By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA (Reuters) - Government economic stimulus packages must include provisions to help migrant workers, who could face the most difficulty in a downturn, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Friday.
Pillay warned the world's financial, economic, and industrial crisis will have a disproportionate impact on the livelihoods of vulnerable and already marginalised groups.
Women, children, disabled people, refugees, and immigrants will find it hardest to find work, afford food and housing, and access water, medical care, and education, Pillay told a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
"They stand at the front line of hardship and they are most likely to lose their jobs and to lose access to social safety nets and services," she said.
Governments across the developed world have unveiled multi-billion rescue packages to help struggling industries and protect jobs as a global economic slump, triggered by the U.S. housing market meltdown, worsens.
Migrant workers are likely to be especially vulnerable to abuse and attacks when jobs become more scarce, according to the former High Court judge of South Africa, where high unemployment triggered a blacklash against foreigners last year, killing more than 60.
"As opportunities for regular migration labour decrease, unemployed migrants may seek to work without authorisation. This would render them even more vulnerable," she said.
"Protection of the rights of migrants in terms of their working and living conditions, and in the event of loss of employment, should be integrated in responses to the crises. Crucially, no efforts should be spared to protect migrants from discrimination and xenophobia."
Developed economies such as the United States, Britain, and Australia should not pare back welfare programmes to make room for banking rescue packages, she said.
Traditional donor countries must also keep helping poor states who will become increasingly reliant on foreign funds to weather the prolonged downturn most economists expect, she said.
The Human Rights Council's review of the financial crisis was convened at the request of Brazil and Egypt on behalf of African states, with support from dozens of other developing countries including China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Bolivia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Yemen.
In her remarks, Pillay said that governments seeking to salvage jobs and buoy recession-hit industries must ensure they conform with the international agreements they have signed, such as the U.N. accords on economic and social rights, the rights of the child, and the rights of disabled persons.
"States are not relieved of their human rights obligations in times of crisis," she said, arguing instead that policies to protect threatened people and groups "must be put in place as matters of both urgency and priority."
(Editing by Richard Hubbard)
