In a recent article for Knack (in Dutch), CESSMIR member Marlies Casier and thesis student Klara Missault write about how the new legislation on family reunification threatens to overlook the human aspect of migrant workers.
Based on Missault’s research within the Aurora project (supervised by Casier), they show how Indian care workers employed in Belgian residential care homes often have to miss their families for many years. The planned strictening of the law makes family reunification financially almost impossible for those earning an average wage.
The authors ask tough questions about what this policy means for our society. How can a care system that relies on foreign workers show so little concern for their well-being? And what does this say about the way we reduce people to their labour?