Amid explosive growth in Arabian Gulf countries, the need to protect migrant workers human rights is growing and churches and ecumenical groups can lobby and raise awareness to help curb abuses, a global and Asian church body says.

Representatives of more than 30 church, ecumenical and migrant-serving groups concluded a meeting about the matter in India on May 3 in an international consultation organized by the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia.

A communiqué issued from the event listed various actions churches an ecumenical groups could take to help ease problems, including advocating for ratification of the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rigths of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW) and ILO C189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers.

Other efforts include lobbying National Human Rights Commissions and forming advocacy partnerships with various group already engaged in the process such as international human rights organizations, legal support mechanisms, NGOs, faith-based communities, trade unions and local civil society organizations.