Migrant Rights are Everyone’s Business
New developments in the legal framework governing supply chain due diligence as a result of the CSDDD and Forced Labour Ban are particularly important for the rights of migrant workers.? Dignity in Work for All (DIWA) works at the intersection of labour rights and responsible business and has deep roots in advocating for migrant rights, particularly in Asia. This month’s memo offers insights into the importance of mapping the labour supply chain.?
Picture this scenario in a palm oil mill where most of the workers are migrants:?
Some Bangladeshi workers have been thinking of leaving their job because the work hours in the mill are very long and they are always tired. There are times when they are required to work up to 20 hours a day.? They ask their agent to transfer them to a different job. They were initially promised work in a factory, but were not told it would be a mill in the middle of a vast and remote plantation. The agent tells the workers that he cannot transfer them to another job until they settle their debts with recruiters back in Bangladesh.?
According to the workers, it would take at least another twelve months of salary deductions for recruitment fees and loan payments, facilitated by the mill, for them to be debt-free. Were they to stop paying recruiters, some workers say they would fear for the safety of their families in Bangladesh. They have heard of cases of families facing harassment and intimidation, even violence, from Bangladeshi agents. The workers feel they have no choice but to stay in the job.
For the workers in the above scenario, there are clear indicators of forced labour including debt bondage and deceptive recruitment. In conducting social audits and risk assessments it is critical to ask probing questions in regards to labour recruitment in order to gauge risks of forced labour.? Mapping the labour supply chain is no simple task, however; the recruitment sector often comprises multiple countries as well as formal and informal channels.??
According to the ILO forced labour involves both involuntariness and the menace of penalty.? Involuntariness is characterized by unfree recruitment and inability to leave a job.? Workers may be deceived through false promises and incomplete information about the job, company, or working and living conditions. It may also involve excessive overtime, degrading living conditions, limitations on movement, and abuse of vulnerability. The menace of penalty comprises debt bondage, retention of passport and other personal documents, or threats of and actual harassment and abuse of a worker or their family.?
Recruiters, also known as brokers, private employment agents, manpower agents, and outsourcing agents are found across many industries. Labour brokers act as intermediaries between employers and workers, in particular facilitating the movement of migrant labour.?
The labour supply chain often begins with formal or informal subagents in rural areas who refer workers to larger recruitment agencies in major cities of the sending country. It is with these bigger agencies that workers often sign contracts and learn about the potential job opportunities in the destination country. At the country of destination, workers may be subject to yet another labour broker. Labour brokers in the destination country may be involved in job placement, or they may manage and employ the workers directly.?
At each phase of the recruitment process, labour brokers may charge fees for document preparation, transportation, medical exams, or for the brokers’ services and facilitation.? These fees can be high and are often bloated, and may result in workers taking loans or even leveraging their family land to pay these fees. Oftentimes, there is no documentation provided to workers for these charges; and sometimes brokers advance the payment for these recruitment-related costs and recover the amount from workers once they are employed.?
Even in cases wherein a company is hiring migrant workers locally, understanding the labour supply chain and recruitment patterns remains critical to ensure human rights are respected. DIWA’s recent research on in-country recruitment in Thailand suggests that while policies may exist, they may be insufficient to address labour risks inherent in the employment of foreign migrant workers who are already in the country of destination. Particularly when faced with an increasingly undocumented workforce, such as what happened during the pandemic, the risks of forced labour are further heightened.??
“Gaps in the regulations, the involvement of unregulated brokers and intermediaries, and weak due diligence by employers, among other factors, result to in-country recruited foreign migrant workers to be more vulnerable to forced labor and trafficking.”
Unfortunately, in many cases, government and bilateral policies are insufficient to protect migrant worker rights.? According to the recently published World Migration Report, accessing regular migration pathways for those in developing countries has gotten more difficult, such that, increasingly, irregular migration is the sole option for many job seekers. ? Furthermore, governance on labour migration continues to be fragmented, with insufficient policies and a lack of cooperation between States to secure migrant workers’ rights:
"While most States acknowledge the need for migrant labour given labour shortages, they fall short of taking steps to protect migrant workers or provide necessary pathways to facilitate their recruitment, entry and stay in countries where their skills are needed, particularly in “low skill” sectors. Globally, migrant workers at all skill levels face impediments and challenges because of gaps in or non-existent regulation and lack of cooperation between States; a limited number of bilateral labour agreements between countries include the kinds of worker protections advocated by activists, scholars and non-governmental organizations."
While DIWA continues to advocate for safe migration and labour rights as part of our policy advocacy, we know that supply chain and trade-based regulatory frameworks are critical in the protection of migrant workers’ rights, and in creating an enabling environment for responsible global supply chain actors and businesses to thrive.? The CSDDD and the Forced Labour Ban are expected to be operational across Europe within three years.? The CSDDD will require companies with a net turnover of 450 million euros to undertake due diligence in their supply chains including grievance mechanisms and compensation for victims.? Penalties will be imposed on non-complying businesses. While the rules will apply initially to big companies in Europe, both bills signal a shift in business conduct that will impact supply chains worldwide. There are many steps companies can take now in order to ‘know and show’ that their supply chain is free of forced labour. In an interconnected world, human rights are everyone’s business.
Suggestions to learn more and take action:
Implementing Ethical Standards in the In-Country Recruitment of Migrant Workers in Thailand also available in Thai here