State of Health of Migrants - 2007: Mandatory Testing

The Asian network Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Migration (CARAM Asia) has completed a second round of action research under its State of Health taskforce - this time focused on the issue of Mandatory Testing. The research, completed in sixteen countries spanning across Asia, including both origin and destination countries, compares existing laws and policies on HIV testing in each country with the requirements of mandatory health testing that migrants who wish to work abroad must undergo. This report garners input from not only key stakeholders, but most importantly, from migrant workers themselves. Using participatory research methods, migrants' direct experiences with mandatory health testing were collected from all ends of the migration continuum - prospective migrants at their country of origin, migrants working at destination countries, and returnee migrants including those living with HIV, some of who were deported as a result of testing. The result of the research and analysis by CARAM partner organisations was the development of a "Migrant-Friendly" Testing Framework. The main finding of the research is that the practices of mandatory testing for HIV and other health conditions as a screening tool for the entry of migrant workers into destination countries is discriminatory, dehumanising and results in the violation of basic rights, especially the right to health. Migrants who fill unskilled or semi-skilled jobs are singled out for mandatory health examinations that include HIV testing. Under these circumstances, migrants are treated differently from the general population, falling outside the protection of prevailing laws and policies on HIV in both origin and destination countries.