Ss41-03 Epidemiology of Migrant Workers’ Occupational Health: A Perspective From Migrant Workers in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Asia-Pacific region consists of several of the world’s largest workforces that are major sources of both internal (domestic) and international migrant workers. Internal migrants themselves are a significant worker population in the region, especially in India and China. An International Organization for Migration review of global data sources on occupational fatalities reported that migrants, who constitute most national labour forces in the Gulf region of West Asia, suffer a majority of workplace fatalities. Existing government data showed that approximately 16 Indian workers died each day on average in the Gulf region between 2014 and 2019, and two Nepali workers abroad died each day on average every year since 2008. Over 37,000 bodies of Bangladeshi workers have been repatriated back home since 2000. An analysis of over 40,000 occupationally injured migrant construction workers of Chinese nationality in Korea identified that policies on their prohibition in changing workplaces was a risk factor for the significantly higher occupational fatalities. Australia is a major high income host country in the Asia-Pacific region for migrant workers but has sparse epidemiological studies on workplace fatalities or injury and illness among its diverse migrant workforce. Global labour shortages are making unprecedented demand for workers from low-income countries to fill low skilled, precarious jobs in higher income countries. This crisis should be an impetus for government agencies and researchers in host countries to give much needed attention to the health and safety of migrant workers and ensure that it is not acceptable to exploit vulnerable workers because they do not ‘belong’.