Nicholas Kristof’s column in today’s New York Times touches on another effect of the global recession: as unemployment rates in the developed world rise, jobless migrant workers are unable to send money to their families back home. The result is growing poverty, homelessness and hunger in the the third world, and enormous strain on organizations trying to meet basic human needs. The Wall Street Journal reports that migrant workers’ remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are down for the first time since 2000. In the Philippines economists expect the flow of remittances from migrant workers to contract by as much as $100 million this year. And, amid fears of massive social instability caused by loss of remissions from migrant workers, the government of Bangladesh is urging the Malaysian government to reverse it’s decision to revoke 55,000 Bangladeshi migrants’ visas.

In fact, the economic crisis is hitting migrants and their families especially hard. Within China, where rural Chinese migrants have fueled the development of major Chinese cities, more than 23 million Chinese migrants are now unemployed. Meanwhile, unemployed migrant workers are facing tough choices: return home, move to other areas to wait out the recession, or remain in foreign countries where they are more and more unwelcome and where conditions are becoming increasingly hostile. And even those choices are more limited now: the global recession is leading some counties to restrict immigration, there are fewer and fewer even relatively healthy economies to migrate to, and returning migrant workers are swelling the numbers of poor and unemployed at home.

Arguing that migrants are “likely to be especially vulnerable to abuse and attacks when jobs become more scarce”, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, is urging governments to include provisions to protect migrant workers in their economic stimulus packages. According to Pillay, a former High Court judge from South Africa, where more than 60 people were killed in a blacklash against foreign workers triggered by high unemployment, “Protection of the rights of migrants in terms of their working and living conditions, and in the event of loss of employment, should be integrated in responses to the crises. Crucially, no efforts should be spared to protect migrants from discrimination and xenophobia.”

Wondering how to help?

• For the next three days, you can be part of drafting a communique telling the G20 nations what you think their most important priorities for economic recovery should be. Make sure that dignity and safety for migrant workers is part of the program by adding your ideas here.

• Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have links and related actions for protection of migrant workers.

• You can contribute to the efforts of organizations like the World Food Program, Feed The Children, Oxfam, Care and Mercy Corps, that are trying to provide a safety net for those who are hardest hit by the crisis.

• Finally, don’t forget about Free Rice. It’s free, it’ll make you smarter and it helps feed hungry people all at the same time.

Tags:   economic crisis · migrant labor · migrant workers · Poverty · remissions