IOM, with the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development of the Republic of Seychelles, supported a two-day training workshop on labour migration, and a half-day roundtable on migration management in the Seychelles’ capital Victoria from 4-6 October.
It was attended by 22 participants from the Ministries of Labour and Human Resource Development, Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs; the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics, Public Health Authority, and the private sector.
The workshop, which focused on the relationship between international labour migration and development, also covered international cooperation mechanisms and tools for the facilitation of labour migration and explored ways to ensure integration and protection of migrant workers.
Participants concluded the training with a roundtable discussion on migration management examining the challenges, gaps, needs and opportunities relating to migration management in the Seychellois context.
Seychelles presents complex migration patterns, with the islands primarily a destination country for labour migrants. The small size of the population results in labour shortages due to lack of workers suited or willing to fill gaps in both highly qualified and low-skilled local labour markets respectively. The country has seen an increase over recent years in the number of non-Seychellois workers in key areas like construction, tourism, manufacturing and other booming sectors.
While migration is generally acknowledged as beneficial to the country’s development, it is also recognized that rapidly changing trends can impact the socio-economic profile of the country. Risks include the integration of immigrants and implications for the education and health systems.
The Government of Seychelles has launched various initiatives to manage the participation of foreign workers in the local labour market. The Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development plans to develop and implement in the near future a labour migration policy that will address the migration management and development policy gap by providing a coherent and effective framework of action at national level.
