Migrant workers’ rights with Ketty Nivyabandi
B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner hosts the Beyond the Headlines livestream series to discuss human rights with guests in various sectors. On May 15, Commissioner Kasari Govender sat down with Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General for Amnesty International Canada’s English-Speaking section, in conversation about how structural factors can create vulnerabilities for the exploitation of migrant workers.
As described in the Commissioner’s landmark Rights in Focus report, migrant workers, and specifically temporary foreign workers, are at risk of exploitation due to their immigration status being tied to their employment. Migrant workers are also at a greater risk during large-scale climate emergencies and, as we have seen in the province, have reported being excluded from responses during these emergencies. Following closely on International Workers’ Day (May Day), this Beyond the Headlines discussion provides a space to better understand the rights of migrant workers and how we track progress on this issue in British Columbia.
Watch the recorded conversation here:
About Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
Ketty Nivyabandi serves as Secretary General for Amnesty International Canada’s English-Speaking section. She oversees the domestic and international human rights mandate of the organisation and acts as its lead representative.
A global human rights activist and advocate, Ketty holds in-depth expertise and lived experience in forced displacement, human rights defenders at risk, civic space in conflict and political transitions and the global intersections of gender, race, and human rights. Prior to seeking asylum in Canada in 2015, she braved police violence as the lead organizer of women’s peaceful protests for democratic change in her country, Burundi.
In her previous roles, Ketty has led research, advocacy and communications strategies with women peace activists in several conflict and post conflict countries, including Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Myanmar, Uganda and Guatemala. Her work is rooted in peoplepower, public accountability and a feminist, decolonial approach to human rights.
Ketty studied International Relations and is a former journalist and published poet. She lives in Ottawa with her two teenage daughters.
About “Beyond the headlines”
How can we address the most important issues facing British Columbians while keeping human rights in focus? What do B.C. residents need to know for themselves, their families, their neighbours and their communities? To help answer these questions, B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner is hosting a series of conversations with leading experts from across the country.
Each Beyond the Headlines conversation will focus on a key human rights issue facing the province right now. The topics are drawn from the Commissioner’s 2024 Rights in focus: Lived realities in B.C. report, which provides a snapshot of inequities in 10 systems, including housing, health care and child welfare.
Over the course of the Beyond the Headlines conversations, the Commissioner and her guests will discuss questions about these systems that are top of mind for British Columbians.
Past conversations
Housing with Marie-Josée Houle, Federal Housing Advocate
On Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, Commissioner Govender sat down with Federal Housing Advocate Marie-Josée Houle for a candid conversation about navigating the housing crisis while keeping human rights in focus.
As described in the Commissioner’s landmark Rights in Focus report, released earlier this year, the housing crisis has exposed vulnerable people to increased risk of violence and exploitation—and has pushed thousands of people in B.C. into homelessness. Coming on the heels of National Housing Day, this Beyond the Headlines discussion provided a space to better understand how to navigate the housing crisis through a rights-based lens.