“I am a student of social work. I have been enriched by the capacity building workshop. Interaction with academicians, high court lawyer, social activists, police officer and field workers helped me to understand violence, discrimination, confinement, wage theft, accident, and at times death, endured by the migrant workers as day to day scenarios. I was guided on what legal help I could provide to the victims and how social media can be used to reach out to the migrants”, expressed Ms. Anjali, a student participant.
Mr. Hemanth of Thamate organization stated, “We use many terms interchangeably in our field work but differences between the terms were not clear to me earlier but from this workshop I got clarity on various terms. Now I know a refugee is different from an asylum seeker and both these terms are different from interstate migrant worker”.
Ms. Rajani a field animator from CITRA Hyderabad said, “I am a social worker and I have been dealing with police whenever I come across a migrant worker who is exploited under various circumstances. Interaction with Mr. Balaiah from Special Enforcement Bureau, Vijayawada, helped me understand how to intervene better with the police department. Advocate Prashant showed us how to understand an FIR, and understand bailable and non-bailable offences”.
Ms. Koushalya the Executive Director of VCDS from Vilupuram, Tamil Nadu said, “I came to know the history of migration worldwide. After three days of brainstorming, group discussions and exchange of ideas among the participants now I could feel the synergy. I am determined to move ahead in solidarity with all our partners towards our common goal of reaching out to the most vulnerable people of our country – the migrants.”
The MAIN Helpline number 18008912995 and MAIN Helpline Desk 9560436514 were introduced. The workshop provided a panoramic view of migration and the challenges faced by the migrants in India. Group discussions and creative presentations added value. The participants were encouraged to share their experiences and narrate concrete instances of their engagements, which helped the co-participants in gaining practical tips on accompanying the distress migrants.
From 20-22 October 2022, the Labour Migration Unit of Indian Social Institute, Bangalore organized a 3-day workshop on Capacity Building for those who work among migrants. There were 42 participants from 13 organizations from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Karnataka. A few young, interested individuals and social work students also participated in the workshop.
Rosey
Programme Facilitator
Labour Migration Unit