The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission has initiated an investigation into the working conditions, alleged exploitation, violence, and other issues faced by Fijian citizens who seek employment abroad under various schemes. This investigation follows the tragic death of a 24-year-old Fijian female migrant worker who was in Australia as part of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Visa 403 scheme.
Pravesh Sharma, the Commission chair, emphasized the need to examine the circumstances surrounding the working conditions of the deceased migrant worker, which have been widely reported and may have played a role in her death. The Commission has reached out to the Ministry of Employment, Productivity & Industrial Relations for information related to the worker’s passing, as the Ministry is involved in facilitating the migrant worker scheme.
Sharma indicated that the investigation will involve coordination with relevant authorities in both Fiji and Australia. He noted that migrant workers worldwide often find themselves in vulnerable positions, working long hours for low pay, enduring unsafe working and living conditions, lacking access to healthcare and legal assistance, and facing potential physical and verbal abuse, as well as racial discrimination.
He asserted that these workers should have the right to organize and join labor unions. Sharma raised critical questions about who monitors the conditions of Pacific migrant workers abroad and whether there are mechanisms for them to report violence and exploitation.
“All migrant workers have the right to be free from torture of any kind, whether physical, mental, or emotional, and from cruel, inhumane, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment,” he stated. He also mentioned that Fiji ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in 2019, underlining the country’s commitment to safeguarding the rights of its migrant workers both domestically and internationally.