Children whose parents have gone abroad for overseas work programs like the PALM Scheme are often abused or neglected, says the Fiji Council of Social Services executive director Vani Catanasiga.
Ms Catanasiga said they have heard stories of this from communities in the West and North.
“Calling for a social impact assessment on the impacts of the labour schemes have been reluctant,” she said.
She said there was a need to review the Vuvale Partnership that the Government shares with the Australian Government.
She said if leaders don’t see the worth and the value of workers, then advocacy work that was done, “won’t do anything”.
She said there was a need to understand how much the Australians were making out of seasonal workers.
“We know how much we are getting but do we know how much the Australian Government is making out of this?”
She said the partnership should be called a “Tavale Partnership” rather than a Vuvale Partnership.
At a regional conference on Labour mobility earlier this month, Minister for Employment Agni Deo Singh raised serious concerns about the impact of the labour mobility on Fijian families.
He said that while the schemes in Australia and New Zealand offered economic partnerships, it has also exposed local families to social ills with 74 being affected by extra marital affairs, divorces and a lack of financial support from their family members abroad.
“While the percentage is small, it is still a matter of grave concern,” Mr Singh said.
According to the Employment Minister, since 2015, Fiji has sent close to 13,000 workers to Australia and New Zealand under the PALM and the Recognised Seasonal Employer.
