The safety of the eight hostages in Iraq has now been secured,
but this is not the first time migrant workers from Pingtan County
in east China's Fujian
Province have attracted nationwide concern due to their
predicaments overseas.
The workers had applied for passports in order to travel to
Thailand, but they actually went to find jobs in Iraq. Five months
ago, another three Pingtan migrant workers had been repatriated for
working illegally in Israel.
Zhong Ruiming, director of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and
African Consular Affairs, said: "In recent years, although the
ministry has frequently warned people to avoid going to Iraq and
the Middle East due to safety considerations, many people still
risk danger to make money."
Since the outbreak of the Iraq War, the ministry has
issued?10 such warnings. However, adverts for people to work
overseas can still be seen in rural areas like Pingtan. They claim
that the reconstruction of Iraq has provided great business
opportunities.
According to Guo Tiemin, director of the Industrial Economics
Research Center at Fujian Normal University, most migrant workers
working in Iraq aren't fully aware of the situation there and are
only concerned with money.
Zhong said that, due to the turbulence in Iraq, job
opportunities there are actually very limited. The eight migrant
workers were seized as they were leaving Iraq precisely because
they had no work to do.
Guo said Fujian is the main source for overseas labor. The
hostage incident has exposed loopholes in management of overseas
labor from coastal areas, forcing the government to look for new
solutions.
Overseas labor services have developed rapidly since 1979. By
the end of April 2004, their turnover had reached US$28.07 billion
and over 3 million people had been sent abroad.
A considerable number of these people go overseas with the help
of fellow townspeople and acquaintances, and even through illegal
agencies. They are often confronted with unemployment, further
financial hardship and lack of a legal identity abroad.
Guo said farmers do not go for work in Iraq and other countries
on impulse but after careful consideration.
In the past 10 years, monthly income for migrant workers in
coastal areas has remained between 500 and 800 yuan (US$60 and
US$97), while advertisements promise a monthly income of
4,000-6,000 yuan (US$483-725) for work abroad.
Local governments should help increase farmers' awareness and
better utilize surplus rural labor resources, said Guo.
Guo said the situation for migrant workers will improve if
grassroots departments offer occupational training and education to
farmers and notify them in time of the latest information on
working abroad from the Foreign Ministry.
To prevent people from being cheated and left in dangerous
situations, local governments should shoulder greater
responsibility in busting illegal labor export agencies, said Jin
Canrong, professor from the School of International Studies, Renmin University of
China.
A number of illegal agencies have capitalized on farmers' desire
to make money?and, while 47,000 from Fujian had gone through
legitimate channels by the end of 2003, thousands more are thought
to have used illegal means.
Increasing school dropout rates in rural areas due to economic
burdens also played a part. One of the hostages, Wei Wu, is only
19. He couldn't find a job so left to seek manual work overseas,
according to his father Wei Shoulong.
In Guo Tiemin's view, "Migrant workers should have enjoyed
enough domestic development opportunities. However, insufficient
education and training, and lack of relevant employment counseling,
together with their poor professional quality, --?all result
in a waste of surplus rural labor forces."
This crisis has caught the attention of Party and state leaders,
as well as ordinary people. Rescue work has also been
time-consuming. Zhong Ruiming said that embassies and consulates
will spare no efforts rescuing any nationals in trouble.
However, in light of this crisis, which has consumed so much of
the country's resources, as well as the passions of friends and
relatives of the hostages, he urged migrant workers to think twice
of the risks before heading overseas.?
(China.org.cn?by Wang Qian, Yuan Fang and Wind
Gu,?January 25, 2005)