Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar inaugurated the Provincial Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) at Industrial Relations Institute to redress the grievances of migrants such as underpayment of wages, confiscation of passports, substandard working conditions and confinement in the workplace. Migrant Resource Centers in all the districts of the province will also be established simultaneously.
Department of Labour and Human Resource, Punjab established the Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in Lahore in 2015 with the support of the EU funded “South Asia Labour Migration Governance Project” (SALM) implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the EU funded project “Silk Routes Partnership for Migration” implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development. While MRCs already exist in other labour sending countries in South Asia, the centre in Lahore was the second to be established in Pakistan. The MRC provides a range of support services to (potential) migrants, migrant workers, and their families, including information, counseling, referral and pre-departure orientation. Head of Cooperation, European Union Delegation to Pakistan, Mr Bernard Francois, Mr Ottó Fábrik, representative of the ministry of interior of Hungary; Ms Tomoko Nishimoto, Assistant Director General/Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, International Labour Organization, Ms Ingrid Christensen, Country Director, ILO Country Office for Pakistan and Ms Sedef Dearing, Senior Regional Adviser, Silk Routes, ICMPD were also present. Punjab Labour and Human Resource Department, Labour Welfare Director General Saleem Hussain welcomed the participants and said his department was very much concerned about the protection and welfare of migrant workers and believe that “solution of problems of migrant workers lies in formulation of better governance of labour migration by both the labour sending and receiving countries and by providing more and more information to the migrant workers under one roof.” He also showed commitment to replicate the MRC model in other parts of the province.