2016年-世界发展银行全球_Assessing_Benefit_Portability_for_International_Migrant_Workers___A_Review_of_the_Belgium-Morocco_Bilateral_Social_Security_Agreement_98页_1mb

Summary of "Assessing Benefit Portability for International Migrant Workers: A Review of the Belgium-Morocco Bilateral Social Security Agreement"

Core Content

This document is a discussion paper examining the functionality and effectiveness of the Belgium-Morocco Bilateral Social Security Agreement (BSSA) in facilitating social benefit portability for international migrant workers. It is part of a broader project analyzing four migration corridors: Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco.

The paper explores how pension rights and health care benefits can be transferred across borders, focusing on the Belgium-Morocco corridor. It also outlines methodological approaches, migration trends, and policy implications related to benefit portability.

Main Points

1. Importance of Benefit Portability

• International migration is increasing, with 3.3% of the global population being international migrants in 2015.
• Migrants often acquire social benefits in their host country that they wish to maintain or transfer upon returning home or moving further.
• Benefit portability is defined as the ability to preserve, maintain, and transfer vested social security rights independently of nationality and residence.

2. Bilateral Social Security Agreements (BSSAs)

• BSSAs are crucial mechanisms for ensuring benefit portability.
• They are more common between high-income countries, but less frequent between developed and developing countries.
• Only 23% of international migrants benefit from BSSAs, and their functionality remains underexplored.

3. Belgium-Morocco Corridor

• The BSSA between Belgium and Morocco is functioning well overall.
• Key issues include:
  • Nonportability of the noncontributory top-up pension.
  • Issues with widows' pensions in cases of divorce and repudiation.
  • Pending introduction of portable health care benefits for retirees with single pensions from the other country.

4. Migration Trends and Composition

• Moroccan migration to Belgium has a long history, beginning during World War I and growing significantly in the 1960s.
• Between 1964 and 1974, around 40,000 Moroccans migrated to Belgium under the first bilateral labor agreement.
• Migration flows have increased continuously over the past 10 years, though return migration has not risen proportionally.
• The decline in migrant stocks is correlated with increased naturalization.

5. Demographics of Moroccan Migrants in Belgium

• In 2010, 6,455 women and 4,385 men over the age of 60 lived in Belgium.
• These individuals represent 13% of all Moroccan citizens in Belgium, with 15.7% of women and 10.75% of men.
• 23% of the total Belgian population (including all nationalities) was over 60 in 2010.

6. Social Protection Systems

• Belgium has a comprehensive pension and health care system.
  • Pension system includes contributory and noncontributory benefits.
  • Health insurance for pensioners is generally well-established.
• Morocco has a less developed social protection system, with limited access to formal social security for many migrants.
  • Morocco's pension system includes four main schemes.
  • Health insurance is less structured and not yet fully portable for retirees.

7. Methodology

• The study uses three main types of documents:
  • Migration and social insurance profiles.
  • Datasets and key performance indicators.
  • Interviews with key stakeholders (government officials, social security institutions, and NGOs).
• Data limitations were a challenge, particularly in distinguishing return vs. temporary migrants and naturalization rates.
• Key performance indicators were not fully developed due to lack of comparable data.

8. Policy Implications

• The BSSA is generally effective, but improvements are needed in:
  • Information provision in Morocco.
  • Automation of information exchange to speed up benefit processing.
• Fiscal fairness and administrative efficiency are important considerations.
• The study highlights the need for better coordination and transparent procedures to enhance benefit portability.

Key Findings

1. Fairness for Individuals

• The BSSA preserves rights for most migrants, but noncontributory benefits and widows' pensions in case of divorce and repudiation are not portable.

2. Fiscal Fairness for Countries

• Pension and health care portability must be fiscally balanced to avoid unfair advantages or disadvantages for either country.

3. Bureaucratic Efficiency

• Administrative processes in Morocco need improvement in information sharing and automation.
• Delays in application and complexity in accessing benefits are noted challenges.

Conclusion

The Belgium-Morocco BSSA is functioning well, but not without challenges. While pension portability is generally effective, noncontributory benefits and widows' pensions remain nonportable, and health care portability for retirees is still pending. The study recommends improvements in information sharing, automation, and policy clarity to enhance the effectiveness of BSSAs. It also underscores the importance of benefit portability in supporting labor mobility and ensuring social protection for migrants and their families.

The findings are part of a larger project aimed at evaluating BSSAs across four migration corridors, with the goal of informing policy makers and improving social security coordination.