Part 2: Addressing Migrant Workers' Vulnerability to HIV

At AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference, Musarrat Perveen, regional coordinator at Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility in Asia (CARAM Asia), presented, "Lack of Access to Treatment and Criminalization of Labor Migrants Based on HIV-Positive Status: A Review of HIV Policy Progression and Migrant's Health Rights in Five Origin Countries in Asia."

Musarrat Perveen | Image Credit: CARAM Asia

In part 1 of our interview, Perveen explained the research she presented at the conference and the health care disparities migrant workers continue to encounter in the HIV care arena. For part 2, she delves further into how migrant workers have historically been excluded from programs and policies that consider the health care–related implications of HIV/AIDS, why these individuals face a higher risk of HIV, and their self-reported top health care priorities and primary challenges to equitable care access.

This interview has been lightly edited.

The American Journal of Managed Care^®(AJMC^®): Why have migrants historically been excluded from national AIDS programs in the regions you studied?

Perveen: Migrants have been excluded from the national AIDS program in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka due to the governments’ lack of recognition of the workers’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in their national AIDS plans. Instead of being labeled as most at risk for contracting HIV, they are often only considered vulnerable populations. However, in the past, they also were not always considered vulnerable. Although these policies and perceptions have changed due to intense advocacy by CARAM Asia and other stakeholders in the region, the governments still are not recognizing the risk factors migrant workers face, highlighting the ongoing discriminatory treatment they face through the health policies of sending and receiving countries.

Annually Reported HIV diagnoses by Age and Sex

From 2013 to 2022 in Sri Lanka

For example, the countries studied categorize men who have sex with men, persons who inject drugs, sex workers and their clients, and Hijras as most at risk. Migrant workers are excluded from this classification despite data showing an annual increase in cases of HIV and a significant number of returnee migrants now living with HIV. In Sri Lanka, for example, 187 of 607 (30.8%) reported HIV cases in 2022 had a history of external migration, as shown in the figure.

AJMC: How are migrant workers more vulnerable to HIV vs nonmigrant populations, and what unique risk factors do they face in the receiving countries you studied?

Perveen: Migrant workers are more vulnerable to HIV compared with local nonmigrant populations because sending and receiving countries often treat migrant workers as commodities, neglecting their fundamental human, labor, and health rights. Their young ages when going abroad for employment also predisposes them to culture shock due to unfamiliar policies and conflicting cultural norms. This can lead to stress and anxiety, and neglect that make them more susceptible to rights violations, violence, abuse, and exploitation. Other unique risk factors for migrant workers in receiving countries include the following:

• Single-entry visas
• Prohibitions on marriage with locals
• Restrictions on bringing spouses
• Isolation in a foreign country
• Neglect of their human need of intimacy

The stress and anxiety also can result in behavioral changes that include unprotected sexual behavior, which raises the risk of contracting HIV. A lack of awareness about HIV prevention measures further increases their vulnerability to HIV and other sexual and reproductive health rights issues due to limited access to health information and services. Women also may experience sexual abuse and exploitation, particularly those working in the entertainment sector or as domestic workers, who often live in their employers’ private homes with no access to social support. In many cases, women are forced into the sex industry, which also increases their risk of contracting HIV and where they encounter many other health problems.

AJMC: What were the top health priorities identified by migrants in your focus group discussions, and what challenges did they highlight as barriers to equitable HIV/AIDS health care in the countries studied?

Perveen: Among the top health priorities identified by migrant workers during the research was HIV/AIDS, STIs, tuberculosis, and mental health. Challenges they highlighted as barriers to equitable HIV/AIDS health care include the following:

• Stigma and discrimination: People living with HIV/AIDS often face considerable stigma and discrimination from their families and society. This stigma leads many to conceal their HIV status, resulting in isolation and a lack of support.
• Financial burden: Migrant workers are required to undergo regular annual health checks, including tests for HIV and sexual health. These expenses are typically paid out of pocket by the workers, either directly or through salary deductions. This financial strain is particularly challenging for those with low incomes.
• Lack of health care coverage for undocumented migrants: In some receiving countries, registered migrants must undergo tests to qualify for health insurance coverage. However, undocumented migrants also often lack health care coverage, leaving them without access to essential medical services.
• Lack of access to embassy and consulate services: There are significant gaps in accessing embassy, consulate, and Philippine Overseas Labor Office services for overseas Filipino workers living with HIV. Reports from these migrant workers who were deported between 2012 and 2016 indicate they were quarantined without access to their embassies. Furthermore, receiving country health ministries or immigration offices are not obligated to notify embassies about workers’ health issues, resulting in a lack of connection to repatriation and reintegration services. Most embassies and consulates also lack funds and facilities to help migrant workers, and some even don’t even answer phone calls.
• Immediate deportation and blacklisting: Migrants who receive a positive result following an HIV test are often deported immediately and blacklisted from migrating to any Gulf country via the shared database. This deportation frequently occurs without providing information or referral services, leaving migrants unaware of their HIV status and its implications.

AJMC: Based on your research findings, what specific recommendations do you have for improving health policies for migrant workers in these countries?

Perveen: Sending and receiving countries should invest sufficient funds in HIV education for migrant workers to provide awareness about HIV/AIDS and STI prevention, and provide access to health services at all stages of the migration cycle. Also, most receiving countries should eliminate discrimination against labor migrants by reforming health policies that criminalize—via arrest, detention, and deportation—migrant workers based on HIV status, and ensure unrestricted access to health services for documented and undocumented migrant workers.

Governments of receiving countries also should ensure migrant workers get proper days off and, when possible, provide affordable, accessible, and healthy recreational activities as alternatives to risky behaviors for relaxation and holidays, including those that permit spouses. In addition, national AIDS strategies, strategic frameworks, and programs need to include migrants, migrant workers, and families and partners of migrants more prominently and address their specific needs with comprehensive services that are supported by appropriate levels of funding and interagency coordination.

It is also important to standardize laws and policies on HIV testing to ensure that any testing migrants must undergo adheres to internationally accepted standards that include informed consent, confidentiality, pre- and posttest counseling, and proper referral to treatment, care, and support services. The goal of testing also should become to prevent HIV infection, not to criminalize migrant workers.

Sending and receiving countries also should work to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and respect gender and sexual orientation among migrant workers, and receiving countries especially should provide employment access returning migrant workers.

AJMC: What final thoughts or messages would you like to share for future advocacy and policy change?

Perveen: Readers of CARAM Asia's research might include important stakeholders in both receiving and sending countries, such as government agencies, politicians, policymakers, migrant nongovernmental organization, journalists, and other influential groups. We hope that our research on discriminatory policies and obstacles in protecting migrants' health rights, along with our recommendations for improved health policies for migrants, reach this audience and they are able to highlight the necessity in addressing these ongoing issues. Through this research, we also strive for a deeper understanding of the impacts of discriminatory policies in receiving and sending countries on marginalized populations like migrant workers, in term of their health.

Prioritizing the voices and experiences of migrant workers in the fight against HIV is crucial, and we advocate for this through participatory action research and other means. Effective advocacy for the health rights of migrant workers requires active collaboration with various stakeholders, including migrant nongovernmental, civil society, community-based, and government organizations. This approach ensures that evidence-based knowledge is grounded in the lived realities of migrant workers.

For future advocacy and policy changes to be effective, it is essential to develop inclusive policies with active participation from migrant workers, enhance access to legal and health services, decriminalize and protect labor migrants, and foster ongoing collaboration among researchers, activists, health care professionals, and policymakers. This strategy underscores the transformative power of research-informed advocacy in creating equitable HIV/AIDS health care, particularly for vulnerable populations like migrant workers.

Reference

Perveen M. Lack of access to treatment and criminalization of labor migrants based on HIV-positive status: a review of HIV policy progression and migrant's health rights in five origin countries in Asia. Presented at: AIDS 2024, July 22-26, 2024; Munich, Germany. Poster EPF198. https://aids2024.iasociety.org/cmVirtualPortal/_iasociety/aids2024/eposters#/PosterDetail/774