Migrant workers reject six-month entry ban

The Overseas Filipino Workers Association Migrante - Macau (Migrante Macau) is pressing for the revocation of the six-month entry ban in the imported labour law, which “discriminates against” non-resident labour and ‘violates their human rights”.
According to a press statement, the association urged the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) to scrap the provision that prohibits imported workers from returning to Macau for a six-month period after quitting a job.
While the association said they “welcome” DSAL director Shuen Ka Hung’s promise that the bureau will review the six-month entry ban, they insist that the restriction should no longer exist as “this is blatantly discriminatory and contravenes a number of international labour and human rights instruments”.
Chairperson of Migrante Macau, Catalina Yamat, said in the statement that the “fundamental flaw” in the entry ban is the “absence of a due process”, which “leads to the loss of jobs of non-resident workers and undermines their rights”.
In addition, no mechanism is in place for the “redress of grievances or arbitration”, as migrant workers can only appeal against the ban after it has already been decided by the DSAL and/or the Immigration Department, the association said.
“We cannot accept the statement made by [DSAL director] Shuen that workers can go to the DSAL for a reassessment on the ban.”
Meanwhile, Migrante Macau pointed out that laws should be able to protect the rights of all workers regardless they are locals or non-locals and also to ensure that they are all equal before the law.
Yet, the association criticised that the six-month ban is “arbitrary”, adding all imported workers are subject to the ban with “no exceptions, reassessment or reversal” when the contracts are terminated.
“This is practically... a violation of labour and human rights,” it added.
Migrante Macau quoted a case exposed by the Alliance of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Macau (PEMACU) that one of their members fell ill and was hospitalised for more than a month, and after returning to work she found out that she was banned to enter Macau for six months.
The restriction, according to the association, is only in favour of the employers.
The migrant workers’ association also stressed that the ban has breached “a number of international labour and human rights instruments”, and one of which is Article 20 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
The article states that “No migrant worker or member of his or her family shall be deprived of his or her authorization of residence or work permit or expelled merely on the ground of failure to fulfill an obligation arising out of a work contract unless fulfillment of that obligation constitutes a condition for such authorization or permit.”