Vani Saraswathi is the Associate Editor and Director of Projects,
Migrant-Rights.org and the author of
Stories of Origin: The Invisible Lives of Migrants in the Gulf. The book is an anthology of reporting from seven origin countries over a period of three years.
Vani moved to Qatar in 1999, working with several local and regional publications, and launching some of Qatar’s leading periodicals during her 17-year stint there. During her stay in Qatar she, along with likeminded people, mobilised a grassroots community to help migrants in distress.
She writes extensively on human rights issues.
Since 2014, in her role with
Migrant-Rights.org she reports from the Gulf states and countries of origin. She also organises advocacy projects and human rights training targeting individual employers, embassies, recruitment agents and businesses in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE, working with nationals and longterm residents in these countries. A special emphasis is on female migrants, including domestic workers. Much of her advocacy effort is geared towards mainstreaming issues facing female migrant workers.
She is a member of the Migration Advisory Group (previous Policy Advisory Committee) of ILO ROAS. She has worked with ILO Addis Ababa on training modules for labour attaches being deployed to the Gulf states. She contributes as an expert commentator on issues related to human rights in the GCC for various international publications and at international forums, including various UN forums.
Migrant-Rights.org is one of its kind bi-lingual content based advocacy platform that focusses on the GCC states and the corridors of migration, Asia & Africa. It was started 13 years ago by activist Esra’a El Shafei.
Vani divides her time between India, Qatar and other GCC states.
