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LABOUR MIGRATIONIN GHANA:
AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND
REINTEGRATION
Dr. Kennedy Atong Achakoma Deputy Head of Education & Training Department, TUC
Deputy Principal of the Ghana Labour College
Franklin Owusu Ansah Head of the Research and Policy Department of the
Health Service Workers Union of TUC
Phyllis AgyemangEastern Regional Secretary of TUC
A B B R E V I AT I O N S
ADHA
CEDAW
CMW
CPP
DAIA
ECOWAS
FES
GCIM
GIS
IML
IOM
MAFE
NGO
OHCHR
TUC
UK
UN
UN DESA
UNDP
UNESCO
UNITAR
Additional Duty Hour Allowance
Committee on the Elimination of DiscriminationAgainst Women
Committee on Migrant Workers
Convention People’s Party
Deprived Area Incentive Allowance
Economic Community of West African States
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Global Commission on International Migration
Ghana Immigration Service
International Migration Law
International Organisation for Migration
Migration Between Africa and Europe
Non-Governmental Organisation
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Trades Union Congress
United Kingdom
United Nations
United Nations Department Of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
United Nations Institute for Training and Research
List of tablesList of figures and boxes
About the AuthorsExecutive summary
CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.0 Introduction1.1 Objectives of the study1.2 Methodology
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW2.0 Introduction2.1 Labour migration2.2 Labour migration in Ghana2.3 Return migration2.4 Consequences of labour migration2.5 Governance of migration: Legal and institutional frame works2.6 The international labour organisation (ILO) 2.7 International organisation for migration (IOM)
CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY3.0 Introduction3.1 Profile of respondents3.2 Household income adequacy, access to social security and children education3.3 Households’ perspectives (views) on salaries, working and socio economic conditions in and outside the country3.4 Migration3.5 Emigration and remittances3.6 Return migration and reintegration3.7 Intentions for emigration and re-emigration3.8 Migration information seeking and knowledge of recruitment agencies
CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS4.0 Introduction4.1 Summary and conclutions4.2 Recommendations
REFERENCES / BIBLIOGRAPHY
ANNEXES
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C O N T E N T S
T A B L E S
Table 1.1 List of international labour conventions and
recommendations referred to in the ILO
multilateral framework on labour migration
Table 1.2 Distribution of sample households by region
Table 2.1 International migration statistics by nationality:
Departure
Table 2.2 Brain drain of health workers.1999-2004
Table 3.1 Geographical distribution of respondents by
region and locality
Table 3.2 Distribution of socio-demographic
characteristics of respondents
Table 3.3 Respondents level of education by sex, locality
and age group
Table 3.4 Respondent educational attainment by
employment/activity status
Table 3.5 Employment or activity status of respondents
by gender, age and locality
Table 3.6 Respondents household total monthly
incomeby gender, locality and employment
status
Table 3.7 Respondents access and subscription to social
security by sex and locality
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Table 3.8 Assessment of conditions of service for
workers in the country by sex and locality
Table 3.9 Type of inadequate/bad working conditions in
the country by gender and locality…
Table 3.10 Perception of the socio-economic development
of the country by gender and locality
Table 3.11 Respondents perception of some basic security
issues in industrialised countries
Table 3.12 Magnitude of migration to other countries by
sex and locality
Table 3.13 Emigrants destinations and mode of migration
Table 3.14 Reasons for respondents family members
migration
Table 3.15 Migration decisions and means or facilitation
of migration by sex and locality
Table 3.16 16 information about migrants stay abroad
Table 3.17 Information about migrants working and living
conditions abroad
Table 3.18 8 evaluation of migrants situation abroad
Table 3.19 Frequency of remitting by forms of remittance
Table 3.20 Main channels for remittance transfer used by
migrants
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Table 3.21 Intentions to return and reasons for return
Table 3.22 Return migration
Table 3.23 Situation of wages and working conditions in
host country before return
Table 3.24 Return migration and reintegration challenges
Table 3.25 Prospective migrants intended countries of
destination
Table 3.26 Amount of fees prospective migrants are
prepared to pay for recruitment services
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F I G U R E S & B O X E S
Figure 1: Agreement with assertion that income is enough
to secure livelihood of family by locality and sex
Figure 2: Types of schools respondents kids attend by sex
and locality
Figure 3: Respondents income sources for paying fees of
kids in private schools by sex and locality
Figure 4: Agreement to the assertion that salaries in the
country are adequate for workers(by locality and
sex)
Figure 5: Frequency of remmittance sending by migrants
to rural-urban households
Figure 6: Agreeement to the assertion that migrants will
return if better job would be found in Ghana
Figure 7: Kind of conditions returnees faced while working
abroad by frequency
Figure 8: Agreement to the assertion that returnees have
missed life in foreign country
Figure 9: Agreement to the assertion that migrants
returned on their own will
Figure 10: Frequency of prospects migrants’ intention never
to return even if good jobs are created in ghana
Box 1: Stories of Labour Migrants (Positiveand Negative
Experiences) in Ghana
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A N N E X E S
Annex 1.1
Annex 1.2
Annex 2.1
Annex 2.2
Annex 3.1
Annex 4
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Dr. Kennedy Atong Achakoma
Kennedy Atong Achakoma is presently the Deputy Head of Education
& Training Department, TUC as well as the Deputy Principal of the
Ghana Labour College. He has been with the trade union movement
for the past 10 years. He is also an adjunct Lecturer in Trade Union
Management; Labour Economics; Theories of Labour & Work
Organizations; and Employment, the Labour Market & Working
Conditions in Ghana at the Institute for Development Studies of the
University of Cape Coast. Achakoma is an Economist and holds a
PhD in Migration Studies from the University of Ghana.
He is a specialist in workers education and capacity building. He also
has expertise and interest in labour migration issues, active labour
market policies, how monetary policy measures affect capital market
growth and general development issues.
Franklin Owusu Ansah
Franklin Owusu Ansah (MA. LPG, MA. HRD, BA. Hons. Econs) is the
Head of the Research and Policy Department of the Health Service
Workers Union of TUC, Ghana for 10 years. He has been part of
number of campaigns both international and at the national level
on migrants and quality health care. He is a Writer, a Negotiator and
also an Industrial Relations practioner. He is also the contact person
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
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for the union for the Trade Union Ebola Response Strategy of PSI and
its affiliates. Franklin’s voice is often heard on the platform of the
Global Forum for Migration and Development and the UN High Level
Dialogue on Migration. He is a founding and a Board member of the
Pan African Network in Defense of Migrants Rights.
Phyllis Agyemang
Phyllis Agyemang is the current Eastern Regional Secretary of the
TUC. She joined the TUC in the year 2011 as an officer with the
International Affairs Department of the TUC and was later reassigned
in April 2013 to the Education and Training Department of the TUC.
Her interests are in the areas of labour migration, industrial relations
and collective bargaining. Phyllis holds a Post Graduate Certificate in
Labour Policy Studies from the University of Cape Coast.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
The migration of people, either within countries or across
international borders, dates back to the creation of mankind. Indeed,
the international migration of people has become a key part of the
globalizing world. There is an estimated 232 million migrant workers
currently around the globe.
Migration is linked to the world of work and the quest for decent
work opportunities. It is also a response to the widening global
inequalities, especially between developed and developing countries.
More than ever before, climate change, conflicts, demographic
shifts and income inequalities have inspired and will continue to
inspire people and their families to migrate in search of security and
employment. For migrant workers in particular, many move out of
genuine, free and informed choice, while others are compelled to
do so under environmental challenges, violence, poverty and lack of
decent work.
Migration today is not only driven by many complex factors, but
its scale, scope and trend has grown. The challenges migrants
faced have also become complex, either abroad or upon return.
For instance the traditional south–north migration is giving way to
south-south migration. There is also inadequate regular migration
opportunities and support systems, thus making many migrants to
resort to irregular channels and the use of exploitative recruitment
agencies. Countries and other stakeholders have to be become more
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
and more aware of the need to map out innovative strategies for
addressing migration issues at both source and host areas and the
overall governance of migration.
The core responsibility of every government, especially those in
developing countries including Ghana, is to ensure adequate
protection for their citizens especially migrants. This is because
majority of migrants are vulnerable and emanate from developing
countries. Recognizing the fact that, migration can be a positive factor
in development and poverty reduction, the FES-TUC migration report
focus on emigration, return migration and reintegration experiences,
situation and challenges of Ghanaians, using data collected in 2013
from 2,831 households across the 10 Regions of Ghana. The report
gave unprecedented insights into the experiences of emigrants
abroad as well as provides evidence of return and reintegration
challenges of migrants. It also highlights the lack of comprehensive
policy to guide and manage labour migration in Ghana. The report
also outlined specific recommendations for government, unions and
other stakeholders. The key messages of the report are summarized
below.
The most compelling reasons for most of the emigrants are for
employment and further studies abroad. This is in line with most
households’ perception that salaries and working conditions in
Ghana are not adequate as well as the fact that the socio-economic
development of the country is at risk (e.g inadequate incomes
and lack of social security). The report also finds that, the usual
destinations are countries in Europe and the USA with a few in other
African countries and Asia. Most of the migrants abroad were equally
challenged with high cost of living, hard work and bad conditions of
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
service. Despite the challenges faced, majority had indicated they are
better than before, have jobs are adequate with their educational
and professional background and in higher positions.
For return migrants, the issues of family reunion, retirement and jobs
were the driving forces for return. There was a general approval by
households that migrants will return if better jobs would be found in
Ghana. These tie in with the revelation that, before migrants return,
most had faced the problem of low wages and bad conditions
including lack of employment, verbal abuses at work among others.
Interestingly, most people expressed their intention to emigrate given
the opportunity with over 50 percent willing to migrate to other
African countries with strong economies.
There was also evidence of reintegration challenges at home as there
are integration challenges abroad, an indication that the protection
of migrants is a responsibility for both source and destination
governance. The major difficulties returnees confront had to do
with impediments in setting up own business, fully reintegrating
with family or community and difficulties at work places. This might
have in a way motivated respondents’ consideration to re-emigrate
or emigrate but, as indicated by the report, largely the prospect of
finding better job opportunities and appropriate course of study were
key with only a few ready to venture come what may. As would be
expected, prospective emigrants’ destinations are not any different
from the destinations of migrants abroad.
The issue of seeking information on regulations and use of recruitment
agencies to migrate was also examined in the report. Majority of the
prospective migrants have indicated they would seek information
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / FOREWORD
on regulations before migrating. Though, it may be a reflection of
the knowledge gap on legal processes, but it would be to avoid the
irregular migration and its risks. There is however a good knowledge
with regards to recruitment agencies in the country even though
most did not believe the agencies and their activities is regulated by
the state given the plethora of complaints by clients. High recruitment
fees, bad services and unfulfilled promises (including jobs that fall
short of workers’ qualifications).
These findings are presented as a contribution on the debate on the
situation and policies as well as what stakeholders in Ghana can do
to improve the protection of migrant workers so as to maximize the
development outcomes of migration. It is relevant to underline the
fact that the only way to ensure decent migration is to create the
right strategies and policies at home to ensure migration remains a
choice and not a necessity. Giving that migration is a multifaceted
issue, the special role of social dialogue and major actors in the
migration management and governance is key. The findings of the
report suggest that the governance of migration is not sustainable
without putting in place right policies and institutions.
In order to promote migration for development, it is our hope the
report recommendations will be guided by a comprehensive policy
and practical strategies by all.
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MIGRATION STUDY IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
1.0 Introduction The mobility of people dates back to the creation of human beings.
“Throughout human history migration has been a courageous
expression of the individual’s will to overcome adversity and to live a
better life” (UN, 2006, p. 5). Each year millions of women and men
leave their homes and cross national borders in search of greater
security for themselves and their families. While many migrants are
motivated by the search for higher wages and better opportunities as
well as responding to the demand for their skills abroad, many others
are forced to migrate because of famine, natural disasters, violent
conflicts, persecution or simply a lack of decent work in their home
country. The Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM)
describes the driving forces in international migration in terms of
“3Ds”: development, demography and democracy (GCIM, 2005).
Widening inequalities in income, wealth, human rights and security
across countries serve as both push and pull factors towards
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BACKGROUNDTO THE STUDY
CHAPTER ONE
migration. For instance, if the wage gap is too wide between
countries, people would be pushed to migrate from the low wage to
the high wage areas in search of better wages. Migration in search
of work has increasingly become a planned way of earning a living
for both women and men because of the lack of opportunities for
full employment, and the lack of decent work in many developing
countries. At the same time, the following act as strong pull factors:
the increase of skill-intensive economic sectors; increased demand
for skilled workers; reluctance of local workers to accept certain low-
skilled jobs; and population trends such as decrease in population
and the ageing population in major developed destination countries.
A growing number of nations are involved with migration as countries
of origin, destination or transit, or all three. The majority of migrants
move in search of employment, taking their families with them; it
is estimated that there are about 232 million international migrants
(UNPD, 2013) in the world. Almost half of international migrants
are women, most of which are independent migrants, rather than
being family members of migrants. The International Labour Office
estimates show that, economically active migrants will number about
105.4 million by 2010; these and family members accompanying them
will account for almost 90 per cent of total international migrants.
Only about 7–8 per cent of migrants are refugees or asylum seekers,
and some of these persons are employed.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) approaches migration
from a labour market and decent work point of view, within the
all-embracing supporting structure of its Decent Work for All
Agenda (ILO, 2007a). While international migration can be a positive
experience for migrant workers, many suffer poor working and living
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
conditions, including low wages, unsafe working environments, a
virtual absence of social protection, denial of freedom of association
and workers’ rights, discrimination and xenophobia1 (ibid). Migrant
integration policies in many destination countries are not favourable.
On the other hand, migrants also do not get the right information
before leaving their countries of origin and thus come in with wrong
expectations and hopes. Despite a real demand for workers, numerous
immigration barriers persist in destination countries. As a result, an
increasing number of migrants are now migrating through irregular
channels, which has understandably been a cause of concern for the
international community.
As large numbers of workers, particularly young people, migrate
to more developed countries where legal avenues for immigration
are limited, many fall prey to gangs of smugglers and traffickers of
human beings, leading to gross violations of human rights. Despite
international standards to protect migrants, their rights as workers
are too often undermined, especially if their status is irregular. The
ILO, as a UN-specialised agency on labour issues, has been dealing
with labour migration since its establishment in 1919. It is the only
UN agency with a constitutional mandate for the “protection of the
interests of workers when employed in countries other than their
own.” Since the 1930s, it has pioneered international conventions
to protect migrant workers and guide migration policy. Table 1.1
below shows the list of International Labour Conventions and
Recommendations referred to in the ILO multilateral framework
(multi-party systems) on Labour Migration.
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1 Refers to the strong fear or dislike of people from other countries.
Table 1.1: list of international labour conventions and recommendations referred to in the ILO multilateral framework on labour migration
Fundamental conventions Key characteristics
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to organise Convention,1948 (No. 87)
Migrants have the right to join or form trade unions.
Right to organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
Migrants have the right to bargain collectively
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Migrants have the right to work voluntarily
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
No migrant should be forced to work against his/her will
Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
Remuneration should be paid equally for both citizens and migrants doing the same job with the same qualification
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)
No discrimination at the work place ‘’for all’’— both migrants and citizens
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)
Migrants should not work below the minimum age
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
Minor migrants should not be engaged in the worst forms of child labour like, prostitution, mining zones and others
Migrant-specific instruments Key characteristics
Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97)
Migrants have right to work
Migration for Employment Recom-mendation (Revised), 1949 (No. 86)
Migrants should enjoy the same working conditions as citizens
Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143)
Migrants should have equal opportu-nities at the work place
Source: Compiled from ILO Relevant Conventions
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Generally, conventions are made to address specific challenges in
labour migration at particular points in time. Key among these is
the Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975
(No. 143). It provides the guideline for migrants to be given equal
opportunities at the workplace. As labour migration has evolved over
the years, there has been the need to modify old conventions or create
new ones. For instance, at the time the first two Conventions2 were
developed, women migrants were mostly found in the context of
family reunification. This is no longer the case: “Times have changed,
and today more and more women migrate, not to join their partners,
but in search of employment in places where they will be better paid
than in their home country” (ILO, 1999a, p. 244).
There is strong indication that labour is very mobile in many
developing countries, particularly in Africa (Arthur, 1991). The
migratory movement of population in Africa is very vibrant and has
many sides to it. The history of Africa has accounts of various forms of
movement across and within national boundaries promoted by trade,
warfare, pastoralism, slavery, and natural disasters among others
(ibid). West Africa is believed to be the only part of Sub-Saharan
Africa where migration numbers in relation to the total population
have been increasing over the past few decades (de Haas 2007).
In the early 1970s, Nigeria became a major migration receiving country
as a result of the oil boom. Several sectors of the Nigerian economy
were boosted by oil revenues and there was a great increase in the
need for both professionals and low-skilled workers (Yaro, 2005).
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2 C.97 and C.143
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Rising incomes of the urban middle class, mass public investments
and rapid industrialisation attracted a great number of West African
labour migrants (van Hear 1998). Professionals from English-speaking
countries such as Ghana flooded the Nigerian labour market.
New resource frontiers were opened up to increase cocoa production
in the middle belt and western regions of the country which saw free
flowing migration into the country and large in-country migration.
The scale of migration in recent years has greatly increased. In recent
times, movement across national borders within West Africa has
been helped by the ECOWAS Protocol on free movement of good
and services. These movements raise new issues, and eventually
have results, implications and challenges for development in the sub-
region.
In the spirit of pan-Africanism, the Ghanaian and Ivoirian Presidents
opened their borders to immigrants to work and stay (Anarfi &
Kwankye 2003). In Côte d’Ivoire, cocoa and coffee cultivation attracted
large numbers of farm labourers from neighbouring poor regions as
most indigenes sought jobs in urban areas and on plantations (Yaro,
n.d). Mining and cocoa production in Ghana continued to serve as an
attraction for migrants from as far as northern Nigeria.
Early after independence, the migration of labour to centres of
mineral, oil and industrial production became one of the most
important population features of West Africa and the continent as
a whole (ibid). The fairly successful economies of the Ghana-Côte
d’Ivoire migration pole attracted large numbers of internal labour
migrants as well as international migrants from countries such as
Togo and Nigeria (mainly to Ghana), Guinea (mainly to Côte d’Ivoire)
and Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali (to both) (Yaro, 2005).
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
In Ghana, as in other parts of Africa, migration is largely informal
and undocumented, making it impossible to have accurate figures
or data. Despite this lack of accurate data, the writings point to a
long history of movement of population in which migration played
a central role in the livelihood and progress plans of both rural and
urban populations. Ghana’s mining sector was probably the biggest
under British colonial rule in West Africa and offered a number of
opportunities for employment in which local people took little part.
For many decades, in a country where the number of people entering
far surpassed the number leaving, Ghana saw a reversal of migration
trends from the late 1960s with a decline in the economy, as well
as political instability and Ghana became a country of more people
emigrating than entering (Awumbila, et.al, 2008).
Since the last two decades however, new migration trends and effects
have emerged in Ghana with globalisation, shifts in the global political
economy, as well as from the economic and political stabilisation
of the country. These have brought about increasing variety and
complications not only in the country’s internal movement patterns
but also in international movements, thus making Ghana to, at the
same time experience internal migration as well as immigration,
emigration and transit migration both within and outside Africa (ibid).
For many emigrants or immigrants, returning home some time is a
possibility they look forward to and one that sustains them during
their migration period. Links with the home country, even if not
very strong, keep this hope alive. Generally, migrants have several
challenges to deal with - whether while they are away or upon
returning home. Despite this, some will return home and others will
not. While return migration is a major part of migratory pattern, our
knowledge of it is still low, especially in Ghana. This research project
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BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
seeks to document the ideas of Ghanaians on labour emigration
and their willingness and intention to emigrate. The research also
seeks to investigate the employment and working conditions which
emigrants experience with focus on their integration acceptance
abroad as well as when they return and reintegration acceptance
back into Ghanaian society. Also this report is expected to serve as a
basis for an action programme to be drawn to address any identified
challenges.
Chapter one gives the introductory background to the study, its goals,
reason for the study and systems of methods used. Chapter two looks
at write-ups and information concerning this subject, looking critically
at the ideas and definitions, risks and opportunities for emigrants
and return migrants, receiving and sending countries as well as the
governance of migration at national, regional and international level.
In Chapter three, we present the detailed examinations of findings.
The main findings are summarised in the conclusion in Chapter four.
Finally recommendations for official ways of doing things and actions
are provided in Chapter five.
1.1 Objectives of the studyOn the whole the goal of this research work is to document the views
of emigrants and their households and the experiences of returned
emigrants in Ghana. More specifically, the study focuses on the
following objectives:
(i) To explore the views of returned migrant workers and understand
the challenges they encounter in their field of work in and
outside Ghana.
(ii) To provide necessary information to enable government, trade
unions and other key stakeholders to fashion out effective
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
responses and policies to deal with the challenges migrant
workers face in their work and ensure they enjoy ‘DECENT
WORK.’
(iii) To making recommendations for involvement at various levels
(policy, trade unions and potential migrants).
1.2 Research methodology The Trades Union Congress (TUC) Ghana and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
(FES) have systematically followed developments and discussions on
migration issues at both national and international levels. The two
institutions have also participated and taken unplanned necessary
initiatives on migration. Given the lack of data on specific issues on
the subject, this joint research was carried out to form the basis for
policy and for concrete actions, especially by the two institutions.
The FES/TUC study is national in character and statistically
representative. Households were randomly selected from all the ten
regions in Ghana (see Table 1.2) and included in the survey if they
answered yes to the question, “Are there members of this household
who live or have lived and worked outside this country?” Hence, only
migrant-sending households were included. The data for this study
was collected and processed from June 2013 to December 2013.
Table 1.2: Distribution of sample households by region
UW UE Northern Volta BA ER Ashanti Central Western Gt.Accra
All
84 126 303 258 282 321 582 267 288 489 3000
In this research, two types of methods were used. First, existing
information on migration was reviewed with focus on international
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BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
migration and its effects on development both in Ghana and beyond.
Second, we conducted household surveys based on a questionnaire.
Questionnaires were given to household heads and information
was gathered on the features of the household as well as the
characteristics of individual household members including emigrants,
return migrants and non-migrant members. Data on their migration
processes, experiences, situation abroad, remittance practices
(methods of sending money), return and reintegration issues were
collected. Information was also collected from households on their
views of the combination of social and economic (socio-economic)
working conditions and growth prospects of Ghana.
SPSS (version 21) was used for the data processing and analysis. This
was used to create how often things occurred, descriptive statistics
as well as cross tabulations.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
2.0 IntroductionThis chapter of the study seeks to discuss the global situation of
labour migration, evidence of labour migration in Ghana and return
migration, by taking a look at available literature (write-ups) on
the topics. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of
migration to countries of origin and destination and again explains
the risks and threats for migrants, based on previous research. The
chapter also thinks carefully about the effects of labour migration
and also gives an overview of Ghanaian laws, ECOWAS laws and
international laws dealing with labour migration. It further discusses
some of the experiences of returned migrant workers in the health
sector of Ghana and lastly, takes a look at local, regional and
international organisations dealing with labour migration.
2.1 Labour migrationThe Oxford Dictionary defines migration as movement of people to a
new area or country to find work or better living conditions. According
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LITERATUREREVIEW
CHAPTER TWO
to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) glossary on
migration law (Series No.25, 2011), labour migration is the movement
of persons from one state to another, or within their own country
of residence, for the purpose of employment. Labour migration is
addressed by most states in their migration laws. There are various
types of migration. The movement of people to a new home within
a state or country is referred to as internal migration; while migrating
across borders into a different state, country, or continent is called
external/international migration. Emigration and immigration are
two processes of external migration. While emigration simply means
leaving one country to settle in another, immigration is coming
into another country to settle. Return migration is the process of
returning to a country of origin or citizenship after having gone on
international migration, whether short-term or long-term, in another
country, usually with the intention to stay for at least a year.
In this era of globalisation, almost all countries in the world are
involved in migration as either countries of origin, destination, or
transit, or all three. Of the several millions of people living outside
their countries of birth, the ILO estimates that almost 90 per cent are
migrant workers and their families. Estimates3 show that Africans
with at least some tertiary education are more likely to migrate to
Europe. However, education levels apparently have little effect on
the probability of return (ibid). Migration from Africa is selective
on the basis of age and gender, but not consistently across all
countries. In Senegal and Ghana, those aged less than 35 years have
a higher likelihood of migrating to Europe, but this is not true in the
Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo (ibid). In Senegal, men are more
likely to migrate to Europe than women, but there is no significant
1 2
3 MAFE PROJECT Briefing Paper No. 3 January 2013
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
difference between men and women in Ghana or DR Congo (ibid).
Initial migration is seen to be often affected by the location of
family members, friends and acquaintances, re-affirming previous
research findings about the importance of social networks in helping
movement. Having an adult relative, especially a partner in Europe,
was found to greatly increase the probability of migration. However,
the significance of nuclear family links should not be overstated as
one-quarter of Africans who moved to Europe were single at the
time of their migration (ibid).
The likelihood of return migration among African migrants in Europe
is often linked to the reasons for the migration in the first place. For
example, migrants from Ghana and DR Congo who went to Europe
to study were over five times more likely to return than migrants who
left for other reasons, whereas those who left DR Congo for political
reasons were extremely unlikely to return (ibid).
The fact that migrants retain strong links with their country of origin
is not a sign of them returning any time soon. Indeed, Congolese
and Senegalese migrants who had sent remittances to or visited
their country of origin were found, surprisingly, to be more likely to
delay return. Currently, the migration of labour to mineral centres,
oil and industrial production sites has become one of the most
important population features of West Africa and the continent as
a whole (ibid). The thriving economies of the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire
migration pole attracted large numbers of internal labour migrants
as well as international migrants from countries such as Togo and
Nigeria (mainly to Ghana), Guinea (mainly to Côte d’Ivoire) and
Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali (to both) (Yaro, 2005). In the principle
of pan-Africanism, the Ghanaian and Ivoirian Presidents opened their
borders to immigrants to work and stay (Anarfi & Kwankye 2003). In
1 3
LITERATURE REVIEW
Côte d’Ivoire, cocoa and coffee cultivation attracted large numbers
of farm labourers from neighbouring poor regions as most indigenes
sought jobs in urban areas and on plantations (Yaro, 2005). Mining
and cocoa production in Ghana continued to serve as a pull factor
for migrants from as far as northern Nigeria. In the early 1970s,
Nigeria became a major migration receiving country as a result of
the oil boom. Several sectors of the Nigerian economy were boosted
by oil revenues and there was a great increase in the need for both
professionals and low-skilled workers (Yaro, 2005). Rising incomes
of the urban middle class, mass public investments and rapid
industrialisation attracted a number of West African labour migrants
(van Hear 1998). Professionals from English-speaking countries such
as Ghana flooded the Nigerian workplace (ibid).
New resource borders were opened up to increase cocoa production
in the middle belt and the western regions which saw unopposed
migration flows into the country and large circular migration within
the country. The measure of migration in recent years has greatly
increased. In recent times movement across national borders within
West Africa has been eased by the ECOWAS Protocol on free
movement and institutions. These movements raise new issues,
and eventually have consequences, implications and challenges for
development in the sub-region (Anarfi & Kwankye 2003).
In Ghana, as in other parts of Africa, migration is largely informal
and unrecorded, making accurate data on the issue extremely
insufficient. Despite this lack of data, the literature points to a long
history of population movement with migration playing a central role
in the livelihood and advancement plans of both rural and urban
populations. Ghana’s mining sector was probably the biggest under
1 4
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
British colonial rule in West Africa and offered a range of opportunities
for employment in which local people only took a small part. For
many decades, in a country of net immigration where the number of
people entering far exceeded the number leaving, the country saw a
change in migration trends from the late 1960s with a decline in the
economy, and political instability and Ghana became a country of net
emigration (Awumbila, et.al, 2008).
In the past two decades however, new migration changes have arisen
in Ghana with globalisation, shifts in the global political economy, as
well as the economic and political stabilisation of the country. These
have brought about increasing variety of things and complications
not only in internal mobility patterns but also in international
movements, thus making Ghana to at the same time experience
internal migration, immigration, transit migration and emigration
both within and outside Africa (ibid).
2.2 Labour migration in GhanaThere is a long history of migration (both internal and international)
in Ghana (Peil, 1974). What is also certain is that at the beginning,
much of the migration in the 1960s was within the borders of the
country and involved groups and individuals of different ethnic
groups moving into other groups in search of security during the
period of intertribal, civil wars, and for new land safe for settlement
and fertile for farming (Boahen, 1975, Wyllie, 1977;).This came to be
termed as rural-urban, rural-rural and urban-rural migrations during
the post-independence period (Addo 1968, 1971,1981, Caldwell
1968, 1969; De Graft-Johnson, 1974; Arthur 1991; Twumasi-Ankrah
1995; Simon et al., 2004). Many farmers and farm employees moved
internally from their natal regions into other regions (Addae-Mensah,
1 5
LITERATURE REVIEW
1983, 1985; Addo, 1971). From time immemorial as Addae-Mensah
observed, farmers migrated in search of empty land for the cultivation
of both food crops and cash crops. The introduction of cocoa in the
late nineteenth century resulted in never-before-seen migration of
farmers around Ghana (Hill, 1963).
Such migrations led to socio-economic change. According to Addo
(1968), migrants influenced social and economic change by making
their skills available where they were most needed, by bringing
new sense of values and new modes of economic behaviour into
established enterprises, by introducing new skills into the economic
life of the receiving areas, and sometimes by opening up the
possibility of profitable investment in the areas where they lived.
According to Addae-Mensah (1983), migrants’ influenced change
in their destinations. He suggested in the case of farmers in the
Wassa-Amenfi district that, they commanded control over property
especially of large farms of cash crops and other foodstuff in the
area. Other migrants from the Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti, Volta, as well as
Gas, Akwapims and Fantis in the Sefwi area either owned farm lands
bought from the Sefwi chiefs and heads of families or they worked
as share-croppers (Adu, 2005). Apart from these studies, there are a
number of studies (both past and present) that explore North-South
migration in Ghana (Oppong, 1967; Nabila, 1975, Zeng, 1993;
Pellow, 2001; Mensah-Bonsu, 2003; Sulemana, 2003; Kubon, 2004;
Hashim 2005a, 2005b, 2007; Meier, 2005; Kwankye et al, 2007).
In recent times, the studies on the north-south migration situation
in Ghana have shifted to examining the emerging trend of the
youth, particularly young females from the northern parts of Ghana
to the southern cities, particularly Accra and Kumasi to engage in
menial jobs (Whithead and Hashim, 2005, Awumbila and Ardayfio-
1 6
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Schandorf, 2008). Most people work because of reasons like paying
for the stuff they need and also to attain a sense of fulfillment that
they are doing something positive, or even just something they enjoy
doing. Despite the more powerful internal migration in the early
period, international migration also occurred, but at a lower level.
While migration out of Ghana involved few people, mostly students
and professionals to the United Kingdom as a result of colonial ties
(Anarfi, et al. 2000; Anarfi, et al. 2003) and other English-speaking
countries such as Canada (Owusu, 2000), migration to Ghana was
visible and clear and its documentation dates back to the pre-colonial
period. Rouch (1954), for instance mentions Wangara migrants in
Ghana in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries while Peil (1974)
also highlights migrant labourers and workers who came into the
country with the development of cocoa farming, mines and railways
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Peil (1974:368)
also argues for instance that ‘at one period, British boats stopped
regularly on the Kru coast of Liberia to pick up workers for the Gold
Coast harbours and mines’. The result of these was that, in the
case of commerce, traders of foreign origin were well established
in market centres of Ghana’s north and in Kumasi by the beginning
of the colonial era. Sutton (1983) supports Peil’s claim and argues
that, with very little from the north of Ghana and almost none from
the south, much of the labour force in Ghana’s mines in the early
twentieth century were from neighbouring West African countries of
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria (Beals and Menezes, 1970; Harvey
and Brand, 1974). After its independence, Ghana’s relative wealth
compared to its neighbours continued to attract migrants (Antwi
Boasiako, 2008).
1 7
LITERATURE REVIEW
A rise in employment opportunities, the development of industry
and higher wages, especially in urban areas, made the Ghanaian
economy attractive and therefore persuaded not only rural-urban
migration, but sub-regional migration as well. This migrant-receiving
status was strengthened by Nkrumah’s foreign policy which, among
other things, was aimed at promoting pan-Africanism. This made
Ghana conscious of its role in the independence of the rest of Africa
(Brydon, 1985). According to Brydon, a number of African freedom
fighters and pan-Africanists entered the country, describing it as ‘a
haven’ and ‘Nkrumah’s promulgation [announcement] of a country-
wide policy of universal primary education at that time, earned the
country a reputation as a civilized state’ (Brydon, 1985:569). In the
1960 census for example, immigrants accounted for 12 percent of
the enumerated population. Migrants from other African countries
constituted 98 percent of the foreign-born population (Anarfi, et al.,
2000; 2003). Some sources4 suggest that, by 1969, when many
‘foreigners’ were expelled, Ghana’s foreigner community constituted
about 2 million out of its population of about 8.4 million (cf. Antwi
Boasiako 2008). Clearly, Ghana had assumed the status of a net
immigration country.
Many factors account for the movement of Ghanaians within and
out of the country. Migration literature on Ghana has identified
these at both the internal and international levels. Internally, the
old north-south pattern continues which, according to Black et al
(2006) is fuelled by infertile soils and lack of local services in Ghana’s
northern sector. Accordingly, Mensah-Bonsu (2003) argued that rural
outmigration in northeast Ghana is for employment purposes, and
that, it is dominated by young people. There have also been forced
1 8
4 See http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/index.html
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
migrations in Ghana. For instance, Black et al (2006:33) observed
that, from 1994 to 1995, about 100,000 people were estimated to
have been forced out of their homes in northern Ghana as a result
of ethnic conflict. On the international level, Peil (1995) identified
Ghana’s economy and educational system as basic causes of the
large scale emigration of Ghanaians and argued that, the situation in
Ghana offered few opportunities for the then growing population.
But various reasons including employment, education and training
underlie much of Ghanaian emigration to other West African states,
as well as to Europe and North America (Nuro 1999). Moreover, Fosu
(1992) observed that political instability can also be attributed to the
increase in Ghana’s emigration in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
However, the period of large-scale emigration started in the 1970s and
1980s. The Convention People’s Party (CPP) had maintained a liberal
immigration policy given the party and government’s pan-Africanist
political stand and the concern to make Ghana the leader of African
unity (Dzorgbo, 1998). This was cut short by the proclamation of
the Foreigners’ Compliance Order in 1969 which saw the expulsion
of a large number of immigrants in Ghana in the same year. The
order required of all foreigners in the country to be in possession of
residence permit if they did not already have it or to obtain it within
a two-week period.
The order earned the then Busia-led Ghanaian government the
displeasure of some West African governments especially Nigeria,
Togo, Benin, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso whose
nationals were mostly affected by the expulsion. Besides, the 1969
Order also affected Ghana’s image in mainland Africa and the rest of
the world (Dzorgbo 1998:117). It must however be pointed out that,
in West Africa, Ghana was hardly alone in the expulsion of foreigners.
1 9
LITERATURE REVIEW
Adepoju (2005:5) provides examples of some West African countries
which also expelled residents of foreign origin including Ivory Coast
in 1958 and 1964, Senegal in 1967, and Sierra-Leone in 1968 and
Nigeria in 1983 and 1985. These examples show that a number of
West African countries resorted to expulsion as an option for dealing
with immigrants. In the Ghanaian case, the expulsion ‘had a mild
improving effect on the temper of Ghanaians’ and a debatable
economic advantage for Ghana (Brydon, 1985). Indeed, Brydon
interprets the expulsions in Ghana in adverse terms since foreigners
took with them, capital and in addition a large part of the Ghanaian
trading link was destroyed’. Following the Order in 1969, the
economic policies pursued in the 1970s by the National Redemption
Council, the Supreme Military Council (1972-1978) and the frequent
changes in government as well as the non-continuity of policies (see
Addo, 1981), created an economic downturn in Ghana. According
to Dzorgbo (1998:207), the country’s inflation, unemployment
and underemployment figures increased and the national currency
depreciated. There was a general lack of confidence in the Ghanaian
economy.
The result of these was that, for some Ghanaians, the best way to
handle the problem was to emigrate. According to Manuh (2001:
19), migration became the ‘tried and tested strategy’ for dealing with
the ‘deteriorating or worsening economic and social conditions’.
This set the stage for large scale emigration of Ghanaians to African
countries and the world at large which continues till today (see Table
2.1 below). Middle cycle school teachers, doctors, and members of
faculties of universities left their posts for other prosperous African
countries as well as Europe and North America (Dzorgbo 1998).
2 0
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Tab
le 2
.1: S
elec
ted
inte
rnat
ion
al m
igra
tio
n s
tati
stic
s b
y co
un
try
of
ori
gin
(se
nd
ing
) &
des
tin
atio
n (
rece
ivin
g)
Reg
ion
/Co
un
try
Sen
din
g (
Emig
ran
ts)
Rec
eivi
ng
(Im
mig
ran
ts)
1990
2000
2010
2013
1990
2000
2010
2013
AFR
ICA
21,1
98,3
3022
,840
,008
28,7
92,7
0130
,923
,050
15,6
30,9
32 1
5 59
1 33
517
125
675
18
644
454
Gha
na38
8,87
249
2,20
068
4,87
671
9,23
6 1
64 8
51 1
91 6
01 3
37 0
17 3
58 8
29
Nig
eria
465,
728
625,
993
944,
418
1,02
9,46
6 4
47 4
11 7
51 1
26 1
111
236
1 2
33 5
92
Côt
e d’
Ivoi
re37
0,05
058
9,38
582
0,75
997
8,25
0 1
816
426
2 3
36 3
62 2
371
722
2 4
46 1
71
Burk
ina
Faso
1,01
9,69
01,
426,
109
1,58
5,28
31,
641,
243
349
657
520
039
673
904
696
983
Libe
ria35
6,51
036
3,92
733
3,69
235
2,25
2 8
0 83
1 1
59 5
86 1
17 0
99 2
25 4
84
Togo
200,
331
282,
835
424,
320
456,
181
162
608
176
172
195
625
202
476
EURO
PE49
,252
,454
50,6
57,7
5555
,792
,235
58,4
98,1
1549
,048
,341
56,2
09,4
2069
,174
,301
72,4
49,9
08
ASI
A57
,686
,616
65,0
02,7
5788
,733
,947
92,6
26,1
3249
,910
,609
50,4
14,6
3967
,781
,526
70,8
46,7
71
LATI
N A
MER
ICA
15,4
20,8
6623
,998
,360
33,2
54,8
0834
,518
,001
6,07
2,76
55,
250,
453
6,72
9,32
07,
140,
817
NO
RTH
AM
ERIC
A2,
897,
462
3,22
1,24
54,
000,
823
4,31
8,34
727
,773
,888
40,3
95,4
3251
,205
,367
53,0
94,8
91
OC
EAN
IA98
6,06
81,
298,
438
1,70
4,64
41,
801,
792
4,66
8,26
25,
402,
146
7,34
9,18
07,
938,
121
GLO
BA
L15
4,16
1,98
417
4,51
5,73
322
0,72
9,30
023
1,52
2,21
515
4,16
1,98
417
4,51
5,73
322
0,72
9,30
023
1,52
2,21
5
Sou
rce
: U
N D
ESA
19
90
-20
13
Da
tab
ase
2 1
LITERATURE REVIEW
Table (2.1) above shows the trends in international migrant stocks
by sending and receiving in some selected regions and countries
including Ghana. Over the period, Ghana has seen more people
leaving (a sending country of migrants) than coming (receiving
migrants). Not only do emigrants form the majority in the migration
flows in Ghana but the outflows and inflows increased and almost
or more than doubled between 1990 and 2013. However, between
1990 and 2013, the annual average rate of change of the migrant
stocks is higher for immigrants (3.3 percent) than emigrants (2.3
percent). For instance, from 2000 to 2010, the rate of increase in
immigrant stock was 7.5 percent and emigrant stock, 3.9 percent in
the country. However, this data must be carefully examined because
it does not indicate the length of stay outside Ghana. In the particular
case of migration of health professionals (see Table 2.2 below), it is
estimated that over half of doctors trained in Ghana have migrated5.
According to Mensah et al (2005), the total number of Ghanaian-
trained doctors registered in the UK doubled from 143 to 293
between 1999 and 2004. In addition, there were 40 new registrations
of Ghanaian nurses in 1998/9, and by 2003/4 an estimated total
number of 1,021 had registered. The great decrease in the number
of health workers emigrating in 2004 may be due to government
moving in to improve the conditions of service of health workers.
These conditions included increases in basic salaries and allowances,
the introduction of the additional duty hour allowance (ADHA) for
health workers in 1998, incentive schemes such as housing and car
loans, study leave with pay, the establishment of the deprived area
incentive allowance (DAIA) and the establishment of the College
2 2
5 See Save the Children’s briefing titled ‘Whose Charity? Africa’s Aid to the NHS’ (2005). Save the Children is an NGO. The briefing is available at www.medact.org
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
of Physicians and Surgeons to provide and supervise post graduate
medical training in Ghana.
Table 2.2: Brain drain of health workers: 1999-2004
Main Cadres 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total
Doctors 72 52 62 105 117 40 448
Pharmacists 49 24 58 84 95 30 340
Allied Health Workers 9 16 14 12 10 8 69
Nurses/Midwives 215 207 235 246 252 82 1237
Source: Ministry of Health, 2005, CF Awumbila, 2007
It is however becoming increasingly clear that socio-cultural and other
non-economic factors are also very important, and that a realistic
explanation of Ghanaian (and indeed African) migration should
be looked at from many disciplinary angles (Achanfuo-Yeboah,
1993). For instance, evidence suggests that Ghanaian international
migration destinations in recent times show a high sense of fashion
and energy. The evidence points to people going to countries in Asia
and the Far East such as China, Malaysia and Dubai. These reflect the
significant importance these countries and regions have attained in
global political and economic affairs.
In the United Kingdom for example, the UK Department of health
has since 1999 developed and gradually strengthened a Code of
Practice for the International Recruitment of Healthcare professionals
(Department of Health 2004) which requires the National Health
Service employers not to actively recruit from developing countries
unless there is a government-to-government agreement. This is to
ensure quality standards and training of these healthcare workers.
2 3
LITERATURE REVIEW
Large-scale emigration of Ghanaians from different sectors in the
economy to African countries and the world at large continues to
date (Manuh, 2001: 19).
The main periods of increase and the spreading abroad of Ghanaians
were between 1990s to the present (Bump 2006.) Ghanaian
emigration has increasingly been outside of the region, since the
decline of Nigeria as a major destination for Ghanaian migrants
in the 1980s. Although the majority of Ghanaian emigrants (66.4
percent) still stay within the region of West Africa, a growing
proportion is migrating to a different number of countries outside
the region (DRC, 2007). According to a 2008 Ministry of Foreign
Affairs estimates, Ghanaian emigrants can be found in more than 33
countries around the world. After West African countries, the most
important countries of destination for Ghanaian emigrants are the
USA (7.3 percent) and the UK (5.9%) (DRC, 2007). Currently, the
trend appears to be the same, even though with more inflows than
outflows. According to the 2010 Population and Housing census,
there were 398,585 immigrants as against 250,624 emigrants (i.e.
1.3 percent of the total population). This must be due largely to the oil
find and possible influx of migrants across the borders from the sub-
region. Of the immigrants, about 86 percent were African nationals
with those from the Economic Community of West Africa States
(ECOWAS) comprising about 68 percent. The main destinations of
the Ghanaian emigrants outside Africa were Europe (38 percent) and
the Americas (24 percent)6 . Majority (close to 26 percent) were also
into other ECOWAS countries7 , while about 10 percent migrated
2 4
6 There were more female emigrants than males emigrants into Europe (39 percent vrs 37 percent) and the Americas (26 percent vrs 22 percent)
7 Cote d’Ivoire is the highest recipient (7.8 percent) and followed by Nigeria (6.8 percent)
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
to other African countries. This confirms earlier claims that though
majority of Ghanaian emigrants stay within West Africa, a growing
number is migrating to a diverse range of countries outside the
region (see DRC, 2007). Skilled migration from Ghana, especially to
developed countries in the North, has accelerated since the 1990s.
Ghana has one of the highest emigration rates for the highly skilled
(46 percent) in Western Africa (OECD, 2005; Docquier and Marfouk,
2005.)
A sectoral study on migration conducted by the Centre for Migration
Studies of the University of Ghana, Legon, identified the following
as major gaps and challenges confronting policymakers and decision
makers in Ghana: the lack of a comprehensive migration policy,
inadequate information and data on international migration, and the
need for an improved migration management framework.
2.3 Return migrationAccording to the definition offered by the United Nations Statistics
Division for collecting data on international migration (UNSD,
1998), returning migrants are “persons returning to their country of
citizenship after having been international migrants (whether short-
term or long-term) in another country and who are intending to stay
in their own country for at least a year.”
Evidence of return migration of Ghanaian migrants can be traced
to the 1980s. Since the early 1980s when Ghanaian migrants were
expelled from Nigeria, a series of voluntary and involuntary return
migration of Ghanaians have also occurred. For instance, during the
fourteen-year civil war in Liberia, Ghanaians in that country had to
return to Ghana to the care of their relatives in what Dekker (1995)
2 5
LITERATURE REVIEW
described as a ‘forced homecoming’. But home coming of Ghanaians
in the diaspora has not always been by force. For instance, while
Ammassari (2004) explores homecoming from the view point of
nation-building and entrepreneurship, Black et al (2003) approach
homecoming from the view point of small enterprise development in
Ghana and question whether small enterprise development provides
a route for moving out of poverty. Tiemoko (2004) also approaches
homecoming from the social and economic change it appears to
cause. African Americans and people of African descent from the
Caribbean and South America have also migrated to Africa and
Ghana since the eighteenth century (Lake, 1995). Related to this,
Bruner (1996) interpreted the touristic pursuance of black people
from the diaspora to Ghana as the ‘return to motherland Africa’,
specifically to Ghana. But while Lake focuses on those who have
permanently returned from their stay abroad, Bruner looks at those
who continue to reside abroad but are on touristic expedition to what
they describe as their ancestral land. It appears then that homecoming
of Ghanaians abroad has not only been the concern of individual
migrants. Obviously these individuals have played significant roles in
this attempt.
Since the early 1990s however, Ghanaian governments have pursued
different return migration policies with the ultimate objective to
attract skilled Ghanaian nationals abroad. In the 1990s, Emancipation
Day Celebrations were instituted by the Rawlings-led government.
This was part of the government’s solution to help African Americans
and people of African descent, especially from the Caribbean and
South America to return to Africa and to Ghana.
In 2001, a Homecoming Summit was organised by the Kufuor
administration to attract and tap the potential and skills of Ghanaians
2 6
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
in the diaspora to help the development of the country. As indicated
in Manuh and Asante (2005:298), the objectives of the Summit were
as follows: ‘to develop a process for the renewal of confidence of
Ghanaians living abroad and those at home, to enhance dialogue and
explore opportunities for productive relations between Ghanaians
living abroad and their country, and to identify the means to tap into
the acquired capacities of Ghanaians living abroad for the creation
of the nation’s wealth’. Return migration has also provided an
opportunity for the acquisition of skills, experience and knowledge.
This has resulted in ‘brain gain’ and or ‘brain circulation’. According
to Sjenitzer and Tiemoko (2003), return migration involves the
transfer of skills back to Ghana and job improvement on the part of
return migrants.
Evidence from the 1995 migration survey (Twum-Baah, et al. 1995)
indicates that some return migrants received higher level formal
education abroad — a useful contribution to human capital formation
for the country. Evidence from this study will illustrate clearly the
great number of returned migrants in Ghana and the importance of
documenting their experiences and also help address any challenges
identified.
2.4 Consequences of labour migration There are many arguments and opinions about the advantages
and disadvantages attached to labour emigration and how it has
impacted on both sending countries and receiving or host countries
as well as on the migrants and their families. It is important to state
that, countries (sending or receiving) and migrants may experience
both gains and losses from migration, but the economic effects stand
to vary widely (short-term or long-term). However, the immediate
effects are always on the very people on the move (i.e. migrants).
2 7
LITERATURE REVIEW
Clearly, there are positives as well as risks or threats for international
migrants. For the person who risks going out of his home or for that
matter his country, in search of employment is in a way helping his
family to sustain their livelihood (ways of earning a living) which he/
she may not be able to achieve locally. In the same way, thousands of
people who lack opportunities back home could be fortunate enough
to find major breakthroughs through migration. For instance, many
migrants send large sums of money (remittances) directly to their
families back at home. Those remittances when utilised prudently
by the migrants and their families could even contribute significantly
to national development. Again, beyond the individual migrant or
household, for the broader society, migration can reduce the pressure
on resources (land, water and food), particularly in densely populated
and poor regions. Also, if there are constant ethnic and civil strifes,
migration of certain interest groups in the society serves as a safety
valve. Also, migration of certain population groups in the society
can relieve pressure on labour markets and ease intergenerational
tensions.
Despite the advantages, the risks involved in moving abroad can
be huge. In many host countries, migrant workers are among the
most at-risk groups in the society. They often have no rights, and
suffer under poor working and living conditions (Anarfi J, Kwankye S.
2003). Although international standards for the protection of migrant
workers exist, they are often ignored. In many cases, the debts owed
to recruitment agencies are an additional burden (ibid). Agency cost
for a job abroad can be many times the migrant’s monthly salary.
In many other instances, migrant workers mobility and freedom of
choice are restricted by the retention of their passports and other
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
8 Refers to system of relationship binding the migrant employee/worker to the employer (Kafeel or sponsor) and puts too much power in the hands of the employer. This unbalance power in terms of rights and obligations allows the Kafeel to dictate the recruitment process and working conditions.
documents. An example is the Kafala8 system across the Arab Gulf
countries. Women who account for almost half of migrant workers
around the world are the most vulnerable (easily hurt) (Black, R., et
al. 2003).
Furthermore, migrant workers are exposed to the same risks as
other home-based, seasonal agricultural, and construction workers.
However, due to the difficulties in obtaining work and residential
permits in many European countries, many migrant workers work in
the unofficial ‘black’ economy (Dzorgbo, Dan-Bright S. 1998.) The
work of these migrants is undeclared, and therefore they may be
earning low wages and have poor housing and living conditions.
These workers will make no social security contributions, and so
have no social protection, and are often subjected to abuse and
exploitation (ibid.) In some cases the concentration of migrants in
rural areas creates unease in the local population, and even racist or
violent incidents (Docquier, F. and A. Marfouk 2006.)
Beside low wages, employment discrimination and poor living
conditions, frequently they are subject to poorer health and safety
conditions than nationals (Sjenitzer, T. and R. Tiemoko 2003). Migrants
and seasonal workers are usually employed in agriculture to do low-
skilled jobs, and work long hours. In some agricultural sub-sectors,
such as greenhouses, where the health and safety conditions often
can be very poor, migrant workers are the only people employed
(ibid.)
Few agricultural workers receive sufficient safety training, and few are
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LITERATURE REVIEW
protected effectively. Since these people are not familiar with some
technology and their hazards, it makes them even more vulnerable
(ibid.) The seasonal nature of the work and the permanent rotation
of workers, language barriers, poor communication, and different
attitudes to work safety all contribute to worsen work-related
risks (ibid.). Exposure to pesticides and other chemical products is
something common that has been seen to lead to depression,
nervous system disorders, and miscarriages among migrant workers
in some parts of the world (Bump, M. 2006.) The incidence of other
injuries among people working in greenhouses is also high. Muscular
diseases and back pain, dehydration, as well as heart complaints
linked to high temperatures are frequent (ibid).
There are also lots of consequences of labour migration for both
countries of origin and destination. For sending countries, the
immediate benefit of emigration can be found in remittances (money
and goods sent home). The flow of remittances to developing
countries, including Ghana, is very high. According to the World
Bank, remittances totaled $529 billion worldwide in 2012, with $401
billion of that money flowing into developing nations. Such funds
sent home by emigrants, though mainly to support families9 left
behind, can encourage broader economic development. They can
contribute to foreign exchange earnings and thus serve as protection
against economic shocks. In the long term, beside countries being
able to mobilise savings through financial institutions, the human
capital gained by some emigrants could be a brain gain for their
countries of origin.
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9 Remittances provide for households livelihood by being spent on general consumption items, construction of homes, healthcare and education that can promote employment in these areas.
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
At the same time, sending countries can suffer in several ways.
For instance, they can suffer from brain drain through the loss
of educated and skilled people who emigrate. According to the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM), there are currently
more African scientists and engineers working in the U.S.A than there
are in all of Africa. This brain drain can hinder the development of
the migrants’ homeland (Carrington, W.J. and E. Detragiache (1999).
The problem is particularly severe in the healthcare sector. In the
same way, as indicated by Ammassari (2004), the negative effect on
the production capacity of developing countries due to brain drain
from those countries often results in low capacity development and
increased poverty, among others.
With regard to host countries (mostly developed ones), who are at
the receiving end of the migration process, there are mixed results.
On the positive side, the inflow of migrant workers and job-seekers
can be a development opportunity for these countries. Migrant
labourers are always ready to fill low wage jobs for which there is no/
or unwilling supply of labour locally, they thus provide cheap labour
to host economies. For instance, in Europe which is one region of the
world that attracts the largest number of migrant workers (including
their families) (see Tiemoko, R. 2004.), agriculture is one of the main
sectors employing migrant workers. The reliance on migrant labour
has become a feature of agriculture, especially for seasonal activities
where a large workforce may be needed at short notice and for brief
periods. Furthermore, temporary worker programmes help to address
skills shortages in host countries.
On the other hand, an increase in the number of immigrants can
have significant negative effects on the host countries. One major
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effect of immigrants, especially those from poorer countries with
a low educational background is a burden on the host economy.
This is because such immigrants are more likely to be unemployed
or economically inactive than the domestic population. The taxpayer
may then have to pay for the increased level of government spending.
Also, the inflow of immigrants into an area may increase the
demand for housing and push up the cost of living for all residents.
Moreover, the inflow of new workers will lead to an increase in the
supply of low-skilled workers and therefore drive down the balance
in the wage for domestic low-skilled employees (ibid). In addition,
the constant arrival of workers into the receiving countries if not
checked, will lead to domestic workers being unnecessarily unhappy.
This puts pressure on the available scarce resources and can cause
a rise in unemployment which can have significant effects on the
labour markets of host countries. Migrants may also be exploited
and the increase in population can put pressure on public services.
There may be integration difficulties and friction with local people.
Moreover, for countries of origin there is an economic disadvantage
through the loss of young workers especially, loss of highly-trained
health workers. Lastly, it may create a social problem for children left
behind or growing up without a wider family circle.
To summarise, labour emigration can promote development, but it
can also lower development if not managed properly. On the positive
side, however, the process of labour migration not only benefits
migrants themselves, their families and their home countries, but
also their host countries. Migration leads to the transfer of money,
goods, knowledge and ideas, and helps the workers’ countries of
origin become more closely absorbed into the global economy.
Furthermore, migration means not only going away, but also coming
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3 3
back. Thus with the knowledge, capital and international experience
gained, labour migrants can contribute significantly to the growth of
their home countries.
It is clear that emigration or immigration can be beneficial for
migrants, but only if their rights are protected properly. It can also be
economically beneficial for both origin and host countries, however,
with the present economic and trading structures, it is the rich and
powerful countries that benefit the most. Migration brings social
and cultural pressures that need to be taken into account when
planning for future services. Migration also has the potential for
bringing people together culturally but friction occurs if efforts are
not made to make false beliefs held by local people disappear. It is
also essential to provide good information about the local way of life
to newcomers and ensure there are opportunities for people to mix
and fully integrate.
Box 1: Stories of labour migrants (positiveand negative experiences) in Ghana
Experiences of some migrant workers in the health sector in northern part of Ghana
In a recent research undertaken by the Public Services
International (PSI) and the National Working Group on
Migration in Ghana in 2011(Research on migration of health
and social care workers in Ghana, June, 2011) the following
were some of the outcomes based on interviews with some
LITERATURE REVIEW
migrant workers in the Northern part of Ghana. It was
realised that, from the experiences of the migrant workers,
the issue of reintegration into the system of work was a major
challenge to them. With particular reference to the health
sector, it was observed that most of the migrant nurses had
challenges reintegrating into their various health professions.
Key challenges encountered was the failure of the Ghanaian
system to recognise their practical experiences in nursing from
abroad since these practices cannot be measured. Even those
with recognised certificates from abroad go through similar
challenges.
These challenges are conveyed to their counterparts abroad to
discourage them from returning home to offer their services.
A nurse who shared her experience said: “When I was leaving
this country, I was a general nurse. When I travelled abroad,
I obtained a certificate in Midwifery. Upon my return, even
though my certificate from abroad was accepted, I was made
to undertake a refresher course in Midwifery before getting
integrated into the system. I had to bear all the expenses in
taking this course which took me some months to complete.
This was the only way I could prove my practical experience.”
It was also observed that most of these nurses preferred
destinations such as the UK, USA and Canada. These countries
offer them better opportunities to easily upgrade and practise
their profession. Issues with recruitment agents also came out
strongly. These concerned individual agents who deal directly
with these nurses by offering juicy contracts to attract them
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
to travel abroad to work. Another issue that came up was
working conditions for nurses in Ghana compared with their
counterparts abroad. Most of these nurses work in health
facilities with limited logistics and other resources to aid in
their work. It was generally observed that most nurses were
ready to offer their services in the country provided that all
the bottlenecks that affect their work delivery are addressed.
2.5 Governance of migration: Legal andinstitutional frameworksGovernance (system of governing) is an essential idea with regard
to migration and human rights. Migration governance can be
understood as the process in which the combined framework
of legal norms and organisational structures regulate and shape
how states and other stakeholders act in response to migration,
addressing rights and responsibilities and promoting cooperation10.
In the realm of international migration, governance (according to
the Global Commission on International Migration-GCIM) comes in
various forms. These include the migration policies and programmes
of individual countries, interstate discussions and agreements,
multilateral consultative processes, the activities of international
organisations, as well as the laws and standards. This section looks at
the legal and supporting rules that govern migration in Ghana. The
section also provides a summary of the regional and international
instruments, ways in which things are done, and institutions that
deal with labour migration.
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10 Adopted from UNHR Migration and human rights, “Improving Human Rights-Based Governance of International Migration”, 2015
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.5.1 Legislative and institutional frameworks on labour migration in GhanaThe management of migration in Ghana can be described as having many sides. In terms of the legal and principle of action at the national level controlling migration, a lot of structures exist. Key among these is the 1992 Constitution which states the rights and freedom of movement for citizens, upon which other laws are based. Other key laws and policies include the Immigration Act, 2000(Act 573), Immigration (Amendment) Act, 2012 (Act 848), Immigration Regulations, 2001 (L.I 1691), the Labour Act, 2003(Act 651), Labour Regulations 2007(L.I1833). There are other Acts and Regulations of Parliament and local government laws that provide some regulation and control of labour migration in Ghana (see Annex 2.1).
The Immigration Act, 2000(Act 573), provides circumstances for the admission, residence, employment and removal of foreign nationals and other related matters. Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) Part 11 also controls the employment and residence of foreign nationals in Ghana. The Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) especially Part (iii) talks about protection of employment and this covers, among other things, the rights and duties of workers (section 10-11). Section 18(1)(d) states that, in case of ending a foreign contract, the employer shall pay the expense and necessities for the worker’s journey and repatriation expenses for the worker and members of his family, in addition to other payments mentioned in section(1) of the Act (any salary earned before the termination which has not been paid and any compensation in respect of sickness or accidents). This Act covers both nationals and non-nationals (migrants). Regulations 2007(L.I1833) contain specific provisions on foreign employment. The Acts and Regulations of Parliament, the 1992 Constitution and
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11 Is to promote the benefits and minimize the costs of internal and international migration through legal means with the rights and security of migrants well respected in order to ensure socio-economic development in Ghana.
various official agreements which have also been included in the local government laws allows for foreign employment.
Migration is managed by several institutions. The key national ones include the National Migration Unit of the Ministry of Interior (MOI), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI), Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR). Other key institutions are the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the National Population Council (NPC). (See Annex 2.2 for a summary of their roles).
One of the most significant steps taken, and a key policy initiative, concerning migration in Ghana is the development of the draft National Migration Policy (NMP). Beyond the draft NMP goal11 , three necessary parts can be drawn from the broad aims, these are; (i) rules governing the migration process, (ii) protecting and empowering migrants and their families and (iii) linking migration and development process. Another very important development of the draft policy is the proposed establishment of a Ghana National Commission on Migration (GNCM) with the authority to handle migration in line with the (policy) official way of doing things. Indeed, the policy when finalised will direct the whole and thorough way of handling migration in Ghana.
2.5.2 Regional processes, instruments and policy frameworks on migrationOutside the national legal and institutional structures, there are several regional or sub-regional legal documents and consultative processes
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that serve as a guide and support to govern migration management
in Ghana. At the sub-regional level, especially ECOWAS12 of which
Ghana is part, several structures exist which Ghana has adopted
to guide migration management. First and foremost, ECOWAS
member States have ‘Common Approach on Migration’ and carry
out their actions within the set of rules of the revised ECOWAS Treaty,
particularly Article 59: ‘Citizens of the community shall have the right
of entry, residence and establishment and Member States undertake
to recognise these rights of Community citizens in their territories
in accordance with the provisions of the Protocols [correct official
behaviour]’. Largely, the ECOWAS Treaty, which was adopted in
1979, provided in Article 27 that ‘Member States shall by agreement
with each other, exempt Community citizens from holding visitors’
visas and residence permits and allow them to work and undertake
commercial and industrial activities within their territories’. Indeed,
the Revised Treaty of 1997 also outlines in Article 3(1) for ‘the
removal, between Member States, of obstacles to the free movement
of persons, goods, services and capital, and to the right of residence
and establishment.’ The above provisions reflect the three-way
approach to the migration policy of ECOWAS protected in the 1979
Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and
Establishment.
Currently, one of the most important milestone sub-regional
agreements was the 2008 ECOWAS Common Approach on
Migration adopted at the 33rd Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of
State and Government. This set of ideas provides for the necessary
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12 The ECOWAS stands for Economic Community of West African States, a regional group of fifteen member states, founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in “all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters.
policy guidelines for Member States to move beyond migration
control and prevention to migration management and opportunity.
It is important to add that, ECOWAS Member States also obey
other instruments including: The United Nations General Assembly
Resolution No.60/277 on International Migration and Development
of April 7, 2006; the International Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and members of their families which
became effective in July 2003; the political dialogue between the EU
and ACP countries as set out in Articles 8 and 13 of the Cotonou
Agreement of June 2000; the Rabat Action Plan and Declaration of
July 2006; the ECOWAS General Convention on Social Security; the
high level dialogue on migration and development initiated in New
York in September 2006; the Tripoli Declaration of November 2006;
and the 1951 Geneva Convention and its additional protocol of
1967 on the status of refugees.
Ghana also adopted the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic
Development of Africa (1980-2000) as well as the Final Act of Lagos
(1980) which urged all African Regional Economic Communities
(RECs) to promote regional integration in groups that will eventually
combine to form the single group of African Economic Community
(AEC) by 2028. Indeed, beyond ECOWAS, all RECs recognised by the
African Union (AU) have protocols on the free movement of labour,
goods, services and capital as well as processes towards common
markets and full integration. RECs which have made significant
progress towards integration include: the East African Community
(EAC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), and the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
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2.5.3 International frameworks and institutions on migration Beyond the national and regional or sub-regional laws and policy
set of ideas, there are international migration laws13 and methods
that deal with migration which directly or indirectly guide Ghana.
International laws and agreements relevant to migration include the
following:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); the ILO Convention
concerning Migration for Employment 1949: C97; the Convention
concerning Migration in Abusive Conditions and the promotion
of Equality of Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers
1975:C143; the International Convention on the Protection of Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families 1990 (UN
Convention 45/158); the Private Employment Agencies Convention
1997 (ILO Convention No 181); ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow Up 1998; UN Protocol
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially
Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against
Transnational Organised Crime 2000; ILO Convention on Multi-
lateral Cooperation for Labour Migration 2005; the ILO Multi-lateral
framework on Labour Migration 2006; and ILO Convention on Decent
Work for Domestic Workers 2011: C189 and Recommendation 2011
No. 201.
In addition, other international processes and institutions include the
Global Commission on International Migration (GCIM) launched by
the UN in 2003; the UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration in 2006;
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13 International Migration Law (IML), the international legal framework governing migration, is not covered by any one legal instrument or norm. Instead, IML is an umbrella term covering a variety of principles and rules that together regulate the international obligations of States with regard to migrants. Such broad range of principles and rules belong to numerous branches of international law such as human rights law, humanitarian law, labour law, refugee law, consular law and maritime law.
the ILO Plan of Action for Migrant Workers 2008; the UN General
Assembly second High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and
Development adopted in 2013; the IOM Policy on the Human Rights
of Migrants; and the Fair Migration-setting an ILO Agenda 2014.
Notable Institutions dealing with migration at the international level
are: the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), the
ILO, IOM, and members of the Global Migration Group (GMG). (See
Annex 3.2).
2.6 The international labour organisation (ILO)International labour Organisation (ILO), as an international body has
pioneered international conventions regarding labour migration for
decades. The ILO includes the protection of migrant workers as part
of its constitutional mandate, as well as the Decent Work Agenda.
The under listed are some of the migrant-specific instruments of the
ILO:
1. Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97)
2. Migration for Employment Recommendation (Revised), 1949
(No. 86)
3. Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975
(No. 143)
The Convention on Migrant Workers defines the rights of migrant
workers under two main headings: (i) human rights of migrant
workers and members of their families, applicable to all migrant
workers (irregular migrants included), (ii) Other rights of migrant
workers and members of their families applicable only to migrant
workers in a regular situation. The International Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and members
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of their families entered into force in July 2003. Its main goal is to
protect migrant workers and their families, particularly those easily
harmed, from unfair treatment and abuse of their human rights.
These agreements seek to draw the attention of the international
community to the abuse of the rights of migrant workers’ and
their family members. Moreover, the Resolution and Conclusions
on Migrant Workers adopted in 2004 state that the ILO will place
increasing emphasis on the importance of movement of labour in
the global economy, and will focus on the need to address labour
migration in all areas of ILO activity.
2.7 International organisation for migration (IOM)International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is an inter-governmental organisation established in 1951. IOM is committed to the principle that compassionate and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. IOM membership increased from 67 States in 1998 to 156 States in 2014 and continues to grow. It has offices in more than 150 countries. It also assists countries in developing officially agreed ways of migration and laws that are acceptable to the international migration law (IML) in order to manage migration more effectively.
IOM works to increase knowledge and acceptance of the laws that protect migrants’ rights, as well as the signing and giving of power to these legal documents. It also assists states in developing agreed-upon principles of migration and rules that conform to IML in order to handle migration more effectively and in a manner agreeable with international law. IOM organises a lot of training programmes on a regular basis and upon request. Two annual training courses are held in Sanremo, Italy, in collaboration with the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) and the other in New York in collaboration
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with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Additional training seminars are available at the regional or country level upon request. Training seminars cover, among other things, human rights and migration, transnational criminal law, the rights of migrant detainees and international rules on detention, protection of groups at risk, international refugee law, and international labour law and the protection of non-nationals. It again conducts a lot of research activities that provide direct assistance to states and to human rights mechanisms.
Since 1998, IOM has been part of the Steering Committee for the
Promotion of the Ratification of the UN Migrant Workers Convention,
along with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR), International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and a
number of NGOs working on migration issues. IOM regularly works
together with the Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies, especially
the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW); the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. In particular, it
works closely with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights
of Migrants. IOM also advises the European Court of Human Rights
and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Human
Rights Council.
At the request of States and other stakeholders, IOM analyses
national migration legislation, advises and consults governments on
reform and improves and develops effective legislative frameworks
for migration management. At a government’s request, IOM analyses
specific legislative acts relating to migration or migration management
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mechanisms. In 2011, IOM provided support in the development
of legislation and policies conforming to international standards to
Colombia, Timor-Leste, Malaysia and the Venezuela. Globally, labour
migration is still ongoing in almost all countries and they are involved
in migration as either host or countries of origin (Peil, 1974). Ghana
as a country has been involved in labour migration since the 1960s
(ibid.) Most Ghanaian emigrants who travelled have returned back
home. Return migration has provided opportunities for acquiring
skills, experience and knowledge (Sjenitzer and Tiemoko,2003) and
these skills are used back home to the benefit of the individual and
the nation as a whole.
Emigrants, before they return or even after their return, are bound
to face several challenges. For instance, due to the difficulties in
obtaining work and residential permits in many destination countries,
especially European countries, many emigrant workers work in the
unauthorised economy (Dzorgbo, Dan-Bright S. 1998). The work of
such emigrants is illegal, and consequently they may end up receiving
low pay and have poor housing and living conditions.
Generally, there are international laws, regional laws and national
laws as well as other established organisations that guide and assist
countries including Ghana, in dealing with labour migration. However,
in Ghana and probably many other countries, much attention has not
been given to return migrants and their reintegration. The focus has
been on pre-migration issues for smooth migration and protection of
migrants at their destinations.
Since labour migration has become part and parcel of the present
workforce all over the world and cannot be ‘stopped’, there is
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the need for a wholesome approach on how it can be regulated
and managed properly. There should be two-way agreements
between both countries of origin and destination. Also institutional
capacities should be built to ease international and intraregional
labour migration and again provide direct assistance to returned
migrants to be able to reintegrate into the system especially those
with professional qualifications. Although creating employment
opportunities in the home countries is preferred, a growing number
of countries understand that migration is impossible to avoid and,
therefore, see labour migration as a necessary part of their national
development and employment plans. The migration policy drafted in
Ghana should help regulate labour migration in Ghana.
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3.0 Introduction This section presents the analyses and main findings from the survey.
Similar results taken from the existing literature on return migration
are also added. The analyses are focused on the socio-economic
and population profiles of the households of the people surveyed,
emigrants and return migrant’ members. A short description of
the sampled households by area is analysed first. This is followed
by the nature of social, population issues and economic nature of
respondent households as well as issues on migrant members and
return migrant members (returnees). These include the size, nature
and reason for migration, return migration (re-emigration) as well as
remittances and reintegration issues.
3.1 Profile of respondents
3.1.1 Geographical profile This migration mapping or starting point study was put into effect in
late 2013. The survey covered about 2,831 respondent households
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CHAPTER THREE
in all the 10 administrative regions of Ghana. The 2,831 respondent households provided information on some 1,356 emigrants and 745 return migrants’ household members.
Table 3.1 shows the geographical distribution of the respondents by region and locality. The distribution shows that majority of the respondents are from the southern ecological zone of Ghana, with the major regions being Ashanti (20.4 percent), Greater Accra (15 percent), Eastern (11.2 percent) and Western (10.5 percent). The Upper East and West Regions had the lowest (less than 5 percent each) of the respondents, while the Northern Region is the highest in the northern ecological zone. The findings suggest that the sample was biased towards some regions (e.g. the two major regions of Ashanti and Greater Accra). In total (i.e. of the 2,831 respondent households), 51 percent originated from urban areas as against 49 percent from rural areas.
Table 3. 1: Geographical distribution of respondents by region and locality
RegionRural Urban Total
No. % No. % No. %
Greater Accra 39 1.4 387 13.7 426 15.0
Ashanti 229 8.1 348 12.3 577 20.4
Brong Ahafo 84 3.1 103 3.6 187 6.6
Central 137 4.8 125 4.4 262 9.3
Western 179 6.3 119 4.2 298 10.5
Northern 206 7.3 93 3.3 299 10.6
Upper West 69 2.4 15 0.5 84 3.0
Upper East 98 3.5 26 0.9 124 4.4
Volta 170 6.0 86 3.0 256 9.0
Eastern 182 6.4 136 4.8 318 11.2
Total 1,393 49.3 1,438 50.7 2,831 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
3.1.2 Socio-demographic characteristicsThe distribution of respondents in the survey by individual and
household characteristics is presented in Table 3.2. The key issues
analysed are sex (gender), age, marital status, and the number of
children per respondent household. Male respondents form the
majority (59 percent) of the surveyed households, while females are
the minority respondents (41 percent). The fact that men constitute
more of the entire respondents has been a fixed and traditional
pattern, especially in most surveys in Ghana. Men have traditionally
played the role of bread winners and thus are relied upon to provide
information on family or respond to family issues. It could also be that,
perhaps due to the time of visit some potential female respondents
were at work or doing household chores, hence the lower female
representation. Also in all the age groups, the males outnumber
the females group (see Annex 3.1). The majority of the respondents
in the survey sample are quite young with an average age of 28
years. Among the age groups, respondents in the 15-2414 age group
form the majority (49 percent). Again, as many as four-fifths of the
respondents captured in the survey are in the 15-35 age bracket
(i.e. the standard national age definition of youth in Ghana), while
about 5 percent and 2 percent are aged 46-55 and 56+ respectively.
Overall, over 90 percent of the respondents are aged 45 years or less.
This distribution is in line with the national population issue statistics
and represents an important potential, in terms of labour force, for
the future development in Ghana.
Concerning marital status, more than half (69 percent) of the
respondents are single or unmarried while those married makes
about 29 percent. As shown in Table 3.2, only 1.4 percent and 0.7
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
14 The Standard UN definition for youth
percent are divorced or separated and widowed respectively. Further
analysis (see Annex 3.1) showed that, the majority (44 percent) of
those who are single fall in the age group of 15-25 and followed
by the 26-35 age group with 22 percent. On the other hand, the
share of those who are married is more (11 percent) in the 26-35 age
group, followed by 36-45 age group with about 9 percent. In terms of
gender, more males (43 percent) are single as compared to females (26
percent), while there is near equal gender split in the married couples
(i.e. 15 percent for males and 14 percent for females. Regarding the
number of children in a household, the highest percent (about 65)
of respondents do not have children in their family. However, the
situation of those with children is the lowest, with 20 percent having
between 1 to 2 children, 12 percent having 3 to 5 children and only
4 percent having 6 or more children in the household.
Table 3.2: Socio-demographic characteristic of respondents
No. %
Sex N=2,801
Male 1,664 59.4
Female 1,137 40.6
Age group (Mean age:28) N=2,825
15-25 1,370 48.5
26-35 933 33.0
36-45 327 11.6
46-55 133 4.7
56+ 62 2.2
Marital status N=2,756
Single/Unmarried 1,909 69.3
Married 790 28.7
Divorced/Separated 39 1.4
Widowed 18 0.7
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
No. of children N=2,677
No children 1,735 64.8
1-2 535 20.0
3-5 312 11.7
6-8 76 2.8
9+ 19 0.7
Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.1.3 Educational achievementsThe distribution of respondent households by educational status is presented in Table 3.3. The analyses showed that majority (93 percent) of the respondents have some level of formal education, while just a few (only 7 percent) had no formal education. In terms of the level of education attained, the largest proportion (31 percent) of the respondents had secondary education as the highest attained, while the lowest proportion (15 percent) had attained at least a degree. A further 26 percent had completed diploma education and more than 18 percent had completed basic education. Altogether, close to half of the respondents (about 49.5 percent) had completed at most secondary education while about 74 percent had completed at least secondary education. All things being equal, perhaps, the legacy of the huge public investment in education over the years in Ghana, especially the FCUBE15 policy is being manifested. This finding stands in sharp contrast to the general idea that most Ghanaian households are poorly educated or illiterate. Concerning the educational level by gender, it was observed that the situation of respondents with no formal education (illiterates) is about the same for both males and females (4 percent each). However, there is a clear gender difference in the formal education. From basic education to postgraduate education, the males are more than females. Rural respondents have the least diploma, bachelor, masters and postgraduate education,
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
15 FCUBE refers to the Free Compulsory and Universal Basic Education
while the situation as reported for urban respondents in Table 3.3 is just the opposite. However, another important observation from the analysis is that, the proportion of respondents with basic to secondary education is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Most of those with no formal education are rural respondents (5.8percent as against one (1) percent) for urban respondents. This appears to show the inequality in quantity and quality, of the education and training systems between rural and urban areas. The urban people are more educated and perhaps may have the best education structures and systems as well as get the best jobs. Finally, as presented in Table 3.3, in all levels of education, the share of respondents decreases with increase in age group.
Table 3.3: Respondents level of education by sex, locality and age group (%)
Highest educational levelattained
Sex Locality Age Group All
Male Female Rural Urban15-25
26-35
36-45
46-55
56+ Total
Illiterate/No formal edu
3.7 3.6 5.8 1.4 1.2 2.5 2.1 0.8 0.8 7.3
Primary &Basic16edu
10.0 9.0 13.7 5.3 10.9 4.3 2.2 1.3 0.3 18.9
Secondary edu
17.9 12.9 17.2 13.3 20.4 7.0 1.9 0.9 0.4 30.6
Diploma edu
17.2 9.1 8.1 18.3 11.8 11.2 2.7 0.5 0.2 26.4
Bachelors & Masters
9.8 5.1 4.1 11.0 3.7 7.7 2.3 1.0 0.3 15.0
Post graduate
0.8 0.7 0.6 0.9 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 1.5
Others 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3
Total 1,634 1,114 1,376 1,398 1,343 917 321 133 58 2,774
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
16 Lower secondary education
Table 3.4 further shows the educational level and employment status.
Interestingly, there is a relationship between level of education and
employment or activity status. In other words, the education status
of respondents appears to have an effect on their activity status as
shown in Table 3.4. For the unemployed, the majority are those with
basic education (2.7 percent), secondary education (2.7 percent) or
no formal education at all (2.5 percent). The proportion of those with
at least diploma education and unemployed is one (1) percent or less.
Again, most of the respondents who are engaged in the informal
sector activities are those with no formal education (3.5 percent) or
with lower education such as basic (4.5 percent) and secondary (2.4
percent). On the other hand, from the formal sector activities, those
with at least diploma education are the most (20 percent) whereas
the least (about 13 percent) are those who had attained secondary
education or lower or none at all.
Table 3.4: Respondent educational attainment by employment or activity status
Highest educational level attained
Employment/Activity Status
Formal Sector
Informal Sector
Unemployed Student Total
No formal education 1.1 3.5 2.5 0.0 7.1
Basic 4.0 4.5 2.7 7.6 18.8
Secondary 8.0 2.4 2.7 17.6 30.7
Diploma 9.4 1.0 1.1 14.8 26.3
Bachelors & Masters 9.4 0.4 0.7 4.7 15.2
Post graduate 0.8 0.0 0.1 0.6 1.5
Others 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.3
No. 905 322 272 1,249 2,748
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
3.1.4 Economic characteristics: employment and income statusThe economic status of households is one of the most important areas,
because literature (writings) suggests that bad economic conditions
of households are mostly responsible for large scale migration. The
examination of employment or activity status of respondents is given
in Table 3.5. As captured in the analysis, as many as 54 percent of
the respondents are economically active of which 44 percent are
employed while about 10 percent are unemployed. The findings show
a clear sign of the high unemployment17 situation in the country
which is opposite to national official statistics in Ghana. Of the
employed respondents, a large proportion (33 percent) is engaged
in official sector activities compared to only 12 percent engaged in
unofficial sector activities. The economically inactive respondents
are mainly respondents that are found to be in school. Altogether,
the employment situation of the respondents is dominated by
two economically unproductive groups, i.e. the students and the
unemployed which together formed about 56 percent of the sample
surveyed.
The analysis further showed that the employment status of the
respondents differs by locality and gender. Of the unemployed
respondents, more (7 percent) are found in rural areas than in urban
areas (3 percent) while there is an equal split between genders.
Concerning the employed respondents that are engaged in formal
sector activities, the majority (19 percent) are found in urban areas
as against about 14 percent in rural areas, while the sector was also
dominated by males (20 percent) compared to females (13 percent).
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
17 Underemployment is another serious employment challenges that has not received enough focus
As shown in Table 3.5, there also appears to be more informal
activities in the rural areas than in the urban areas while again, there
is an equal gender representation with regard to informal sector
activities. This is opposite to the view that informal sector activities
are female dominated.
Table 3.5: Employment or activity status of respondents by gender, age and locality
Background characteristics
Employment status
Formalemployment
Informalemployment
Unemployed In School Total
Gender
Male 19.5 5.9 4.9 29.2 59.5
Female 13.1 5.6 4.9 16.9 40.5
Age Group
15-25 6.9 2.5 3.9 35.1 48.4
26-35 16.3 4.7 3.1 8.9 33.0
36-45 5.9 2.8 1.4 1.6 11.7
46-55 2.8 1.0 0.7 0.2 4.7
56+ 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.0 2.2
Locality
Rural 13.6 6.7 6.7 22.3 49.3
Urban 19.2 4.9 3.1 23.5 50.7
All 32.8 11.6 9.8 45.8 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
Table 3.6 shows the distribution of the indicated total monthly
household income of respondents. Getting accurate information
on households’ income can be very difficult and this was a major
problem during the research. Either households do not keep records
of income earned from various sources or they are just not prepared
5 5
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
to reveal such information for various reasons. The average monthly
household income reported by the analysis is GH¢431.00. More than
half (57 percent) of the respondents earned less than the average
income while about 43 percent earned above the average. Further
examination indicates that, there are more respondents at the lower
end of the income ladder (i.e. 34 percent earning less than GH¢200)
compared to the upper end (i.e. 19 percent earning above GH¢800).
This is an indication of the income inequality situation in Ghana,
where majority of workers earn low incomes while a few earn high
incomes. It also reflects the rising wage, clear division between the
bottom and the top, meaning many workers gain less from economic
growth.
In terms of income differences by gender, more males earned below
or above the average monthly income than females. Again, the larger
share of respondents who earned below the average income (or are at
the bottom income) live in rural areas compared to urban areas. The
opposite is the case in terms of earnings above the average income or
those at the top income. Also, a large part of respondents who earn
low incomes or below the average income is the youth between the
age groups of 15-25 (see Annex 3.2). Family or household income
can be a key factor in determining the educational level of members.
As shown in Annex 3.2, the household income levels appear to be
linked with the educational level of respondents. It is observed that
most of the respondents in the lowest income bracket (i.e. less than
GH¢200) are those with lower formal educational level or none at
all. For instance, the majority (13 percent) had secondary education,
followed by 9 percent with basic education, whereas 4 percent had
no education. Interestingly, 6 percent of diploma holders are found
in the lowest income bracket. On the other hand, respondents within
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
the highest income bracket (i.e. more than GH¢800) are dominated
by those with bachelor or master’s education (7 percent) and diploma
education (6 percent).
Table 3.6: Respondents household total monthly income (in gh¢) by gender, locality and employment status
Income {mean=431}value
All Sex Locality Employment/Activity status
Total Male Fe-
maleRural Urban Formal Informal
Unem-ployed
In School
Less than 200
34.0 20.0 14.2 22.1 11.9 6.5 4.4 5.5 17.7
200-400 22.8 13.4 9.5 11.3 11.4 7.9 3.7 1.9 9.3
401-600 14.0 8.4 5.5 6.1 7.9 6.3 1.9 0.7 5.0
601-800 10.0 5.9 4.0 4.2 5.8 4.6 1.2 0.6 3.7
More than 800
19.2 11.6 7.4 5.1 14.1 9.3 1.5 0.7 7.5
Total 2,516 1,480 1,012 1,228 1,288 864 316 234 1,079
Source: Survey Data, 2013
Summary This section explored the various social, economic and educational
issues, including the age, marital status, number of children and
occupational status of the respondents. It is seen from the analysis
that males form the majority of the respondents and are mostly made
up of people below the age of 36 years. The relatively large youthful
nature of the respondents can be a great potential for respondents’
household development. The analysis also indicates that majority of
the respondents are unmarried with most being men and a large
proportion are without children. The fact that most people are single
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
might be that they are postponing marriage for various reasons,
including economic hardships, and thus indicating the large number
of childless households.
The data on educational level in the survey indicates that a good
number of the respondents are highly educated with secondary
education or above. Even though the data show a low number
of illiterates or semi-literates among the respondents, illiteracy is
relatively higher in rural areas than in urban areas while the difference
in illiteracy between men and women was not much. A good
number of the illiterates were also unemployed or were engaged in
the informal sector. In terms of employment status, the analysis show
that majority of the respondents were either in school (46 percent)
or employed (44percent). Further, one out of every 10 persons in the
sample were unemployed of which respondents in the youth (15-35
years), rural areas and those with secondary education or below were
the most affected. Finally, the data show clearly that a significant
proportion of respondents had monthly household incomes totalling
GH¢400 or less. Most of these are men and rural respondents, even
though more males and urban respondents reported higher incomes
than females and rural respondents respectively. It is also observed
from the analysis that respondents with reported household incomes
of GH¢400 or less were mostly the youth aged 15-25 years compared
to other age groups.
3.2 Household income adequacy, access to social security and children educationAdequate (sufficient) incomes and social security18 systems are
necessary parts of decent work and socio-economic security. At least,
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
18 Contributions to some social security are legal requirement, especially under the Pension Act (Act 766). The Act mandates employers to pay social security contributions on behalf of their employees.
the two can be the underlying idea for one to have a decent working
life. Also being able to have basic social services like education and
health are important factors of household well-being. However, low
incomes, insufficient social security and insufficient healthcare as
well as poor state of schools are common problems faced by a large
number workers and households in Ghana. This section therefore
investigates how household incomes are able to help families,
whether respondent households contribute to or benefit from any
form of social security and the type of schools respondents’ children
attend. In other words, the survey sought to find out how the
respondents view their income in terms of it being able to secure their
livelihood, whether or not they have any social security arrangements
and the kind of schools their children attend and how they pay for
their education. Basically, the study sought to find out the reasons
for migration, which we can see when we examine the intentions to
migrate. It is important to state that such conditions may or may not
be the reasons for migration.
3.2.1 Adequacy of household income to secure family livelihoodFigure 1 presents the distribution of respondents’ views on how
sufficient their incomes are to secure their family livelihood. The
analysis revealed that majority of the respondents were either in
disagreement or not sure or both. About 51 percent disagreed or
strongly disagreed that incomes are enough to secure the livelihood of
their entire families, whereas another 22 percent were not sure. Just
a few, less than one-third (28 percent) of the respondents indicated
that incomes are enough to secure their families livelihood. This
might be the fact on the ground of both the universal and relative low
incomes people earn in Ghana. It is also observed from Figure 1 that,
5 9
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
for both genders and rural-urban residence, more people disagree
that incomes are sufficient than those who agree that incomes are
sufficient. In particular, however, more of those in the rural area think
that their incomes are insufficient to secure their livelihood than those
who are in urban areas. The opposite is the case with regard to those
who think incomes are adequate. That is, more urban respondents
than rural respondents view incomes to be adequate. The findings
point out the low incomes rural households earn due to lack of better
and enough income-generating opportunities that will enable them
to have improved livelihood in most parts of Ghana.
Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.2.2 Access to social securityThe main focus with regard to social security was whether households were paying for any form of social security and the type of system. The analysis, as presented in Table 3.7, demonstrates that most respondents (over 56 percent) do not pay for or have access to social
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
security. The situation is particularly serious among male-headed households and rural households as compared to female-headed households and urban households respectively. In contrast, those who pay or have access to social security form just about 44 percent. Of this proportion, men are over-represented (27 percent) compared to women (17 percent). Also, more urban households (24 percent) have access to social security than rural households (19 percent). This might be interpreted to mean that women and rural residents have difficulties in accessing social security services and it puts them in a highly vulnerable and risky situation.
Concerning the type of social security they have, the analysis reveals that the pension and healthcare systems are what the respondents mainly have, with close to 54 percent having healthcare as against 46 percent for pension. Except in the urban areas, the pattern is the same in all rural areas and both genders in terms of the availability of healthcare and pension to households. This, perhaps, shows the general low coverage of pension in Ghana.
Table 3.7: Respondents access and subscription to social security by sex and locality
Do you subscribe to any social security scheme
Sex Locality All
Male Female Rural Urban Total
No 32.4 24.2 29.4 27.1 56.5
Yes 26.9 16.5 19.4 24.1 43.5
Number 1,548 1,062 1,285 1,350 2,635
Type of social security
Pension 29.4 16.2 16.8 29.0 45.9
Health care 31.6 22.8 27.0 27.1 54.1
Number 475 304 344 441 785
Source: Survey Data, 2013
6 1
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
3.2.3 Type of schools children attendChildren are an important household asset and their growth and
development is very important to the future well-being of the entire
family. For any child to be well-developed, it must have good or
quality education among other things, even though good education
is expensive. It must be clearly stated that the quality of education a
child gets points to the quality of life the household will enjoy either
now or in future. Apart from finding out about the sufficiency of the
household’s income and availability of social security, the study also
examined the type of schools the respondent’s children attend and
how they are able to pay for the fees of private schools. The results
on the type of schools and the sources of funding private education
are presented in Figure 2 and Figure 3 respectively.
The analysis further showed that the number of children in public
schools and private schools were almost the same: 50.1 percent for
public and 49.9 percent for private. More males had their children in
both types of schools than females. More of the female respondents’
children were in public schools (24 percent) than in private schools (23
percent). There is not much difference in male respondents’ children
for both types of schools. It was further seen that, the number of
rural households with children in public schools is higher (33 percent)
than that in private schools, (21 percent). On the other hand, a higher
number of urban households had their children in private schools (29
percent) as against those with children in public schools (17 percent).
Apart from the fact that there is great difference in the quality of
teaching between public and private schools, the findings may show
it also has to deal with being able to afford and the nearness of the
schools. Public schools have large presence in all parts of Ghana and
within the means of most low income groups including women and
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
rural households. In contrast, private schools are not only expensive
and way above the means of some groups, but they are also more to
be found in urban areas.
With regard to the source of money used to pay fees of children
in private schools, further analysis in Figure 3 revealed that quite
a significant number (85.6 percent) of the households depend on
their salaries (9.6 percent). Only a small number of people depend
on loans and scholarships to pay fees, (4.8 percent). This pattern or
trend of funding the fees of children’s education was similar among
men and women and rural and urban localities.
Source: Survey Data, 2013
6 3
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Summary This section provides an examination concerning the sufficiency of
incomes to secure households’ livelihoods and enable them have basic
services as well as social security, type of schools children attend and
the income sources for funding children’s private school education
of respondents. The result shows that for most people, incomes are
not enough to sustain their household livelihood. A greater number
(72.5 percent) of the respondents disagreed or were not sure that
incomes were sufficient. Males as well as respondents in rural areas
formed the majority of those who think incomes are not adequate to
sustain their households’ livelihoods.
It is also observed from the analysis that majority of the respondents
have no social security system. Of the 56.5% that are reported not
to have social security, more males were affected than females and
respondents in rural areas were relatively more affected compared to
those in urban areas. Between the two main social security systems,
more people had healthcare than pension.
Regarding the type of schools respondents’ children attend, enrolment
rate was slightly higher in public schools than in private schools
especially in rural areas and among female respondents. A great
part of the respondents across all groups paid their children’s schools
fees mainly from their salaries. This shows that most families don’t
borrow or get scholarships to pay for the tuition of their kids that
attend private schools in the country. This shows why it is important
that workers in the country should be paid decent salaries.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
3.3 Households’ perspectives (views) on salaries, working and socio-economic conditions in and outside the country What makes people to behave in a certain manner, and especially decide to migrate, may be real or imagined. The salaries as well as working and other socio-economic conditions in a country and elsewhere are key reasons of people staying or moving elsewhere. This section investigates the views of respondents on some socio-economic conditions in Ghana compared to other parts of the world.
3.3.1 Salary adequacy and securityThe amount and sufficiency of salaries workers receive are important factors of individual and household income. Also, sufficient salaries are viewed to affect productivity. In most countries including Ghana, most workers are not always satisfied with the salaries they earn. Workers have always agitated for salary increases every year because what they earn is not enough to meet the rising cost of living. To judge how true this is, the survey questions asked households about the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statement that salaries paid in the country are enough for workers. The survey revealed that, majority (56 percent) of the total respondents do not agree (disagree or strongly disagree) with the claim that salaries are sufficient for workers. As demonstrated in Figure 4, 28 percent of the respondents were not sure and only 16.6 percent agreed that salaries are adequate. Again, for both genders and in both rural and urban localities, more respondents disagreed than agreed. About 34 percent of males and 22 percent of female respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed while a mere 10 percent agreed and 6 percent strongly agreed. In rural localities, 29 percent disagreed and in urban localities, 27 percent, disagreed. Only 8 percent agreed in rural and 10 percent in urban localities agreed. This finding may partly be
6 5
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
showing the general opinion in the country that salaries and incomes are not adequate for workers. This might be due to negative effect on real wages and incomes, as well as the general cost of living, with the constant rising in prices of essential services, food and fuel in the country over the years. Indeed, money matters and other working conditions are key reasons behind the decision to migrate.
Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.3.2 Working conditions in the country Beyond salary and income security issues, there are other important concerns and challenges workers face. A key concern is the state of working conditions (or conditions of service). Working hours, contract of employment and work related or non-wage benefits such as social security contribution, paid sick leave and paid annual leave are some of the key issues of working conditions. Good working conditions are expected to motivate workers to be productive. They are also to enable workers to have a proper work-life balance. To a large extent, working conditions in Ghana have worsened over the years, especially in some sectors and for some group of workers. For instance, long hours of work without rest or a day off and fewer
6 6
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
benefits is the practice in the informal sector and among young
workers. Also, most workers in the informal and some private formal
jobs do not have written employment contracts, that at least tell
them their pay and other rights. When the respondents were asked
whether conditions of service in the country are adequate or not
for workers, an overwhelming majority (74 percent) said conditions
of service were not adequate for workers; only 26 percent think
conditions were adequate. The pattern was similar across gender
and rural-urban localities. The majority of respondents who think
working conditions are not adequate are rural residents (39 percent)
as against 35 percent for urban residents. A lower proportion think
that working conditions are adequate, urban (16 percent) and rural
(10 percent).
Table 3.8: Assessment of conditions of service for workers in the country by sex and locality
There are adequate conditions of service for workers in the country
Sex Locality All
Male Female Rural Urban Total
Yes 15.9 10.6 9.9 16.4 26.3
No 43.5 30.0 38.8 34.9 73.7
Total 1,525 1,043 1,263 1,328 2,591
Source: Survey Data, 2013
The distribution of state of bad conditions of service that respondents
think confront workers is presented in Table 3.9. According to the
results, the most cited bad working conditions workers face was
that of working overtime without pay. Close to 58 percent of the
respondents mentioned overtime and said it was not always paid. Of
this proportion, more males (36 percent) were faced with this problem
6 7
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
than females (23 percent), while it is slightly more of a rural problem
(30 percent) than an urban (28 percent) one. Another important bad
working condition cited was working without employment contract.
Respectively, more males (12 percent) and rural residents (12 percent)
think it is more of a problem than female (8 percent) and urban
(8 percent) residents. Other serious working conditions problems
mentioned were: no paid sick leave (7.7 percent), excessive overtime
(7.1percent), non-payment of night allowance (5.8 percent), and less
days of leave (1.6 percent). Interestingly, 7 percent of the respondents
said they worked more than 8 hours of work per day. These people
might be working overtime against their wish19, but it is not clear
from the answers if they were paid or not.
Table 3.9: Type of inadequate/bad working conditions in the country by sex and locality
Type of bad working conditions
Sex Locality All
Male Female Rural Urban Total
Over time is sometimes not paid
19.7 13.2 16.6 16.4 33.0
Over time is not paid at all 15.2 9.5 13.8 11.1 24.9
No night allowances 3.7 2.2 3.9 1.8 5.8
Less than 25 days for leave 1.0 0.7 0.6 1.0 1.6
More than 8 hours for work per day
4.6 2.6 2.6 4.5 7.1
No paid sick leave 4.6 3.2 2.9 4.8 7.7
No employment contract 11.9 8.1 12.0 7.9 19.9
Total 945 615 826 751 1,577
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
19 The standard maximum daily hours for most employees in many countries, including Ghana is 8. The reasons for limiting the working hours is to improve the safety, health and well-being of workers and also to allow them have a proper work/life balance.
3.3.3 Socio-economic security or insecurity in Ghana With regard to work and life generally, a combination of social and
economic security or insecurity can be linked to several factors such
as how secure a person’s employment is, work and income security,
how secure his place in society is and how well he is protected in
society, as well as issues concerning health and education. Socio-
economic security or insecurity can be associated with several
issues such as employment security, work and income security,
representation security, social protection security as well as education
and health. For many people, how secure or insecure they consider
the combination of social and economic development of their
country is likely to influence their behaviour. This is because people’s
livelihood largely depends on the social and economic progress of
their country. This section of the survey sought to examine this issue
by asking respondents how they agreed or disagreed to the belief
that “the socio-economic development of the country (Ghana) is
at risk”. The findings showed that majority of the respondents’ feel
that the social and economic development of the country is at risk
or insecure (see Table 3.10). Close to 58 percent agreed while 25
percent disagreed. Only 12 percent of the respondents were not sure
whether the socio-economic development is at risk or not. A similar
pattern can be seen across gender and locality. However, within rural
localities there were more agreements (30 percent) than in the urban
localities, (28 percent). The opposite is the case with regard to the
number of respondents who disagreed.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Table 3.10: Perception of the socio-economic development of the country by sex and locality
The socio-economic development of country is at a risk
Sex Locality All
Male Female Rural Urban Total
Strongly agree 14.4 8.3 13.6 9.1 22.7
Agree 20.0 15.3 16.4 18.9 35.3
Not sure 9.8 7.2 6.7 10.2 16.9
Disagree 10.2 7.1 8.1 9.2 17.3
Strongly disagree 5.1 2.5 3.8 3.9 7.7
Total 1,566 1,060 1,287 1,362 2,649
Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.3.4 Information about socio-economic conditions abroad Information about social and economic conditions abroad is as
important as how people see how secure or insecure the social
and economic development their own country is. Especially for
people who have the intention to migrate, adequate information
about job and other related conditions in the destination country
is a major issue. In the survey, respondents were asked about how
they agreed or disagreed with the claim that everybody finds a job
in the industrialised countries, or industrialised countries offer social
protection and/or that the way they earn money in industrialised
countries is better. As shown in Table 3.11, about 39 percent reported
that they were not sure if everybody finds a job in the industrialised
countries. A further 30 percent of the respondents disagreed whereas
about 32 percent agreed. With regard to the issue that industrialised
countries offer social protection, a surprising 76 percent agreed. Just
a small number was either not sure (17percent) and/or disagreed,
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
(7 percent). Concerning the statement that ways of earning a living
in industrialised countries is better, majority (75 percent) of the
respondents agreed, while 18 percent were not sure and only 7
percent thought it is not so. The analysis is probably showing that
respondent households are generally well informed about events
outside the borders of Ghana. This idea could be right or wrong,
but households get a lot of information through migrants and their
networks.
Table 3.11: Respondents perception of some basic security issues in industrialised countries
Industrialized country offer social protection
Everybody finds a job in industrialized country
Livelihood in industrialized country is better
Strongly agree 29.0 9.4 24.5
Agree 46.7 21.1 50.5
Not sure 17.0 39.3 18.2
Disagree 4.9 23.7 4.7
Strongly disagree 2.3 6.5 2.0
No. 2,756 2,725 2,742
Source: Survey Data, 2013
Summary The examination in this section focused on important issues that affect
both working and non-working households—sufficiency of salaries
as well as working and other socio-economic conditions inside and
outside the country. Concerning the issue that salaries in the country
are all right for workers, a vast majority of the respondents did not
agree or were not sure. This confirms the general idea in the country
that earnings are not sufficient to cater for the basic needs of workers
and their families.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
In terms of the claim that there are adequate conditions of service for
workers, only a tiny number of respondents approved that satisfactory
conditions of service exist for workers. Generally speaking, a great part
of the respondents, about 74 percent, think that working conditions
are unacceptable, if not very bad. The disapproval was particularly
higher in rural areas and among male respondents. Across all groups,
the most serious issue of poor conditions of service was considered
to be working overtime without pay and working without contract of
employment. Nearly 58 percent and 20 percent of the respondents
did not benefit from overtime work with pay and employment with
contract respectively. Other relatively serious poor working conditions
they stated were: no paid sick leave, working more than the stated 8
hours and no night allowance.
Again the examination showed that it was generally agreed that the
social and economic development of the country is at risk. Out of
every ten people questioned seven people think that the country’s
socio-economic development is in danger. This shows the growing
lack of hope among most people about the kind of policies we pursue
as a country. In this regard, more men and more rural dwellers had
no hope than women and urban areas for the growth prospects of
the country. Regarding some socio-economic opportunities in foreign
countries, including social protection, jobs and better livelihood,
the analysis showed that a greater proportion of the respondents
thought that foreign industrialised countries offer social protection
(76 percent) and better livelihood (75 percent). An equally good
number, about 31 percent, agreed that everybody finds a job in
industrialised countries. This goes to strengthen the negative idea
people have about Ghana rather than foreign countries and these
influence emigration which is the focus of the next section of the
survey.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
3.4 MigrationMigration is a development issue in many developing countries
including Ghana. For most people in Ghana, migration has become
a common survival tool to cope with many of the socio-economic
problems they faced in the country. The youth in particular, have a
miserable idea about the future, so some look for individual solutions
by migrating in search of greener pastures in faraway places in and
outside Ghana. However, the increasing size and complex nature
of migration, especially emigration, has started attracting a lot of
interest. Even though this mapping study is intended to provide a
standard short description of the issues related to international
migration in Ghana, the focus is on emigration, return migration and
re-integration.
3.4.1 Emigration of respondents’ household members The statistics on the surveyed households’ emigrant members are
shown in Table 3.12. The survey asked respondents if they had any
migrant household member in other countries. As demonstrated by
the findings, almost half (49.7 percent) of the surveyed respondent
households had at least a migrant family member outside the
country. The proportion of households without an emigrant is
50.3 percent. Even though the latter may have no family migrant
outside the country, it is likely that some can have family members
engaged in internal migration. This notwithstanding, it is still enough
indication that migrants have been leaving the shores and borders of
the country for work elsewhere and for other reasons.
The analysis further shows that, the proportion of households
with emigrants is higher in male-headed households (31 percent)
compared to female-headed households (19 percent). Also, there
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
are more emigrants reported in urban households (27 percent)
compared to rural households (23 percent).
Table 3.12: Magnitude of migration to other countries by sex and locality
Has any household mem-ber migrated to other countries?
All Sex Locality
Total Male Female Rural Urban
Yes 49.7 30.6 19.0 22.6 27.1
No 50.3 28.8 21.5 26.7 23.6
All 2,729 1,607 1,095 1,344 1,385
No. of migrants abroad /household (mean= 3.2)
1 25.3 16.6 8.8 14.2 11.1
2-3 38.0 23.2 14.8 15.6 22.4
4-5 15.3 9.8 5.3 5.2 10.1
More than 5 21.4 11.9 9.7 7.6 13.8
All 1,213 737 462 516 697
Source: Survey Data, 2013
Concerning the number of emigrants per respondent household,
it is observed that, the number varied from one to more than five
emigrants. The average number of emigrants per household is 3.
About a quarter of the households have one (1) emigrant member,
while majority of the households (38 percent) have 2-3 emigrant
members. Another 15 percent and 21 percent have 4-5 emigrants
and at least 6 emigrant members living abroad. The analysis showed
that the majority of households had between 1 to 3 migrant
members abroad. It was also evident that urban respondents had
more migrants than rural respondents and also male respondents
had more migrants than female respondents. The results appear to
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
reflect that the male-headed households dominated in the decision
to migrate and that emigration is more common in urban areas than
rural areas.
3.4.2 Destination countries of emigrants and mean of migratingInternational migrants may have their preferred destinations, but
they are likely to move towards several destinations before their
final country of settlement. The obvious reasons could be social
and extended family networks that provide some level of support
or language and cultural similarities that can respond to migrants’
situations. For instance, writings on migration have shown that, most
Algerian emigrants are in France and most Turks are in Germany.
Equally, most Ghanaian emigrants are in the United Kingdom and
Holland.
The distribution of emigrants by country of destination is presented
in Table 3.13. The analysis shows a greater number (88.6 percent) of
emigrants residing outside the continent of Africa, while only about
11 percent are dispersed across other African countries. Even though
the emigrants are scattered in many different regions of the globe, it
is clear that Europe and the United States of America (USA) are the
most favoured destinations. About 42 percent of the respondents
had their emigrant relatives residing in Europe and 38 percent in
the USA. The other countries of emigrants’ choice of destination
are Australia (3.8 percent), Asia (3.8 percent) and Latin America
(0.6percent). The various reasons given for Ghanaians emigrating
to neighbouring countries and beyond will continue if not well-
addressed. This is not surprising since most households in the survey
believe that industrialised countries are better for getting jobs, social
protection and generally better ways of earning a living.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Regarding the means of movement, most of the emigrants were
reported to have travelled to their destinations by flight. As shown in
Table 3.13, a high 88 percent of the emigrants had travelled by air,
while just a tiny minority of the migration (4.5 percent) was by boat
(or ship) and 7.4 percent by road. Interestingly, except for those who
travelled by air and sea, emigrants who travelled by road were more
(4 percent) from rural areas than the urban areas (3 percent). This
reveals the kind of cross border movements that go on daily. Over all,
the number of emigrants who have travelled by road are most likely
to be residing in other African countries.
Table 3.13: Emigrants destination and mode of migration
Country of DestinationAll Locality
Total Rural Urban
Europe 42.0 18.0 24.0
America 38.4 15.5 22.9
Australia 3.8 1.8 2.0
Asia 3.8 1.5 2.3
Latin America 0.6 0.1 0.5
Other African countries 11.4 5.9 5.5
All 1,244 532 712
Mode of transport used by emigrants
Via Flight 88.1 36.4 51.7
Via Ship/Boat 4.5 2.2 2.4
Via Road 7.4 4.0 3.4
All 1,234 42.5 57.5
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
3.4.3 Reasons for migration, migration decisions and facilitationAnother important issue the study addressed is the reason(s) for emigration. For many decades, people in Ghana have moved across borders for many different reasons, such as economic, personal, social, political and environmental reasons. In order to capture the causes of emigration, respondent households with emigrant members were asked to list the major reasons for members’ emigration. As shown in Table 3.14, for most households the major reason for the movement of members abroad was because of employment, (55 percent) and going for further studies, (34 percent). Family reunion or marriages were also some of the reasons members emigrated (3.8 percent). About 7.8 percent of the respondent households had no knowledge of why their family members migrated. This probably shows how independent the decision to migrate has become. Also, the fact that most of the emigrants went for economic purposes (i.e. to find work or follow a particular career path) shows the lack of opportunities for economic and human development in Ghana. This was reflected in most respondents’ earlier feelings that conditions of service in the country are poor and socio-economic development of the country is at risk.
Table 3.14: Reasons for respondents family members’ migration
No. %
Study, and returned to work 197 16.0
Study, stayed abroad 219 17.7
Employment, returned to work 284 23.0
Employment, stayed abroad 391 31.7
Family reunion/marriage 47 3.8
Have no knowledge 96 7.8
Total No. 1,234 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
The decision to migrate may be a private or a collective effort. The
migration decision-making process was an important consideration
of the survey. As presented in Table 3.15, a large majority of the
respondents (79 percent) stated that emigrants’ movement was
with the consent of the whole family. This suggests that migration
decisions are made largely with the participation or input of family
members. Also, a fair percentage of the respondents (21 percent)
stated that emigrants had moved without the consent of the
family, an indication that some level of migration decisions are
heavily influenced by individual aspirations. Regarding the means of
migration, respondents were asked on how emigrants’ movement
was facilitated or assisted. As demonstrated in Table 3.15, the majority
of the migrants were assisted to their destinations by family members
either in Ghana (34 percent) or outside Ghana (22 percent). This is
to be expected since most emigrants are reported to have made a
participative decision with their family members before moving and
therefore are highly likely to receive some form of assistance. Another
significant proportion is reported to have migrated based on their
own decisions and efforts (23 percent), whereas the remaining had
their movement facilitated by friends (13 percent) and recruitment
agencies and organizations (8 percent).
Table 3.15: Migration decisions and means or facilitation of migration by sex and locality
Was the movement at/with family Consent?
All Sex Locality
Total Male Female Rural Urban
Yes 79.4 48.0 31.4 33.4 46.1
No 20.6 13.4 7.2 9.1 11.4
All 1,226 745 467 521 705
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
How was the migration facilitated?
By myself 22.9 15.4 7.6 11.0 11.9
Family members in Ghana 34.0 20.0 13.7 15.3 18.7
Family members outside Ghana
21.8 12.0 9.9 7.0 14.8
Friends in Ghana 6.0 4.7 1.4 2.8 3.3
Friends outside Ghana 7.1 4.5 2.5 2.9 4.2
Organisations/Agencies in Ghana
4.9 3.1 2.0 2.3 2.6
Organisations/Agencies outside Ghana
3.2 1.8 1.4 1.3 1.8
All 1,193 724 455 509 684
Source: Survey Data, 2013
The survey also investigated the length of stay by emigrants abroad
or the time migrants have spent working abroad. This can have a
connection with how often money is sent back home and the decision
to return. As shown in Table 3.16, the period of absence from home
changes. Most of the emigrants have lived abroad for a period of 7
years or more (52 percent). Another 25 percent had a stay abroad
that varied between 4 to 6 years. About 17 percent are reported
to have stayed abroad for between 1 to 3 years and 5 percent less
than one year. Overall, more than two-thirds, about 78 percent of
emigrants in the survey had lived and worked abroad for at least 4
years. From the analysis, it can be said that majority of the migrants
had stayed abroad for long and thus could be described largely as
long-term emigration. Majority of the people that had moved for
economic related motives were reported to be staying after their
studies or finding employment. However, the relatively long term
migration experience of most emigrants who stayed for 4 years or
more could be showing how movement can impact greatly on their
decision to return.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Table 3.16: Information about migrants stay abroad
Years No. %
Less than one 58 4.8
1-3 211 17.4
4-6 309 25.4
7-10 221 18.2
Above 10 416 34.2
Total 1215 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.4.4 Working and living conditions of emigrants Worsening and unequal socio-economic conditions have always
pushed people to leave their own countries and seek opportunities
elsewhere. In other words, people leave with the idea that better
opportunities exist in other countries. As we have already seen, the
obvious reasons for the respondents’ family members migrating
abroad were to seek employment and further their education.
However, in some cases migrants have been disappointed and
regretted the working conditions and the general socio-economic
situation they faced in host countries. Table 3.17 shows the
distribution of households’ knowledge of information about their
emigrant members’ working and living conditions abroad. In other
words, the survey tried to find out if emigrants abroad had made
complaints concerning their working and living situation abroad.
Close to 61 percent of the households had received complaints or
were aware of their emigrant members’ living situation abroad.
On the other hand, 39 percent of the surveyed households had
no knowledge of their members’ conditions abroad. This may not
necessarily mean that those emigrants who had not expressed any
complaints to their relatives have stable lives or have successfully
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
integrated into their host with no challenges. Perhaps, they are not
communicating frequently or not been in constant touch with their
families back home. Such lack of communication is most associated
with emigrants who have moved independently, they may not be
likely to return.
Table 3.17: Information about migrants working and living conditions abroad
Did migrant members complain about Working & living situation abroad?
No. %
Yes 800 60.6
No 521 39.4
Total 1,321 100.0
Situation migrants complained about
High cost in the foreign country 265 34.4
Hard work 328 42.6
Bad conditions of service 79 10.3
Regulations in the foreign country 34 4.4
Hostility towards foreigners 11 1.4
Bad weather 53 6.9
Total 770 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
Concerning the kind of situations or challenges emigrants complained
about, over half of the respondents mentioned hard work (43 percent)
and high cost of living (34 percent) in host countries as the most
common. These were followed by bad/poor conditions of service (10
percent), bad weather conditions (7percent), stringent regulations
(strict laws) (4 percent), and hostility towards foreigners 1 percent.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Further analysis shows that, for most emigrants, weighing their general conditions in which they find themselves still feel they are better off emigrating abroad than staying in their own country (see Table 3.18). More than half (56 percent) of the respondents felt their emigrant members were better off than before. About 10 percent of the households felt their members had seen no change, while 6 percent considered their members’ situation abroad to have become worse. A significant number of respondents (28 percent) said they never talked to their emigrant members about their general situation abroad. This goes to confirm the earlier finding when a fair proportion of the respondents indicated that emigrant members did not complain to them about their working and living conditions abroad.
The survey also investigated whether emigrants had acquired jobs that are adequate for their educational background and professional experience. As far as this is concerned, the majority of emigrants, 62 percent had jobs that matched their educational and professional experience. On the contrary, 38 percent of emigrants had not. Upon further inquiry about what positions migrant members occupy or hold, approximately 57 percent of the respondents revealed that members abroad hold higher positions while 43 percent said their members hold same position.
Table 3.18: Evaluation of migrants situation abroad
How do migrants evaluate their own situation No. %
The same 118 10.0
Better than before 654 55.7
Worse than before 73 6.2
I never talked to them about this 330 28.1
Total 1,175 100.0
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Did migrants find a job abroad which is adequate for theireducational background and past professional experience?
Yes 691 61.7
No 429 38.3
Total 1,120 100.0
What is current position?
Same position 197 43.3
Higher position 258 56.7
Total 455 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
SummaryThe findings in this section indicate that the scale of emigration is quite high. Four out of every ten respondent households had an emigrant with an average three emigrants per household. There were relatively more emigrants among male headed households while emigration also predominantly took place from urban areas. This is possibly a reflection of the continued dominance of men in migration decisions in most households in the country. The relatively high rates of external migration from urban areas than those in rural areas could also be explained by the proximity of urban areas/cities to the outside world and information. In most cases, rural migrants move first to the cities sometimes with the intention to settle permanently, but then may emigrate having been privileged to information and necessary travel documents.
In terms of destination, it is observed from the analysis that the most preferred choice of destination by most emigrants was European countries and the USA. The choice of such countries may be influenced by economic reasons as they are perceived to have better employment opportunities and good educational facilities for further studies. The analysis further shows that, for most of the migrants,
8 3
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
economic motivations influenced their migration. More than four-fifths of respondent households’ members had migrated abroad for employment and/or undertake further studies reasons. This is an indication of the challenges we have as a country to create enough and decent employment. Migration decisions were also largely made with the participation of family and migrants were assisted to move by family members both home and abroad. It was also evident that most of the emigrants had stayed for a period of 4 or more years which can be described a long-term migration.
Regarding working and living conditions, majority of households had had one complain or the other from emigrant members. The issue of hard work, high cost of living in host countries and bad conditions of service in host countries were the most complained about. This notwithstanding, most migrants were reported to be better off in destination countries. Majority were observed to be working in jobs that match their educational and professional background and experience, with most emigrants indeed reported to be holding higher positions than before.
3.5 Emigration and remittancesRemittances (money sent back home) serve as a link between migration and the development of less developed regions and households where migration does occur. Beyond occasional or regular visits and communication, migrants send remittances to their families to enable them get the necessities of life and to keep social relations. It is important to state, however, that while some migrants may maintain close contact with families back home others may not. Most households see migration as having an important livelihood role, because the remittances enable them to meet important household expenses and make it easy for them to engage in income-generating activities. In order to properly understand the how remittances affect
8 4
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
families’ livelihoods, the survey investigated the manner, how often and methods or ways of sending remittances.
3.5.1 Forms and frequency of remittancesMigrants normally send remittances in cash and/or in kind. Studies, however, have shown that remittances from international destinations are mostly in cash compared to in kind. This is because it is easier and cheaper to transfer cash than goods due to freight charges. Regarding how the remittances are received, it is observed that most of remittances sent were in the form of cash rather than goods. As demonstrated in Table 3.19, 66 percent of the respondents in the survey received cash (money) while 54 percent received theirs in the form of goods. As indicated by the survey analysis, even though cash remittances are the most common, it is also evident that in-kind remittances are quite huge as well. It is likely that the in-kind or goods remittances may include all manner of used items such as clothing, mattresses, household utensils, electrical appliances, motor parts and groceries though this is not clear in the survey. However, they are the kind of items that are sold and patronised in most urban localities of Ghana.
Table 3.19 also presents how often remittances were sent by migrants. Largely, remittances are sent on regular basis. Emigrants who sent remittances once every month were 23 percent and once every three months were 22 percent. Another 19 percent indicated that remittances are sent once every six months. It is observed that most remittances are sent once a year, (36 percent). In the analysis, mostly cash remittances are sent monthly (32 percent) while goods remittances are sent once in a year (49 percent). Quarterly remittances are mostly in cash as compared to goods, while half-yearly remittances are mostly goods as compared to cash. The sending of goods remittances takes some time, perhaps due to the
8 5
FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
cost involved and the medium of transport used. In terms of locality, remittances are sent to urban respondents more frequently than rural respondents (see figure 5). This might be because it is easy to receive remittances in urban areas which are better connected to the outside world than rural areas.
Table 3.19: Frequency of remitting by forms of remittance
Does migrant mem-bers send remittances
Forms of Remittances
Cash (Money)Non cash (Goods)
Both
No. % No. % No. %
Yes 812 66.2 696 53.7 812 66.2
No 414 38.8 599 46.3 414 33.8
All 1,226 100.0 1,295 100.0 1,226 100.0
How often do migrants remit?
Once every month 243 32.4 65 10.5 308 22.5
Once every three months 187 24.9 113 18.2 300 21.9
Once every six months 127 16.9 138 22.2 265 19.3
Once a year 193 25.7 305 49.1 498 36.3
All 750 100.0 621 100.0 1,371 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
3.5.2 Channels for sending remittancesMigrants use several different channels to send remittances home.
However, there are two broad classes of channels— informal and
formal. Informal channels include transfers through mediums such as
hand carriage by migrants themselves, acquaintances, or unregulated
money transfer operators (MTOs). On the other hand, formal channels
include transfers via banks and non-bank financial institutions, and
regulated MTOs such as Western Union, Moneygram, and Vigo
Money Transfer. In most cases, the preference of one mode over
the other depends on various factors including the transfer charges
involved and the risk of money likely to be lost as well as the legal
status of the migrant abroad. In Ghana, there is a wide range of
formal and informal channels. In many countries, where there are no
supportive institutions for remittances, informal remittance systems
have spread.
The distribution of the main channels of remittance, cash or non-
cash, used by migrants is presented in Table 3.20. The survey findings
revealed that most of the respondents received their remittances via
formal channels. Regarding money or cash transfer, 61 percent were
remitted via MTOs and 29 percent via bank transfers. Only 10 percent
said money was sent through an acquaintance (somebody). In terms
of goods or non-cash transfer, about two-fifths (40 percent) said
they were sent via an acquaintance while 21 percent said it was by
migrants themselves during visits home. Courier services (22 percent)
and post office (17 percent) was other common methods used in
sending goods remittance. The findings show that, there is a greater
use of formal channels for cash remittances, while informal channels
have become more reliable methods in terms of goods remittances.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Table 3.20: Main channels for remittance transfer used by migrants
Channel of TransferCash (Money) Non cash (Goods)
No. % No. %
Brings personally - - 98 21.0
Bank Transfer 209 28.7 - -
Via MTOs 445 61.2 - -
Via post office - - 78 16.7
Courier Service - - 104 22.3
Via somebody 73 10.1 186 39.9
All 727 100.0 466 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
SummaryAn important product of migration is the remittances migrants send
back home. According to the survey, a significant proportion, 66
percent, of the households who have a family member living abroad
regularly receive remittances from them. It was clear that, majority
of the remittance-receiving households get remittances at least once
every quarter, of which about 23 receive once every month and 22
percent once every 3 months. It is also evident from the analysis
that remittances are sent to Ghanaian households in various forms
and through a number of different channels. From the survey, even
though remittance in cash is the most dominant, goods remittance
is also quite huge. Emigrants send back home both money and
goods through banks and MTOs, through friends and other people
who travel to Ghana and by emigrants themselves. For the most
part, cash remittances are sent mainly through formal means (90
percent) i.e. through money transfer operators (MTOs) and banks
whereas goods are remitted mostly through informal means (61
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
percent) i.e. acquaintances and emigrants personally. The fact that
cash remittances are sent through official means or formal channels,
especially through the banks, is a positive sign, because this could
help promote better saving habits, while those funds captured as
deposits could be used for investment.
3.6 Return migration and reintegrationAccording to the UN definition, return emigrants or returnees are
persons returning to their country of citizenship after having been
international migrants, short-term or long-term, in another country,
and who are intending to stay in their own country for at least a year.
Migrants may return voluntarily or involuntarily to settle permanently
or temporarily. Reintegration may be simply described as the process
by which returnees are accepted back or absorbed into society. It
involves reducing social and economic barriers, creating equal
opportunities and enabling returnees to participate actively in the
public, economic, social, political and other areas of life.
3.6.1 Intentions and motives for returnThere are various reasons why migrants decide to return home.
Generally speaking, the reasons for return can be grouped into ‘push’
factors in the host country and ‘pull’ factors at home (country of
origin). The push factor may include difficulties in finding good jobs
and difficulties in being part of the host society, while the pull factor
may include improved socio-economic conditions at home. Regarding
return migration (re-emigration), the survey asked respondents if their
migrant’s families had expressed any intention to return to Ghana
someday and the possible reasons for return. As shown in Table 3.21,
a greater majority of the respondents (81 percent) said emigrants had
expressed their intention to return one day. On the contrary, just a
few want to stay abroad or had no intention to return to Ghana (19
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
percent). According to the analysis, economic reasons were the major
motivation for emigrants’ intention to return. Setting up a business
or businesses was the main reason for emigrants’ intention to return,
(54 percent). Other reasons were for employment opportunities (12
percent) and retirement in Ghana (15 percent).
Regarding the claim that migrants would return if better jobs could
be found in Ghana, nearly 60 percent of the respondents agreed
or strongly agreed. Only 16 percent were in disagreement whereas
24 percent were not sure if finding better jobs back home would
encourage emigrants to return.
Table 3.21: Intentions to return and reasons for return.
Did members indicate they want to return one day and for what reason
No. %
Yes
• For employment 135 11.54
• To set up own business 637 54.44
• For retirement 172 14.70
No • They want to stay abroad 226 19.32
Total 1,170 100.00
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
In order to get accurate calculations concerning emigrants who
actually return, respondents were asked if they or any family member
had worked in other countries and returned to Ghana. Only 29
percent said yes, which showed that only about one-third of the
respondent’s households had at least one returnee (see Table 3.22).
Migrants can have different reasons to return. In some instances,
the decision to return was caused by different factors other than the
initial decision to migrate or even the initial intention to return. In
the survey, respondents (including return migrant respondents) were
asked to list the important reasons for return. As presented in Table
3.22, the major reason for the return of migrants was family-related
reasons. About 42 percent cited family reunion or marriage as the
reasons for their return. The motivation to retire home in Ghana was
another important reason for migrants’ return, (20 percent). Finding
a job or employment back home (17 percent) and the non-renewal
or end of residence/work permits (16 percent) also contributed to
migrants’ return. About 6 percent returned because they were fed
up with conditions in foreign host countries. From the analysis, even
though the reasons for return vary, it is clear that migrants’ return
was mainly affected by pull factors at home. This could be that most
returnees had decided to return voluntarily and were not forced by
circumstances to leave the host countries.
Further examination indicates that the time returnees have been
away or lived abroad ranges from less than one year to over 10 years.
Except for only 7 percent of returnees who had stayed away for less
than one year, majority had stayed away for at least one year. About
21 percent of returnees had stayed away for between 1 and 3 years,
between 4 and 6 years (24 percent) and between 7 and 10 years
(20 percent). About 27percent of returnees were reported to have
stayed abroad for over 10 years. It is very clear that the absence from
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
home was variable for the returnees which could be related largely to
the principal purpose of initial emigration of individuals, whether the
purpose has been achieved or not and challenges abroad.
Table 3.22: Return migration
No. %
Have you/any family member worked in other countries and returned to Ghana?
Yes 745 29.1
No 1,815 70.9
Total 2,560 100.0
Length of stay abroad/Time Away
Less than 1 year 51 7.4
1-3 years 146 21.1
4-6 years 169 24.4
7-10 years 137 19.8
More than 10 years 190 27.4
Total 693 100.0
Reasons for Return
Family reunion/marriage 295 42.3
For Retirement 136 19.5
Because they found a job in Ghana
116 16.6
Because they did not like the foreign country
43 6.2
End of work /residence permit 83 11.8
No renewal of work /residence permit
25 3.6
Total 698 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.6.2 Wages and working conditions in host countries of returneesSituations and circumstances in host countries can play a crucial
role in migrants’ decision to return or stay, beside conditions at
home. To have a complete understanding of the causes of migrants’
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
return, a further research question was asked in respect of wages
and working condition of returnees during their stay abroad. The
question was: “Did return migrants ever face low wages and bad
working conditions while in foreign countries?” Many returnees (60.5
percent) were reported to have faced low wages and /or bad working
conditions while working abroad (see Table 3.23). On the other
hand, about 41 percent claimed they did not face any bad conditions
and low wages. They reported that the most challenging situation
faced was low wages (35 percent), followed by lack of employment
(17 percent). In addition, working more than the stipulated 8 hours
per day (15 percent) and verbal abuses by colleagues and superiors
at work (13 percent) were equally worse conditions (see Figure 7).
Other unfavourable, though minor, conditions returnees had faced
while abroad included issues such as leave without pay (5 percent),
non-payment for overtime or weekend work (3 percent), no social
security contribution (3 percent), no paid sick leave (2 percent), no
medical care and bad safety measures at work (1.5 percent each) as
well as sexual harassment at work (0.8 percent).
Table 3.23: Situation of wages and working conditions in host country before return
Did you or family members face low wages/bad working conditions?
No. %
Yes 426 60.5
No 278 39.5
Total 704 100.0
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Source: Survey Data, 2013
3.6.3 Challenges of return migration and reintegration Things can be difficult when migrants have stayed away, especially
for long, and returned. Alongside structural changes and general
development in the country of origin, family and community situations
as well as personal relations and networks are likely to change. These
can make migrants have adjustment challenges when they return. As
presented in Table 3.24, the study revealed that most of the return
migrants were confronted with difficulties in various forms in their
attempts at reintegration. About 54 percent of the returnees were
confronted with social and economic difficulties trying to adjust
while about 46 percent had no difficulty in adjusting to life. Of those
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
who faced difficulties, opening or setting up a business was their
biggest source of frustration and problems (36 percent). Another
serious difficulty reported was the problem of reintegration with
family and community (23 percent). About 17 percent claim they
faced workplace difficulties, bureaucratic administrative procedures
(16 percent) and other challenges,(8 percent). Broadly, the key
challenges faced by return Ghanaian migrants in the survey had to
do with how to reintegrate socially, professionally, economically and
institutionally.
Table 3.24: Return migration and reintegration challenges
No. %
Were difficulties faced after return?
Yes 368 54.3
No 310 45.7
Total 678 100.0
Kind of difficulties faced to get used to new life.
Reintegrating with the community or family
67 23.2
Administrative procedures 45 15.6
Difficulties at a work place 50 17.3
Difficulties to open or set up own business
104 36.0
Other 23 8.0
Total 289 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
There is no doubt that people, and for that matter migrants, will
have fond memories of where they once lived and worked, especially
if they had established networks and relations that cannot easily be
forgotten. Therefore, no matter what might have motivated migrants’
return, they will still have fond memories of the host countries.
Asked, how they agree to the statement that returnees miss life in
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
foreign countries, the findings revealed that many respondents feel
their returnee family members have missed the life they once lived
in foreign countries. About 52 percent of the respondents were in
agreement that returnees have missed life abroad. Quite a sizeable
number of the respondents were not sure if returnees missed their life
abroad (31 percent), whereas only 17 percent were in disagreement.
Concerning whether migrants returned of their own freewill or not,
as many as 59 percent of the respondents agreed that returnees
were back home of their own freewill (see Figure 8). Twenty-nine
(29) percent of the respondents were not sure while 12 percent were
in disagreement.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Source: Survey Data, 2013
SummaryThis part of the survey dealt with return migration plans and
reasons for return as well as the reintegration problems back home.
Many migrants dream or have plans of returning one day to their
homeland, at least at the time they are beginning the first step in
the migration process. However, the intention to return may be
different from actually returning depending on the course of events
in the host community and the country of origin. Regarding return
migration plans, a greater proportion (81 percent) of the migrant
households expressed that emigrants intended to return. However,
the analysis shows that, only 29 percent of households indeed had
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
had their emigrants return. By the analysis, apart from the hope to
retire home and probably finding employment at home, the main
reason respondents gave for their emigrants’ return intentions
were to return and set up businesses, perhaps to avoid looking for
paid employment. These appear to suggest that, in the Ghanaian
case considerations for return are largely determined by economic
motivations (operating businesses to provide additional income or
create employment and be in paid employment). This fact is further
seen with nearly 60 percent of the respondents agreeing or strongly
agreeing that emigrant members would return if better jobs could be
found in Ghana.
Concerning actual return, there are a host of factors that lead
emigrants to return to Ghana. The findings show that emigrants return
mainly because of family reunion or marriage reasons. In addition,
the freedom to choose, to retire and find a job at home were equally
key motivators for emigrants’ actual return. The fact that majority
of the returnees did so for family reunion and/or retirement reasons
shows that the migration was marked by a relatively long period of
time spent in the host countries. The analysis gives evidence to this
with nearly 72 percent of the respondents indicating that emigrant
members have stayed away for at least 4 years.
Circumstances in destination countries can play a role in migrants’
return. However, the foregoing analysis suggests that there were
more “pull” factors than “push” factors. Even though not liking the
host foreign country anymore as well as non-renewal or end of work/
residence permit were other reasons for return, nearly 61 percent
of returnees had faced problems of low wages and bad working
conditions before their return. This might have persuaded them to
return. The most important problems mentioned as faced by the
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
emigrants in host countries included low wages, lack of employment,
working overtime and verbal abuse by co-workers or superiors.
From a development point of view, return migration can play an
important part in the improvement of social and economic conditions
of origin communities and families, if there exists a favourable
environment for returnees to reintegrate (be absorbed) smoothly.
This is because, in some instances, migrants may return with financial
capital, material capital and skills to apply at home. However, the
prospects of return and reintegration can be confronted with various
challenges. The survey findings show that majority of the emigrants
were met with various experiences and problems while trying to
reintegrate after returning home. Many have had difficulties in trying
to set up businesses. This may be a sign of official and legal barriers
entrepreneurs face when they are trying to register new businesses
in Ghana. Another important experience for returning emigrants
was the problem of living with the community or family. Returnees
who had this challenge might have lost contact with families and
community during their period abroad or had adopted a changed
lifestyle after return. A sizeable number also had difficulties at the
workplace or with administrative procedures in trying to adjust back
in Ghana.
The survey also observes that even though most emigrants had
returned on their own freewill, there was largely the general feeling
or agreement that returnees have missed life in host countries. This
can be expected as most emigrants have stayed for long periods
abroad and would have established various links and social networks.
Such links and networks sustain international relationships, of which
ones feelings of belong is an important part.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
3.7 Intentions for emigration and re-emigrationMigration is as old as human existence. Humans have migrated since
time immemorial. These patterns of migration have ranged from
journeys of a few kilometres to very long travels across oceans and
continents by road, sea or air. Drought, plagues, floods, or other
natural disasters have caused migration. Social disorder, violence,
ethnic clashes, escape from slavery, invasions, and exile have created
forced migration. Adventurers have migrated to seek new lands,
fame, fortune, or power. Formation of empires, colonies, and nation
states have taken people across Asia, Africa, Europe, Russia, the
Americas, New Zealand, Australia, and Iceland in the olden days20 .
International migration, in particular, is sometimes discussed in the
areas of “push” and “pull” factors in the global discussions. But is
also true that there are others with different views who argue about
a more complex set of factors affecting international migration.
Some of these relate to conditions, social and economic factors. This
is what makes this subject much more complex. The intention to
emigrate21 or re-emigrate depends on so many factors and these
can be grouped into push and pull factors. Especially for first time
emigrants, bad socio-economic conditions and social and political
conflicts at home are usually the push factors, while the prospects
of good jobs, education, migrant networks and population issue
changes in foreign countries are the pull factors. For re-emigrants, the
motivation largely has to do with reintegration difficulties experienced
upon return home as well as family commitments abroad.
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20 “History of International Migration,” Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, The University of Warwick21 Despite the fact that migrants often face many challenges including dangerous journeys, exploitation
by criminal smuggling networks, difficult working and living conditions, and intolerance when they arrive on foreign soil, migrants with undocumented status are afraid to seek help when their rights are violated.
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
3.7.1 Intention to emigrate given the opportunityIndividual choices and family decisions may influence the decision
to migrate when people feel insecure in their jobs or their incomes
are not enough for their needs, as seen in the other section of
insufficient incomes. The survey reveals that individuals may migrate
based on both economic and social ties. From the study, out of 2,738
responses, only 8.2 percent indicated that they would not migrate
given the opportunity while about 9 percent were not sure, and a
large 82.8 percent indicated that they would possibly travel beyond
their borders to find employment given the opportunity. Trade unions
must negotiate for better incomes and job security for their members
as well better social protection packages to take care of the most at-
risk people in the society. It is seen in previous sections that working
conditions and livelihoods also influence the intention to migrate.
Individual, group or family decisions are mostly based on insufficient
incomes.
3.7.2 Intention to migrate to other parts of africa with stronger economiesRegarding migration to other countries the question was asked
whether one would prefer migrating to other African countries with
stronger economies. Out of a study population of 2,399, 16 percent
which is (432 respondents) strongly agreed; 38.2 percent (1,032
respondents) agreed; 20.9 percent (563 respondents) were not sure
what would be the preference; 17.6 percent, (473 respondents)
disagreed and the remaining 17.2 percent (representing 194
respondents) strongly disagreed. Also this tells us that prospective
migrants would move anywhere provided they would find a job. This
is a clear indication of south-south migration. There are many other
West Africans living and working in Ghana today. Some Ghanaians
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
and other West Africans move to South Africa in search of better
jobs. South-south migration also means that if the quality of jobs,
especially in the public sector, are increased, it will control the threat
of migration. Developing countries must create decent jobs for their
citizens because people will stay in their countries of origin if they are
well paid and would be able to have a say in, and contribute to their
retirement.
3.7.3 Motivations for re-emigration, intention to emigrate and prospects of returnThe intention to emigrate and/or re-emigrate is underlined by several
motivations. Concerning this issue, the survey analysis revealed that,
the most common motivations for respondents’ consideration to re-
emigrate or emigrate are, in fact, related to both prospect of finding
better job opportunities and appropriate course of study (2,248).
Interestingly, 230 respondents expressed the view that they would still
migrate even if they do not find jobs or educational opportunities out
there because they still believe there are better and more opportunities
in receiving countries than back home. This is a reflection of the poor
rating by respondents earlier in the analysis on incomes and general
socio-economic conditions in Ghana. Although individuals naturally
may migrate regardless of their status, most prospective migrants of
today look forward to better their standards of living anyway. People
will go to where they have relatives or friends with the hope that
these people will help them find jobs fast and easily. With this in
mind, migrants move beyond their borders without looking at the
demands of the jobs they seek to occupy. This leads to unofficial
migrant status.
Further questioning shows that, almost all respondents believe in
further studies and work abroad as compared to just a few who
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
would travel to reunite with their family members. The first case may
be due to the fact that there are no families abroad to reunite with.
This goes to emphasize the fact that there is the need to create more
decent jobs and better avenues for further studies in the countries of
origin. This response may be said to be due to the sample chosen— a
youthful generation— whose interest is to have higher education. It
can also be seen in the responses of where children of respondents
attend school and where they would have been given the resources.
Scholars who have ideas about migration yet to be proved believe
that, more would-be migrants would travel to where there is a
relation or where they have contacts rather than travel to new
areas to explore all by themselves. This study showed this trend as
more than half of the respondents have preference towards areas
where there are known relations as opposed to very few individuals
who would want to be on their own and start all by themselves by
breaking new grounds.
Source: Survey Data, 2013
Concerning the claim whether prospective migrants would return or
not if jobs are created in Ghana, most would-be migrants (52 percent)
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
indicated they had the intention to return. Twenty-six (26) percent think they never intend to return, while 22 percent were undecided (not sure). It may be interesting to find out the reasons for people not intending to return if they had the opportunity to migrate, despite the potential challenges referred to earlier, in host countries. This is equal to the numbers that think they would migrate abroad even without a job offer or place to stay. However, the majority who had the intention to return could be the ones motivated by employment and education reasons. Therefore if conditions back in Ghana are improved, they could be motivated to send remittances for investment and eventually return, or at least engage in circular migration. This can improve culture, bring new ideas, new technology, as well as products to family and the economy in general.
3.7.4 Language barriers to emigration The debate over language is often a heated one. Most nations encourage newcomers to learn the national language. Language can be seen as a means for integration and absorbing the host culture. It is seen as a unifying force. For full participation in the national and political life in the host country, migrants benefit from knowledge of the language. Some see language differences as a matter of identity, cultural pride, diversity, and a connection with one’s ancestors. Where language differences are accepted, there are costs such as bi-lingual education, multi-lingual signs and instructions, and a constant need for qualified interpreters. Language is fluid and constantly changing. For language purists, (traditionalists) the introduction of new languages may endanger the old form of the language22.
The survey also investigated if language could be a possible barrier to people wanting to emigrate. Interestingly, the report reveals that Ghanaians are daring and will want to learn new languages and try
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
22 Rae, Leah, “Pass along language skills, immigrant parents told; video,” The Journal News, March 5, 2007
to find out more about new cultures. This is contrary to the migration systems theories which say individual migration decisions would lean towards known languages than to learning new ones.
More would-be migrants would want to come back and settle in their country of origin after they have acquired some capital or some technological knowhow to settle on their own or be employed with new skills acquired abroad. This also agrees with circular migration supporters who are of the view that, individuals would transfer technology from countries of destination to countries of origin. This claim is debatable since most Ghanaians who have travelled to work come back home only when they can no longer work, or have attained the compulsory retirement age. A recent survey conducted by the Public Services International in collaboration with Health Services Workers’ Union of TUC Ghana and the Ghana Registered Nurses Association, found out that when the Government of Ghana sent some nurses out on an exchange programme to bring back the experiences earned, only a handful returned. This means that migrants would prefer to stay and work in destination countries than to return to their own countries, and this leads to brain drain.
3.7.5 Prospective migrants’ preferred destinationThe survey indication of destination countries of would-be migrants is not different from previous emigration patterns of Ghanaians as indicated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) 2010 Ghana Migration Profile. As demonstrated in Table 3.25, a significant proportion of prospective migrants would prefer the USA (43 percent) and European countries (41 percent). This is followed with about 6 percent preference for Australia, other African countries (5 percent), Asia (4.3percent) and the least being Latin America (0.9 percent). This is in line with the earlier analysis on households’ emigrant members’ destination countries abroad. This might also
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
just be echoing the views of most respondents (about 53 percent) who indicated they would follow a family member to the country he/she has migrated to. It is important to state, however, that this is in contrast to the view that would-be migrants would dare go into new language destination countries as the United States of America, an English-speaking country, is the preferred destination first, and Europe second. The point would have to be made that in Europe, the preferred destination is most likely United Kingdom, it being an English-speaking country.
Table 3.25: Prospective migrants intended countries of destination
Country Percent (%)
Europe 41.2
United States of America 42.8
Latin America 0.9
Australia 5.8
Asia 4.3
Other African Countries 5.0
Total (N=2,608) 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
A pre-decision and information kit developed by some trade unions in Ghana to educate prospective migrants sets out the things to look out for before one decides to migrate. Some sending countries believe that borders should be monitored and exit permits should be restricted in order to control of labour and intellectuals. Other sending countries choose to offer incentives to those who pursue overseas employment and travel. Sending countries also struggle with issues of citizenship of their nationals
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
who adopt a new country. There are countries that recognise dual or multiple citizenship. In other words, a citizen in a country retains that nationality even if she or he obtains citizenship in another country. Other countries do not recognise dual citizenship, so once their citizens obtain citizenship in another country they lose all rights of nationality in their home country. Another question facing sending countries is the extent to which they will protect their citizens who are residing in another country. There are rights of embassies to protect and publicly support their citizens in another country. But such exercise of protection requires use of political capital and resources to commit to effective advocacy of their citizens abroad23 .
SummaryRespondents have indicated that they would look out for job opportunities before they migrate but few also would migrate whether there is a job opening or not. But in most instances, it is believed that more people would rather migrate and look for jobs than finding the job before departure.
The increasing regional and global economies depending on each other (interdependence) is a good forecast that migration will not stay put but it will follow increasingly more complex patterns. Some might argue that this trend is a positive one. Others might disagree and would suggest that national resources be used to stop the tide of globalisation in order to protect the integrity of nation states, their boundaries, and their economies. Some might put forward as fact that globalisation is occurring in spite of nation-states, while others would argue that globalisation is the product of decisions and actions taken by nation-states and individuals.
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
23 Udogu, E. Ike, “African Development and the Immigration of Its Intelligentsia: An Overview”
The responses from the study also reveal that individuals would want to look out for these things including work permit, resident’s permit, contracts of employment, the labour laws in the destination country and climatic conditions, among others, but migrants always find themselves in distress for lack of information. Could it be that would-be migrants do not get relevant or accurate information? This is an area that could be explored further.
3.8 Migration information seeking andknowledge of recruitment agenciesMost prospective migrants have information or they do not always seek for enough information on the employment and other opportunities that exist in intended destination countries. Neither do they have information about the legal processes for migrating, and agencies that facilitate immigration. In particular, information on recruitment agencies is secretive and people do not give this information easily. There are some visa contractors also in the system who do not find jobs for the migrants but all that they do is to get them to the destination country.
It is interesting to note that most respondents, (about 76 percent), indicated they would inform themselves about regulations before embarking on migration. This is a reflection of the lack of knowledge on legal processes of migrating. Concerning information on recruitment agencies, interestingly, most respondents, close to 50 percent, showed knowledge of the existence of recruitment agencies who could find jobs for prospective migrants, while a good number did not also know of the existence of such agencies. Further analysis indicates that a good number of intending migrants also know that these recruitment agencies are supposed to be regulated by law but they are not aware which laws regulate their activities. Over 60 percent of intending migrants do not believe these agencies are
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
regulated and controlled by the state. About the same proportion have also indicated they have heard of emigrants complaining about recruitment agencies. The common complaints were in regard to costly or expensive charges (28 percent), bad services (19 percent) and unfulfilled promises including jobs that do not meet workers’ qualifications (48 percent) as well as improper documents (5 percent). These findings show the workings of the informal and unregulated nature of recruitment agencies for migrant workers. it is no wonder that innocent Ghanaian would-be migrants are openly exploited (without means of protection in Ghana), in terms of high recruitment fees and links to non-existent jobs abroad, especially in Dubai and Qatar.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) decisions agreed upon by various parties on labour migration (which is a set of non-binding principles and guidelines for a right-based approach to labour migration) has a regulatory framework on which countries and organisations can have knowledge about practices of international recruitment. Individuals are encouraged to also read this document to increase their knowledge. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a non-binding global code of practice on international recruitment of health professionals and it is believed that member countries could use it to improve the practices of migration in the health sector. This code of practice has elements of moral principles of recruitment practices and can be adopted for all sectors.
3.8.1 Assertion that prospective migrants would use recruitment agencies It is believed that intended migrants know very little about the activities of recruitment agencies and very few are aware of their existence. Information from the study reveals that those who have ever contacted and dealt with recruitment agencies in the past have issues ranging from their cost being too high, bad services, arranging
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FINDINGS FROM THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
for jobs which do not meet migrants’ qualifications, to wrong documentation, with failed promises topping the list.
With the experiences of those who have ever used the services of recruitment agencies, about 61 percent of the study population indicated that they would not use the services of recruitment agencies. Only 39 percent of the respondents showed interest in the services of these agencies irrespective of the challenges.
Of the respondents who indicated that they were prepared to use the services of recruitment agencies, 678 are prepared to pay various sums of money ranging from $1000 USD to over $10,000 USD. Some respondents indicated that they were prepared to pay whatever it may cost them to travel abroad. This shows that, no matter the amount placed on this issue, people would still pay and travel abroad. This might be an indication of the challenges people face in Ghana and the lack of confidence in the growth and development prospects of Ghana. This is not to say that things are rosy abroad, given the general economic challenges industrialised countries are dealing with.
Table 3.26: Amount of fees prospective migrant are prepared to pay for recruitment services
Amount (USD) Percent (%)
Up to 1000 36.4
Up to 3000 12.2
Up to 5000 7.2
Up to 1000 4.4
Above 10000 3.2
Whatever it may cost 36.6
Total (N=678) 100.0
Source: Survey Data, 2013
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
4.0 Introduction This chapter summarises the key findings of the field survey and the
conclusions emerging from both the literature review and the survey.
Some recommendations based on the key findings for policy and
action are also added to this.
4.1 Summary and conclusions The study has, to a large extent, supported national statistics and
findings of other research studies undertaken in the past on a
combination of social and economic factors as well as population
characteristics of the Ghanaian population or households. The survey
has highlighted a known fact that households are mostly headed by
males and the population is generally youthful. It also came to light
that a good number of the households’ members have secondary
education while a sizeable number of illiteracy or semi-illiteracy still
prevails, especially in rural households. Again, it has also been shown
that a good number of those without jobs were composed of people
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SUMMARY,CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
CHAPTER FOUR
1 1 2
with no formal education while those who had jobs were engaged
largely in the informal sector for a living. The findings further revealed
that, one out of every ten persons was unemployed mostly among
the youth (15-35 year group).
The general low salaries and incomes that exist for most workers in
Ghana were also revealed in the survey. This confirmed the widely
held view that salaries and incomes are insufficient and therefore not
adequate to sustain households’ livelihood. This was particularly a
serious problem for rural households and localities as well as among
women and the youth. Other revelations that are not different from
national situations are the low coverage of social protection, declining
patronage for public education systems, poor or inadequate working
conditions, and the strong lack of faith in the prospects of Ghana’s
socio-economic growth and development. On the contrary, however,
the survey revealed a largely positive view held by most respondents
that conditions are better in foreign countries.
These re-confirm the general view in the country that earnings and
incomes are not sufficient to cater for the basic needs of most workers
and their families, apart from the indecent conditions under which
people work. This shows why the payment of decent salaries and
improved working conditions for workers in the country is important,
and is a view always held by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
and Labour Unions, including TUC Ghana. Generally, if the socio-
economic conditions of people are not improved, if employment is
not created and the distribution of growth is not fairly done, such
opposing views could go a long way to reinforce people’s decisions
and cause people to emigrate.
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
1 1 3
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding the workings of migration, return migration and related
issues, there appears not to be any clear and reasonable agreed-upon
ideas and ways to govern and manage migration properly, especially
external migration. What exist are scattered methods and institutions
with duplicating roles. The survey did reveal that a significant scale of
emigration is taking place in Ghana, which largely involves men and
occurs in urban areas. These show the lack of employment in Ghana,
and the better prospects of job opportunities and education abroad.
It also re-confirms the fact that the gender profile of migration
streams are relatively male-dominated.
For most emigrants, their preferred choice of destination is the USA or
Europe. However, the study could not indicate any specific European
country, given the fact that there are crises in some countries and
migrants are not welcome. However, the choice of such destinations
was largely influenced by economic reasons as they are perceived
to have better employment opportunities and good educational
facilities for further studies. This supports findings of other studies
carried out on the motives behind Ghanaians emigrating and place
of destination.
Most of the emigration has been voluntary, long term and largely
decided with, and helped by family members. Though there
were some associated challenges with regard to work and living
conditions abroad, most emigrants were better off working abroad.
It was indicated that most were working in jobs that matched their
educational and professional background and experience, with
most indeed reported to be holding higher positions than before.
This was reflected in a significant proportion of emigrants sending
remittances, majority of which were through formal channels. This
1 1 4
can be a positive sign to promote better saving habits, while those
funds captured as deposits could be used for investment if these
channels and institutions involved are regulated and managed
properly.
Concerning return, the survey found that many emigrants dream of
returning one day to Ghana. However, the intention to return may
be different from actually returning depending on the situation of
events in host countries and the country of origin. It was revealed
that, most emigrants had indeed not returned even though they had
planned to return. In terms of planned return and actual return, the
major motivations were to retire and find employment in Ghana.
Equally important was the need for family reunion or marriage
considerations. The former finding could be an indication that things
are not all that rosy for all emigrants abroad. The economic crises in
some countries might be having a negative impact on them as well
as the poor working conditions some emigrants were reported to
be facing. Even though circumstances in destination countries, such
as the reported low wages and verbal abuses at work places, could
have played a role in emigrants’ return (though the survey is silent
on that), the survey implies that there were more “pull” factors than
“push” factors.
In terms of the impact of return migration, one has to consider the
prospects of return and reintegration. The survey found that the post
return situation and reintegration process was either not good or
very bad for most returnees. In particular, a considerable number
of returnees have had difficulties in trying to set up businesses
in particular. Even though the survey does not indicate whether
business services exist or not, nonetheless, it could be a reflection of
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
1 1 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to
incorporate and register new businesses in Ghana. The survey did also
reveal that many other returnees could not fully reintegrate with their
families and community while others had issues at work. Perhaps
these returnees might have lost touch with home during their stay
abroad or have adopted a different lifestyle after their return. Though
there are no indications from the survey, the challenges could also
be due to lack of services or migration centres to offer support to
returnees to adjust fully back home. These findings strengthen the
need for further studies, and in general the need for more efficient
reintegration services, especially from the public services to support
returnees and those intending to return.
From a development perspective, return migration can play an
important role in the socio-economic improvement of origin
communities and families, if there is a favourable and environment
for returnees to reintegrate smoothly. This is because, in some
instances, migrants may return with financial capital, material capital
and skills to apply at home. However, the positive impact of return
and reintegration cannot be felt if the various challenges are not
addressed. Related to this was the issue of informal and unregulated
recruitment agencies and their unfair processes. One cannot talk
about ethical recruitment and placement agencies, when the system
is not transparent due to non-regulation. The survey findings show
that majority of would-be emigrants are aware of the various
experiences and problems people are exposed to in dealing with such
agencies. However, most had no option than to deal with them no
matter the cost.
While there are various sides to the migration situation, increased
1 1 6
attention should be paid to this and practical steps taken to address
this development issue. Even though the state must take the lead, all
stakeholders, including the trade unions, have a shared responsibility.
The world, and indeed developing countries, cannot reduce poverty
early enough if this segment of the development process is excluded.
At least, how well emigration is managed would be crucial for the
promotion of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and the achievement of
the MDGs or the SDGs.
4.2 RecommendationsThis study has revealed some important findings that need further
consideration by stakeholders in the migration situation. The chapter
therefore presents the recommendations based on the key findings
for policy and action.
The study has demonstrated beyond doubt that the key influences on
emigration are bad socio-economic conditions, especially in Ghana.
At least, the influences are more national than international. The
fact that socio-economic working and living conditions, especially
wages and incomes, in some sectors in Ghana are bad, is not new.
What might be new or unnoticed is the impact of these on people’s
behaviour to migrate out of the country and the challenges thereof. In
fact, the distress emigrants go through, such as attacks and drowning
along migratory roots, cannot be over-emphasised. Government
needs to take a long term view and approach on improving socio-
economic environment for all citizens, then migration can be by
choice and not as a necessity. In particular, the other model of growth
and development should be more inclusive24 and there should be
increase in the social content of wider economic policies.
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
24 At least promoting better access to employment and economic opportunities for all citizens is an effective way of empowering people to stay.
1 1 7
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding the conditions of emigration, despite the firm view of
relatively better conditions and opportunities in foreign countries,
migrants appear to be unevenly more affected or face serious decent
work challenges abroad. Such people at risk need protection for
better lives. Effective migrants’ protection needs both a national and
international effort. Beyond national efforts, government of Ghana
should work out methods to establish bilateral agreements with
countries that are hosts to many Ghanaian migrants, if not having
“migration for work” arrangements. This will offer some level of
protection to the human and socio-economic rights migrants.
Likewise, the trade unions in Ghana especially TUC Ghana through
its international recognition and influence, have a role to play. Unions
must begin to explore and build alliances, networks and cooperation
agreements with foreign trade unions of destination and transit
countries to provide services such as migrants’ complaints and
information centres. At least migrants who are unfairly treated or
have problems could avail themselves for redress and protection in
addition to facilitating informed migration for prospective migrants.
The trade unions should also work out methods to organise migrant
workers into unions. This is because unfair treatment of migrant
workers can undermine decent work conditions for all workers.
Generally, there appears not to be any coherent policy rules in Ghana
to govern and manage migration, especially external migration,
return migration and reintegration, properly. What exist are scattered
methods and institutions with overlapping roles. There is the need
for a workable national policy on labour migration to guide how
the issue of migration as a development challenge can be efficiently
managed, seeing that naturally, migration issues are many-sided.
1 1 8
First the law will help find ways to sustain or keep those returning
and then address re-emigration issues. The existence of public
services such as migration information centres, to influence and
ease migrants’ return and their full reintegration is necessary and
must be provided. Second, the issue of the informal, rent seeking
and unregulated landscape of recruitment agencies must be properly
organised and regulated.
There must be effective licensing to improve and formalise the
recruitment process as well monitor placement and recruitment
agencies in the country. The trade unions, in their organising drives,
should also provide pre-departure information kits to empower
members to make informed choices. Through bilateral agreements,
efforts should be made to harmonise and simplify recruitment
regulation throughout migration corridors linking both origin and
destination countries.
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
1 1 9
Addison, E.K.Y. (2005), “The macro-economic impact of remittances”, edited by Takyiwaa Manuh, At Home in the World? International Migration and Development in Contemporary Ghana and West Africa, Sub-Saharan Publishers, Accra (Ghana), pp.118-138.
Agyei, J., P. Quartey, Anarfi J. K. “Forthcoming Key Determinants of Migration among Health Professionals in Ghana”, Sussex DRC Working Paper.
Ammassari, S. (2004), From Nation-Building to Entrepreneurship: The Impact of Élite Return Migrants in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.Anarfi, J. K., et al. (2000), “Push and Pull Factors of International Migration. Country Report: Ghana”, Eurostat Working Papers 2000/E (10), 2003
Anarfi J., Kwankye S. (2003), “Migration from and to Ghana: A Background Paper.” University of Sussex: DRC on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty.
Aryeetey, E. and A. McKay (2004), “Operational Zing Pro-Poor Growth: A Country Case Study on Ghana”, Prepared as Part of the Operational Zing Pro-Poor Growth Work Program, Washington, DC, Joint Publication of AFD, BMZ, DFID and the World Bank.
R E F E R E N C E S /B I B L I O G R A P H Y
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Aryeetey E., et al. (2003) “Does tying make it costly?” Paper presented at a conference on “Quantifying the Impact of Rich Countries’ Policies on Poor Countries”, Organised by the Centre for Global Development and Global Development Network, Washington DC, 23-24 October 2003.
Asiedu, A. (2003) “Some Benefits of Migrants’ Return Visits to Ghana”, Paper presented at the International Workshop on Migration and Poverty in West Africa, University of Sussex, and Brighton, UK.
Achanfuo D. J. (1990) “Internal migration, population redistribution and urbanisation in Ghana”, University of Alberta, Department of Sociology.
Beals, R.E.; Menezes, C.F. Beals, R.E. and Menezes, C.F. 1970: Migration, Labour and Agricultural Output in Ghana, Oxford Economic Papers 22, 109-27. Black, R., et al. (2003) “Migration, Return and Small Enterprise Development in Ghana: A Route Out of Poverty?” Sussex Migration Working Paper, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
Bos-Jones, R. (2005), “The Dutch Perspective on Contemporary Migration”, edited by Takyiwaa Manuh, At Home in the World? International Migration and Development in Contemporary
Brettell, Caroline, et. al (eds.), Migration Theory: Talking across Disciplines, Routledge, New York, 2000.
Brydon, L. (1985) “Ghanaian Responses to the Nigerian Expulsions of 1983”, African Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 337, pp. 561-585.
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1 2 1
REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY
Buchan, J. and D. Dovlo (2004) “International Recruitment of Health Workers to the UK”: A Report for DFID, DFID Health Systems Resource Centre, London, February 2004.
Bump, M. (2006) “Ghana: Searching for Opportunities at Home and Abroad”, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University.
Caldwell, P. (1969) “African Rural-Urban Migration: Movement to Ghana’s Towns”, Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Carrington, W.J. and E. Detragiache (1999) “How Extensive is the Brain Drain?” Finance Development, 36 (2): pp. 46-49.
CIREFI (2009) “Database of the Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Frontiers and Immigration,” EU/Eurostat, accessed in January 2009.
Clemens M. and G. Pettersson (2007) “New Data on African Health Professionals Abroad”, Working Paper No. 95, Centre for Global Development, Washington DC.
Carroll, K. M., K. R. Nuro, and S. S. O’Malley. “Compliance Enhancement: A Manual for the Clinical Management of Drug-Dependent Patients”, Yale University School of Medicine, Psychotherapy Development Centre, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven CT (1999).
Daily Graphic (2005) “The Posted Babies Syndrome”, 11 August 2005. Retrieved May 10, 2014 from: http://www.Graphicghana.com/daily graphic/index.php
1 2 2
De Haas, H. (2007) “The Myth of Invasion: Irregular Migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union¸” International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
Development Research Centre (DRC), University of Sussex 2007 Global Migrant Origin Database, March 2007.
Docquier, F. and A. Marfouk (2006) “International Migration by Educational Attainment (1990-2000)”, in C. Ozden and M. Schiff (eds), International Migration, Remittances and Development, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Dovlo, D. (1999) “Issues Affecting the Mobility and Retention of Health Workers/ Professionals in Commonwealth African States”, Unpublished consultancy report for the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, copies available from the author.
Dzorgbo, Dan-Bright S. (1998) “Ghana in Search of Development: The Challenge of Governance, Economic Management and Institution Building”, Uppsala: Uppsala University, Sweden.
European Union: Delegation of the European Commission in Ghana, October 2006. ECOWAS
Fosu, Augustin Kwasi. “Political Instability and Economic Growth in Developing Economies: Some Specification Empirics.” Economics Letters 70.2 (1992, 2001): 289-294.
Ghana AIDS Commission 2007: NAACP, http://www.ghanaids.gov.gh/gac/index.php
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REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ghana Demographic and Health Survey 2004, Accra
Ghana Health Service 2008: Annual Report 2007.
Ghana Immigration Act, 2000 (ACT 573)
Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) 2008: Migration to and from Ghana (compilation from 2000 to 2008).
Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) 1999: Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 3 1998/99.
Globalisation and Labour Response, Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labour Relations.
Harvey, M. E. and Brand, R. R. (1974), “The Spatial Allocation of Migrants in Accra, Ghana.” Geographical Review Vol. 64, No. 1:1-30.
Manuh 1994, 1997; Masinde 1993; Mbilinyi 1992, English-Speaking Sub-Saharan Africa A Review of Research in the Social Sciences Magubane 2001; Mama 1996;
Margaret Peil (1991) “Nigerian Politics: The People’s View”
Migration from and to Ghana: A Background Paper, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, Working Paper Series, Working Paper C4, University of Sussex.
Population and Housing Census Report, 2000, Accra.
Population Data Analysis Report, 2005a.
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MAFE PROJECT: Briefing Paper No. 3 January 2013.Review of Maritime Transport: Report by the UNCTAD Secretariat, 2011.
Sutton, John (1993), Echoes of Edgeworth: The Problem of Indeterminacy, European Economic Review, 37 (2-3.). 491-499. ISSN 0014-2921.
Sutton, John and Binmore, K and Shaked, A (1993) Testing Non-Cooperative Bargaining Theory: A preliminary Experiment In: Hey, John D and Loomes, Graham, (eds.) Recent Developments in Experimental Economics, Series No. 29.
Sjenitzer, T. and R. Tiemoko (2003), “Do Developing Countries Benefit from Migration? A Study of the Acquisition and Usefulness of Human Capital for Ghanaian Return Migrants”,Sussex Centre for Migration Research.
Tiemoko, R. (2004), Migration, Return and Socio-Economic Change In West Africa: The Role of Family.
Twum-Baah, K.A. (2005) “Volume and Characteristics of International Ghanaian Migration” in Manuh T. (ed.) At Home in the World? International Migration and Development in Contemporary Ghana and West Africa, Accra: Sub-Saharan Africa.
Van Hear, N. (1998) “Refugee Studies and the Refugee Regime in Transition”, New Diasporas: the Mass Exodus, Dispersal and Regrouping of Migrant Communities, University College London Press, London. 1998a.
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Whithead and Hashim, (2005), Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, (2008). Tonah, S. (2005), “Fulani in Ghana: Migration History, Integration and Resistance”.
Yaro, J. A. (2005), Migration in West Africa: Patterns, Issues and Challenges, Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, Legon (n.d), Human Migration Guide, 200 Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Survey, 2003.
Zedillo, Ernesto (year), “Globalisation and the Changing Roles of the State,” The Trilateral Commission.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Annex 1.1: Distribution of respondents age group by sex, locality and marital status
Background characteristicsAge of respondent
15-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56+ Total
Sex
Male 29.1 20.2 6.4 2.6 1.1 59.4
Female 19.6 12.7 5.2 2.0 1.1 40.6
No. 1,365 919 323 131 61 2,799
Locality
Rural 26.3 14.3 4.9 2.3 1.5 49.2
Urban 22.2 18.7 6.7 2.4 0.7 50.8
No. 1,370 933 327 133 62 2,825
Marital status
Single 44.3 22.1 2.4 0.4 0.1 69.3
Married 3.0 11.4 8.5 4.1 1.7 28.6
Divorced/separated 0.1 0.3 0.7 0.1 0.2 1.4
Widowed 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.7
No. 1,305 931 323 133 62 2,754
Source: Survey Data, 2013
1 2 7
A N N E X E S
An
nex
1.2
: Res
po
nd
ents
ho
use
ho
ld t
ota
l mo
nth
ly in
com
e (i
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ent
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me
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e
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e G
rou
p: N
=2,
513
Edu
cati
on
al a
ttai
nm
ent:
N=
2,47
8
15-2
526
-35
36-4
546
-55
56+
No
fo
rmal
ed
uca
tio
nB
asic
Seco
nd
D
ary
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egre
e/m
aste
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ers
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tha
n 20
020
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71.
10.
54.
29.
112
.96.
21.
50.
10.
1
200-
400
9.7
8.9
2.9
0.9
0.4
1.7
4.6
7.4
6.4
2.1
0.4
0.1
401-
600
5.2
5.3
2.0
1.0
0.6
1.3
2.6
3.3
4.4
2.3
0.2
0.0
601-
800
3.3
4.1
1.8
0.6
0.2
0.3
1.1
2.3
3.6
2.8
0.0
0.0
Mor
e th
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007.
66.
63.
01.
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23.
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80.
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No.
1,16
185
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189
461
730
668
386
386
Sour
ce: S
urve
y D
ata,
201
3
1 2 8
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Annex 2.1: Selected national legal & policy instruments on migration
Legal/Policy Instrument Provision/focus
Refugee Law, 1992 (PNDCL 305D) Grants refugees status in accordance with the UN 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol as well as the AU 1969 Conven-tion; established the Ghana Refugee Board to manage refugee affairs.
Revised 1994 Population Policy Recognizes the role of migrants and voluntary return of skilled emigrants in national development as well as issues and problems of migration.
Free Zones Act, 1998 (Act 504) Grants resident permits to foreign work-ers who wish to engage in designated zones.
Citizenship Act, 2000 (Act 591) & the Citizenship Regulations, 2001 (LI 1690)
Grants citizenship by birth, naturalization and registration.
Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694) & Human Trafficking (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act 784)
Recognizes the 2000 UN Convention on Human Trafficking; created a Human traf-ficking Management Board.
Representation of the Peoples (Amend-ment) Act, 2006, (Act 669)
Allows Ghanaian emigrants to take part in democratic processes through voting in General Elections.
National Youth Policy, 2010 Recognizes the youth as potential for rural-urban migration and urbanization, and emigration due to the unemployment and other challenges.
National Climate Change policy, 2013 Guide the management of climate change and migration related processes and challenges.
1 2 9
ANNEXES
Annex 2.2: Selected key national institutions and their role on migration
Key Institution/Agency Role
National Migration Unit of the Ministry of Interior (MOI),
Among policy formulation, regulation and supervision, they see to migration data and information management.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MFARI),
Monitor to promote and protect nationals abroad; and also have oversight over the implementation of migration related conventions, protocols and agreements ratified by Ghana.
Ministry of Employment and Labour Rela-tions (MELR).
Implement and coordinate all activities and policies related to labour migration.
Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Manage, regulate, control and facilitate immigration and emigration as well as create database to provide information for planning.
National Development Planning Commis-sion (NDPC),
As a body responsible for all development initiatives, NDPC mainstreams migration issues into national development plan-ning.
Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) Provide data and information on migra-tion by collecting analyzing and dissemi-nating.
National Population Council (NPC). Provide technical leadership on the impact of migration on population dynamics and how migration can be integrated into development planning.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Annex 3.1: Summary of international conventions, policy frameworks, instructions and plans on migration
CONVENTIONS AND POLICIES
ILO Convention concerning migration for employment
1949: C97.
This convention is on policies, law, and regulations relating to
emigration and immigration and the members who ratified
the convention should provide free services to assist migrants
for re-employment, prevent misleading propaganda, facilitate
departure, journey and reception of migrants and facilitate
medical services, proper remuneration and social security
benefits according to national laws. The convention has 23
articles relating to these focus areas. It also articulates the
principle of equal treatment of migrant workers employed
lawfully in the country with the national workers, regarding
working conditions, trade union membership and enjoyment
of the benefits of collective bargaining, accommodation, social
security, employment taxes and legal proceedings relating to
matters outlined in the convention. Ghana is yet to ratify this
convention.
1 3 1
ANNEXES
Convention concerning migration in abusive conditions
and the promotion of equality of opportunity and
treatment of migrant workers 1975:C143
This convention is on illegal employment, clandestine
movement of migrants, information sharing to prevent illegal
employment, prosecution of manpower trafficking, equality
of treatment and security of employment, trade union and
cultural rights and social security for legal employees. In
Article1 Convention No. 143 imposes an obligation on state
properties, “To respect the basic human rights of all migrant
workers “confirming its applicability to migrant workers
having irregular status. No south Asian country has ratified
this convention to date. In Asia-Pacific, the Philippines ratified
convention No. 143 in 2006.
International convention on the protection of rights of
all migrant workers and members of their families 1990
(UN Convention 45/158)
This convention is applicable to the entire migration process
embarked upon by migrants and permeation of such migration
on their families, comprising preparation, departure, transit,
period of remunerated activity in the state of employment
and return. The convention has 71 Articles relating to the
protection and rights of all migrant workers. Ghana has
ratified this convention.
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Private employment agencies convention 1997 (ILO
Convention No 181)
This convention is particularly relevant to migrant workers,
especially since private agencies are now significantly involved
in the transfer of workers between countries. The convention
prescribes state parties to implement a system of licensing
and certification of agencies, prohibiting the denial of
worker’s rights to free association and collective bargaining,
discrimination against workers and the charging of fees to
workers directly or indirectly.
ILO Declaration on fundamental principles and rights at
work and its follow up 1998
This Declaration covers four fundamental principles and
rights at work; the freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining, elimination
of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, effective abolition
of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect
of employment and occupation. It specifically refers to the
protection of migrant workers in its preamble and is especially
relevant in the context of domestic work, as many domestic
workers experience inhuman and degrading conditions, which
sometimes is tantamount to forced or compulsory labour.
Ghana has ratified all the above.
1 3 3
ANNEXES
UN protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, supplementing
the un convention against transnational organised crime
2000
This UN Trafficking Protocol is the first international instrument
to identify trafficked persons as victims of crime and in
distinguishing this, supports the implementation of national
measures to recognise and respond to their status as victims of
crime, including providing support services for victims. Ghana
is a signatory to this Protocol, but is yet to rectify it.
ILO convention on multi-lateral cooperation for labour
migration 2005
Adopted in 2005, this convention is a global framework
of non-binding principles, guidelines and good practices
for rights based approach to labour migration. Based on
ILO conventions and standards, tripartite negotiations and
consensus of origin and destination countries, it comprises 15
principles and corresponding guidelines.
ILO multi-lateral framework on labour migration 2006:
This Framework establishes international guidelines on best
practices in multiple areas, promoting the following agenda:
promoting decent work for migrant workers; preventing
abusive practices, migrant smuggling and trafficking in
1 3 4
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
persons; protecting and promoting human rights of all migrant
workers and promoting awareness of rights of migrant
workers; improving labour inspection and creation of channels
for migrants to lodge compliants and seek remedy without
intimidation; measures to reduce the cost of remittance
transfers; incentives to promote productive investment of
remittances; measures to ensure that all migrant workers are
covered by national labour legislation and applicable social
laws; polices to encourage return migration, reintegration into
the country of origin and transfer of capital and technology
by migrants; including the contribution of migrants in
development; formulating orderly and fair migration schemes in
regional integration processes; promoting bilateral agreements
for well-regulated and fair migration between member states;
instituting fair and ethical recruitment practices and exploring
mutually beneficial approaches to ensure the adequate
supply of skilled, health and educational personnel that serve
the need of both sending and receiving countries including
through bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements; countering
unacceptable situations and specific risks for all migrant
workers; promoting social integration and inclusion, reducing
discrimination against workers; facilitating the portability of
social security entitlements and other entitlements through
bi-lateral, multi-lateral or regional agreements in relation to
the regular migrants; and promoting the recognition and
accreditation of migrant workers skills and qualifications as
appropriate , in order to enhance their employability.
1 3 5
ANNEXES
1 3 6
It is to be noted that this non-binding multi-lateral framework
recognises the necessity of policies on return and reintegration
of migrant workers, to maximise the contribution of migration
to development and identifies the facilitation of training of
return migrants, promoting transfers of technology, capital
and transnational business activities of migrants as focus areas.
ILO convention on decent work for domestic workers
2011: C189 and recommendation 2011 No. 201.
As of 2010, the ILO estimated over 53.6 million people working
as domestic workers worldwide, even though this number
might have increased, of the 53.6 million, 83 percent were
women, representing 3.6 percent of global wage employment
and 7.5 percent of total female wage employment.
Traditionally, domestic work is perceived as not “real” work,
performed unpaid by women in their homes. Internationally,
domestic work is often excluded from, legal protection offered
tom other workers and workplaces. Thereby, this convention
claims to be important in the realm of policies on migration, as
neither the local nor international domestic domains provide
sufficient protection to domestic workers.
Recommendation No.201 was adopted at the 100th session
of the International Labour Conference in June 2011.It
broadly defines domestic work as “work performed in or for a
household or households” and a domestic worker defined as
“any person engaged in domestic work within an employment
relationship.” This convention ensures the rights of domestic
workers.
LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
INSTITUTIONS AND PLANS
1. ILO plan of action for migrant workers 2008
ILO, the UN specialised agency working on labour issues has
been engaging with the labour migration since 1919 and
has pioneering international conventions to guide migration
policy and protection of migrant workers. All major sectors
within the ILO — standards, employment social protection
and social dialogue — focus on labour migration within its
overarching framework of “Decent Work for All”. ILO adopts a
rights based on approaches to labour migration and promotes
tripartite participation in migration policy. Being actively
engaged in diverse areas of labour migration, ranging from
elaborating policy approaches to protect departing migrant
workers, to offering advices on addressing challenges inherent
in irregular migration. In order to advance this agenda, the ILO
and its constituents agree to implement a Plan of Action in
partnership with relevant international organisations.
The Plan action shall include:
• Thedevelopmentofanon-bindingmulti-lateralframework
for a rights-based approach to labour migration, which
takes account of labour market needs, proposing guidelines
and principles for policies based on best practices and
international standards
• Identification of relevant action to be taken for a wider
application of international labour standards and other
relevant instruments
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ANNEXES
• SupportforimplementationoftheILOGlobalEmployment
Agenda at national level
• Capacity building, creating awareness and technical
assistance
• Strengtheningsocialdialogue
• Improvingtheinformationandknowledgebaseonglobal
trends in labour migration, conditions of migrant workers
and effective measures to protect their rights and
• MechanismstoensurefollowupofthePlanofActionby
the ILO Governing Body and ILO participation in relevant
international initiatives on migration.
2. Fair migration: Setting an ILO Agenda 2014
A report authored by the Director General of the ILO, Guy
Ryder, prepaid for the international Labour Conferences‘
103rd session in 2014, provides ILO’s tripartite constituency
a reiteration of the global importance placed on international
labour standards for migrant workers and provides a good
base for discussions moving forward.
3. IOM policy on the human rights of migrants
IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration
for the benefit of all and acts with its partners to uphold human
dignity and well-being of migrants. It also encourages social
and economic development through migration and assist in
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
meeting the growing operational challenges of migration
management and advance understanding of migration issues.
4. Global migration group (GMG)
In response to the recommendation of the Global Commission
on International Migration for the establishment of a high level
inter-institutional group of agencies involved in migration-
related activities, the GMG was established by the UN Secretary
General in early 2006. At present, GMG comprises 14 entities,
meeting at regular intervals. It is chaired by rotation every six
months by the executive heads of member organisations listed
below. ILO is the present chair of the GMG. The following are
the members: ILO; IOM; Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHIR); United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA); United
Nations Developments Programme (UNDP); United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO);
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR); United
Nations Children Fund(UNICEF); United Nations Institute for
Training and Research (UNITAR); United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC); UN Regional Commissions (ECS/
ECE/ECLAC/ESCAP/ESCWA); and The World Bank (WB).GMG’S
key priorities are to:
• Exchange information and expertise to improve
understanding, inter-agency cooperation and collaboration,
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ANNEXES
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
in order to promote synergies and avoid duplication;
• Exchange results and pull efforts in regard to research,
data collection and analysis;
• Establishacomprehensiveandcoherentapproachinthe
overall institutional response to international migration;
• Work to ensure absolute respect for human rights and
labour rights of international migrants in order to promote
human security and development and in particular, provide
protection to vulnerable migrants;
• ContributetotheGeneralAssemblyHighLevelDialogue
on Migration and Development and to the follow-up of the
recommendations of the GCIM and other major initiatives
and of the international community and GMG members;
• Identify critical issues, opportunities, weaknesses, gaps
and best practices in relation to international migration
and its inter-relations in the context of development.
5. Global forum on migration and development (GFMD)
The first GFMD was held in 2007 in Brussels. THE Global
Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) is a recent
initiative of the UN member states intended to address
migration and development interconnections within practical
and action oriented spheres. It is an informal non-binding
voluntary and government-led that marks the culmination of
more than decade of international dialogue on the growing
importance of linkages between migration and development.
It reflects the progressing acknowledgement of the limits of
a strictly national approach to migration and questions and
discusses implications of global level in an intergovernmental
framework. In view of the societal implications of these issues,
civil society representatives have also been involved from the
outset in this process.
1 4 1
ANNEXES
Annex 4: Household survey questionnaire
Questionnaire on “Labour migration in Ghana”
Personal information
1.Age
15-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56 and above
2.Sex
Male Female
3.
Highest level of education
No formal education
Basic education (primary to JHS/JSS)
Secondary Education (SHS/Vocational/Technical School)
Diploma
Bachelors/Master’s Degree
Post graduate (e.g. PhD.)
Other (please specify): …………..............................................................
.....….............................................…..........................................................
4.
Occupation
Formal Sector
Private Sector
Public Sector
Student
JHS
SHS
Polytechnic
Vocational Training
University
Informal Sector
Unemployed
5.
Marital status
Single
Married
Divorced
Widowed
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
6.Children
No Children 1-2 3-5 6-8 9 and above
Perception of socio-economic situation in Ghana
7.
The family income (What is the monthly overall income of your
household?)
Under GH¢ 200 GH¢ 201-400 GH¢ 401-600
GH¢ 601-800 Above GH¢ 800
8.
The income is enough to secure the livelihood of my family
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
9.
I pay for social security schemes.
No Yes
Pension
Health Care
I have no money to pay for social security schemes.
10.
Where do your kids go to school?
Public Private
If private:
I pay for it from my salary.
I take a loan.
They have a scholarship.
11.
The salaries in the country are adequate for the workers.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
12.
The conditions of service in the country are adequate for the workers.
Yes No
Because (please tick where applicable)
Overtime is sometimes not paid.
Overtime is not paid at all.
No night allowances
Less than 25 days for leave
More than 8 hours of work per day
No paid sick leave
No employment contract
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ANNEXES
13.
The social and economic development of the country is at risk, so it is
better to find a job outside the country.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
Perception of socio-economic situation in foreign countries
14.
Industrialised countries offer more social protection
and higher salaries.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
15.The livelihood in industrialised countries is better.€ strongly agree.
Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree
16.Everybody finds a job in industrialised countries.€ strongly agree.
Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree
17.
I would prefer to migrate to other countries in Africa with a strong
economy.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
Migration of family members
18.Has any family member migrated to other countries?
No Yes (If yes, please answer the questions 19 - 32)
19.If No, please
continue to
question bloc
on “Migrants
who returned to
Ghana”
How many have migrated to foreign countries?
1 2-3 4-5 more than 5
20.
Why did they migrate?
Study, came back to work
Study, stayed abroad
Employment, came back
Employment, stayed abroad
Family reunion/marriage
Have no knowledge of purpose for migrating
21.
Where did the family members migrate to?
(please tick where applicable)
Europe America
Australia Asia
Latin America Other African countries
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
22.If No, please
continue to
question bloc on
“Own intention
to migrate”
Was the movement at/with the family consent?
No Yes
23.What was the mode of transportation?
Via flight Via boat/ship Via road
24.
By whom was the movement facilitated?
(please tick where applicable)
By myself
Family members in Ghana
Family members outside Ghana
Friends in Ghana
Friends outside Ghana
Organisations/agencies in Ghana
Organisations/agencies outside Ghana
25.
Do any of these family members send money to Ghana
regularly?
No Yes
If yes: how often do they send money?
Every month Every three months
Every six months Once a year
26.
Do any of these family members send non-cash/goods
to Ghana regularly?
No Yes
If yes: how often do they send non-cash/goods?
Every month Every three months
Every six months Once a year
27.
How do you receive the cash or goods from
family members? (please tick where applicable)
Cash Goods
Bank transfer Post office
Money transfer (Money-
gram, Western Union)
Courier service
Someone brings it They bring it while on vacation
Somebody else brings it to Ghana
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ANNEXES
28.
How long have they been working abroad now?
under 1 year 1-3 years 4-6 years
7-10 years above 10 years
29.
Did family members also complain about the situation
in the foreign country?
No Yes
About (please tick where applicable)
High costs in the foreign country
Hard work
Bad conditions of service
Egulations in the foreign country
Hostility to foreigners
Bad weather
30.
If you talk to the family members abroad, how do they
evaluate their own situation in foreign countries in
general?
Better than before The same Worse than
before I never talk to them about this.
31.
Did they find a job abroad which is adequate for
their educational background and past professional
experience?
No Yes – lower position
Same position
Higher position
32.
Did they indicate that they want to return to
Ghana one day?
Yes, for employment Yes, to set up own business
Yes, for retirement No, they want to
stay abroad
33.
I think they would come back if they would find a well-paid
and adequate job in Ghana.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
Migrants who returned to Ghana
34.
If I would have the chance to work abroad, I would do it.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
35.
If No, please
continue to
question bloc on
“Own intention
to migrate”
How long have you or your family member worked
abroad?
Under 1 year 1-3 years 4-6 years
7-10 years Above 10 years
36.
Why did they come back to Ghana?
(please tick where applicable)
family reunion/marriage
Retirement
Because they found a job in ghana
Because they did not like to live/work in the foreign
country
End of work permit/residence permit
No renewal of work permit/residence permit
37.
I or my family members miss the life in a foreign coun-
try.
Under 1 year 1-3 years 4-6 years
7-10 years Above 10 years
38.
It was my, or my family members’ own will to
come back to Ghana.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
39.
Did you or your family members ever face low wages/bad
working conditions in the foreign country?
No Yes
If YES, what kind of low wages/bad working
conditions? (please tick where applicable)
Low wages
No employment contract
No paid overtime
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ANNEXES
Worked more than 8 hours per day
No paid leave
No social security contributions
No medical health care
No paid sick leave - had to work when I was ill
Bad safety measures at workplace
Work on weekends without pay
Sexual harassment at workplace
Verbal abuses by colleagues or boss
40.
I or my family members had difficulties to get used to
a new life in Ghana after return.
No Yes
If Yes, what was difficult? (please tick where applicable)
Difficulties to reintegrate in the community or family
Difficulties with administration
Difficulties at a work place
Difficulties to open up an own business
Others:
Own intention to migrate
41.
If I would have the chance to work abroad, I would do it.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
42.
I would only migrate if I would find an adequate job/study.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
43.
I would migrate for which purpose:
Study
Employment
Family reunion
44.
I would follow a family member to the country he/she
has migrated to.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION
45.
I would integrate into the society of the foreign country (learn lan-
guage if necessary, attend cultural events etc.).
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
46.
I would never intend to go back even if Ghana would create jobs.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
47.
I would migrate to: (please tick where applicable)
Europe
America
Australia
Asia
Latin America
Other African countries
48.
I would inform myself about regulations (work permit, residence per-
mit, labour law etc.) of the foreign country I intend to migrate to.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
49.
I would even go abroad without a job offer or place to stay.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
Knowledge about agencies for labour migration
50.
I have heard of or know agencies which help workers to
find jobs abroad.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
51.
I believe the agencies are regulated and controlled by the state.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure
Disagree Strongly disagree
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ANNEXES
52.
I have heard that migrant workers have complained
about the agencies.
No Yes
If yes, why? (Please tick where applicable)
Too costly
Bad services
Promises will be not fulfilled
They arrange for jobs which do not meet qualifications of workers
They do not get paperwork correct
53.
Would you pay money to agencies or somebody else
to find a job abroad?
No Yes
If yes, how much?
Up to 1000 USD
Up to 3000 USD
Up to 5000 USD
Up to 10000 USD
Above 10000 USD
Whatever it may cost
Telephone number:
(We need the contact data to ensure that the respondents were actually approached by our representatives. We will NOT keep records of any information given (e.g. telephone numbers) and the questionnaires will be shredded once the research is completed!)
Thank you very much,
For the field assistants only:
Were the answers ticked and written directly by the respondent? No Yes
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LABOUR MIGRATION IN GHANA: AN ANALYSIS OF EMIGRATION, RETURN MIGRATION AND REINTEGRATION