A/70/310 short-term contracts has significantly increased. The unethical recruitment referred to throughout the report refers to recruitment practices that don’t respect the human rights of migrants. 12. Much of this type of migration is organized by intermediaries, known as recruitment agents or agencies that in some cases are legally mandated. These intermediaries can be a legitimate form of support within the migration process but all too often they ruthlessly exploit and abuse the migrants’ precarious situation. The issue of exploitation of migrant workers by recruitment intermediaries is apparent in many regions around the world. Key sectors in which, facilitated by private recruiters, low-wage migrants’ work include: agriculture, construction, service industry, hospitality, tourism, factory work in textiles and garments, food processing and packaging, fisheries, extraction, and domestic work. 13. There are weaknesses in data collection systems relating to labour migration, and a tendency of unethical recruitment practices to take place in an underground, opaque and covert way. Therefore, gaining a systemic picture of migration patterns is challenging. Available data suggests that the use of and number of recruitment agencies is growing, as is the related abuse of human rights and suffering among migrants. C. 1. Recruitment intermediaries and human rights The role of recruiters in the migration process 14. Broadly, recruitment agencies are a form of migration intermediary who profit from brokering contracts between those willing to leave their country of origin to better their economic situation and employers in countries of destination that need workers. Recruitment agencies can play a legitimate role in migration processes, when they are appropriately regulated and fees associated with recruitment are charged to the employers. While there are examples of ethical recruiters who place the rights of migrants at the centre of their business model, this is sadly not the norm. References to recruiters and subagents throughout the report are to those unscrupulous recruiters who do not consider the rights of migrants. The current recruitment system facilitating labour migration of low wage migrants is governed by a narrow and short-term conceptualization of self-interest, which exploits the commitment of migrants to better their economic situation and that of their families. 15. The intermediation landscape is complex owing to the large number of actors involved. There are many recruitment agents operating, with or without proper registration, in addition to which there are multiple levels of subagents, to whom work is passed by the main agents. Such subagents commonly have the role of finding migrant labourers in countries of origin, particularly outside of urban centres, and often work through informal networks of previous migrants and their friends and family. Subagents, who typically work on commission, then refer migrants to recruiters but can continue to play an ongoing role as intermediaries. The ongoing responsibilities of subagents can include lodging passport applications; helping the clients to undertake any medical tests; and dealing with the recruiting agency in order to obtain visas. In some cases, the subagents also accompany their clients to the airport and help them with all necessary departure formalities. 15-13569 5/26