IMPORTANT POINT
Government of Kerala has also issued an order G.O.(MS) No.7/2018/NORKA dated 2.11.2018 providing guidelines for appointment of Legal Consultants-About 14 such Consultants have been appointed to assist Non-Resident Keralites- Government of Kerala have also furnished the details of the schemes and assistance given to various areas-Steps have already been taken by the respective Governments to address the grievances of the Non-Resident Indians, and in particular, Non-Resident Indians (Keralites)- There are mechanisms for documenting and capturing all kinds of grievances of the repatriated Indians.

JUDGMENT :

Manikumar, J.

W.P.(C) No.13444 of 2020 is filed for the following reliefs:

"(a) Direct the respondents to establish a Transitional Justice Mechanism immediately for documenting and capturing all kinds of claims and grievances of repatriated Indian migrant workers for negotiating and availing legal remedy for their rights including reduced or non-payment of wages, denial of other entitlements and workplace discrimination etc in future and/or;

(b) Direct the respondents to immediately formulate a mechanism for documenting and capturing all kind of claims and grievances of Indian migrant workers, to be returned from countries of destinations, through concerned Indian Missions/Embassies, for negotiating and availing legal remedy for their rights including reduced or non-payment of wages, denial of other entitlements and workplace discrimination etc in future and/or;

(c) Direct the respondents to immediately introduce an effective technique for documenting and capturing all kind of claims and grievances of families of Indian migrant workers who are died in abroad during COVID-19 to raise their claims for compensation/insurance etc., in future."

2. Short facts leading to the filing of W.P.(C)No.13444 of 2020 are that, the present writ petition is filed in the nature of a Public Interest Litigation, by the petitioner-Lawyers Beyond Borders, an international network of legal experts interested in advocating for the rights of migrant workers. Indian migrants in destination countries are the worst affected group of workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the help of the Government's repatriation programme a large number of workers have already returned to the home land. The majority of those workers are returning empty-handed and are prone to debt-bondage.

3. Large numbers of employers at the destination countries are taking advantage of mass repatriation programmes to terminate and return workers who have not been paid their dues. Without due diligence to protect and fulfill the human rights and labour rights of repatriated migrant workers, states across the migration corridor become complex in overseeing procedures where millions of workers will be returning without their grievances being heard, nor seeing justice in their situation. This is a clear case of wage theft and it accounts for millions of dollars.

4. Wage theft has become a serious issue especially during Covid19 pandemic and a transitional justice mechanism need to be introduced immediately to address the grievances of repatriated workers. All the migrant workers, including those who may have become undocumented or are in irregular status, should have access to legal remedies for unfair treatment. It is important to document the claims and grievances of the Indian workers who come back during the period of pandemic. The documentation shall be done at both Indian missions abroad and upon return to the country through concerned ministries.

5. Hence, the petitioner urges the indulgence of this Court by directing the respondents to establish a Transitional Justice Mechanism immediately for documenting and capturing all kinds of claims and grievances of repatriated Indian migrant workers for negotiating and availing legal remedy for their rights, including reduced or non-payment of wages, denial of other entitlements and workplace discrimination etc., in future.

6. It is further contended that unfortunately, during COVID-19 mass repatriation, none of the Indian mechanisms abroad and within the country capture the grievances of returnee migrant workers who have not received dues and other compensations from employers.

7. The repatriation procedures have been undertaken hastily by countries of both origin and destination, without any proper redress mechanism. The civil and labour courts and other redressal mechanisms in the countries of destination have also been closed du