Migrant workers in a situation of threat or crisis are often more vulnerable than the local population. Factors like language barriers, limited familiarity with the geography of the country and limited knowledge of emergency authorities to call on in times of trouble constitute difficulties individuals usually encounter while dealing with crisis situations when living abroad.  Emergency crisis planning should be an important part of pre-departure orientation programmes to raise awareness not only about rights, obligations and cultural norms of the host country, but also about the types of risks migrants may encounter and what steps they can take to ensure their safety. 

To address this need, IOM China delivered a presentation on MICIC’s orientation module for migrant workers, in the context of the Workshop on Pre-Departure Orientation for Chinese workers going to Europe, held in Beijing on 22-23 November 2017. 45 Chinese participants from China International Contractors Association (CHINCA) and its local member recruitment agencies, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, and from Provincial and Municipal commerce bureaus received insights on the IOM’s initiative. Inputs focused on practical tips about content and modalities of training sessions, typologies of critical situations and how to timely respond to them.  During one of the sessions the example of the evacuation of thousands Chinese migrant workers from Libya in 2014 was used to illustrate the importance of emergency preparedness training.  

For one of the exercises, the audience was asked to prepare an emergency bag with useful objects in a situation of emergency. Chinese participants actively participated into the discussion and proved to be receptive to the concept, highlighting some of their experience of having their workers stranded abroad following the bankruptcy of their employer.