Abusive and Fraudulent Labour Recruitment

A Call to Prevent and Respond

In today’s globalized economy, workers are increasingly compelled to look for job opportunities far away from home, and many find employment in countries other than their own. While labour mobility brings benefits to millions of workers and their family members, for many it comes at a high price, particularly when it is not properly regulated. Across the world, however, concerns are being raised about unscrupulous employment agencies, informal labour recruiters and criminal traffickers who prey on the low-skilled and migrant workers in particular, acting outside legal and regulatory frameworks. Reported abuses include deception about the nature and conditions of work, retention of passports, deposits and illegal wage deductions, charging of recruitment fees to workers, debt bondage linked to the repayment of recruitment fees, and threats of violence or deportation. These abuses derive from gaps in the governance of labour recruitment, especially across international borders.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have joined forces to promote fair recruitment practices within and across countries in an effort to prevent human trafficking and forced labour within and across borders.  Read more…