measures to protect and assist women migrant workers and to recognize their precious contribution to society.”

There are some “Good practices by Catholic actors” that are mentioned like; The Jesuit Service to Migrants (SJM) campaign #DerechosLaboralesParaTodasYTodos; The Congregation of the Good Shepherd Sisters’ Migrant Worker Outreach Program in Phuket, Thailand; The Hope Workers’ Centre of the Missionary Society of St. Columban seeking to strengthen its support of migrant workers in Taiwan.

The M&R Sections also touches on some reflections and statements from the ground. It mentions  The South African Council of Churches (SACC), which includes the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), which has called for a national dialogue for addressing xenophobic tendencies towards foreign nationals working in South Africa. Going to across to Asian continent it says more and more foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong have been fired or made homeless by their employers or even denied treatment after testing preliminarily positive for COVID-19.

The full bulletin can be found here

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