ABSTRACT
Gan’s situation is assessed in relation to the 1975 and 1990 ILO Migrant Workers Conventions (MWC). Article 12(g) of the 1975 MWC provides for equal treatment in working conditions for migrants. Article 25(a) of the 1990 MWC provides for equality of treatment in relation to health and article 28 requires access to medical care and safety in working conditions. Gan provides a personal insight into his experience as an international labour migrant in Saudi Arabia and the UK. Gan had a work accident on a construction site which eventually prevented him from working and thus stopped him from sending remittances to his family. Gan’s migrant premium is represented by the burden of ill health, the cost of a private operation in Thailand and its inability to correct his longstanding pain, the initial ignorance of UK doctors of the severity of his health needs, total loss of income and savings and reducing remittances to his family in Thailand. The chapter takes the form of an interview with Gan, who generously shares his experiences of his migrant premium. Gan does all he can to fight against his migrant premium by trying to find a way to work despite the pain. However, the migrant premium prevents him from working, something which was – and continues to be – a strong part of his identity. The chapter suggests that one of the policy propositions for the Global Compact should be an understanding of the long-term consequences and impact of discriminatory working conditions for the health of international labour migrants.
