September 30, 2024

Kalayaan takes campaign message direct to parliamentarians: the time for change is now

 

Earlier this month our Policy Officer Avril visited Brighton and Liverpool to participate in the Liberal Democrats and Labour Party Conferences, talking to MPs, policy makers and experts about the changes we need to end migrant worker exploitation.

Conference season comes at an interesting time this year following the General Election and the summer riots. At Kalayaan, we have been reflecting about how we can play our part in standing against racism whilst managing risks to our staff, our clients and the community we serve.

As a small charity we felt it important that we attend and take our campaign message directly to parliamentarians. Unfortunately we were not in a position to bring members of our Campaign Group with us, but we hope to review this ahead of Conference next year.

First up, we attended Brighton on a gloriously sunny Monday. We heard from a number of Liberal Democrat MPs about being a constructive opposition. With this in mind, we spoke to MPs from across the UK about the importance of worker rights and how the trafficking and modern slavery mechanisms are a reactionary measure which fails to prevent labour law violations escalating. Avril spoke with her new MP in Kent and hopes to speak with him more in the coming weeks about working with his office more closely.

The following week we went to Liverpool for Labour’s Conference. We were joined on Sunday by The Voice of Domestic Workers, and a coach-load of their members. We gathered outside the main auditorium where MPs were meeting inside. Members from The Voice performed a dramatisation of workers being interviewed by the Home Office and lots of dance numbers including their own version of ‘I will survive’. The rain failed to dampen our spirits.

On Monday and Tuesday, Avril joined forces with Marissa Begonia and Mimi Jamalsco from The Voice attending fringe meetings and speaking to MPs about the role Labour played in 1998 when they introduced the original Overseas Domestic Worker visa. We also spoke of the exploitation of migrant workers in sectors with high rates of abuse and the need to look at systemic solutions to stop this from happening.

The Prime Minister addressed Conference on Tuesday, 24 September. Although we were pleased to hear him say, ‘the debate is not about the worth of migrants. That is toxic and we must move beyond it’, we know this new Government has work to do to make those words a reality. All migrants deserve to have a place to call home, fair and decent work conditions and to feel welcomed in their communities. Migrant domestic workers remain one of the most at-risk work populations whilst their six-month visa remains non-renewable, trapping them without options and redress. Until such time domestic workers have rights that keep them safe at work and able to challenge abuse, our work campaigning for change continues.

For more information about the campaign for worker rights, read our report 12 Years of Modern Slavery here .