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Hyderabad: An 11-member Telangana delegation, including MLAs and subject experts, will travel to the Philippines from August 17 to 21 to study that country’s migration and labour policies, with an eye on adapting similar protections for the state’s large workforce employed across West Asia.

The visit will focus on the Philippines’ welfare programmes, institutional systems and best practices for protecting migrant workers in the Gulf, as well as its policies on their return and reintegration once they come home, NRI Advisory Committee (NRIAC) member Swadesh Karpakpandla told The Hindu. 

Inputs gathered during the trip are meant to feed into a proposed Telangana Gulf NRI policy and a dedicated welfare board for these workers, he added.

Visits to Manila institutions planned

The delegation’s schedule includes meetings with several experts and officials, along with visits to the Indian Embassy in Manila, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and the Department of Migrant Workers. It will also be briefed by representatives of the Migrant Forum in Asia and the Building and Wood Workers’ International on issues facing migrant labour more broadly.

NRIAC vice-chairman M Bheem Reddy told The Hindu that the Philippines’ approach stood out for its institutional depth. “Philippines has very strong migration policies,” he said, pointing to the country’s labour attaches, welfare officers and dedicated arrangements within its foreign missions across the Gulf.

“Their embassies are quite strong there,” he told The Hindu, describing the Philippines’ migration-driven policy framework as among the best in the world.

Reddy also highlighted the country’s pre-departure orientation programmes and its skilling and upskilling schemes, telling The Hindu that bilateral agreements with Gulf nations mattered because they gave the Philippine government direct leverage to negotiate better wages for its workers abroad.

Even with the ongoing conflict in West Asia involving Israel, the US and Iran, and its fallout across Arab countries, Reddy said there remained scope for skilled worker migration to the region. He pointed to Saudi Arabia‘s confirmation as host of the 2034 FIFA World Cup as a development likely to open up a larger pool of opportunities for skilled workers in the coming years.