A/71/285 70. Consequently, migrants make a realistic assessment of the options offered to them and factor the recruitment system into their plans for migration, thus accepting negative consequences and further embedding the normalization of exploitation and suffering. Their choices are limited, as their immediate objective is sending money home to repay any debt incurred and to put bread on the famil y table. 71. In this respect, States must ensure that exploitative employers are sanctioned and that migrants, including those in an irregular situation, are empowered to defend their own rights through effective access to justice in national courts, tribu nals and dispute-settlement mechanisms, with the assistance of unions, interpreters and legal assistance. 72. States must transition to an ethical migrant labour recruitment system based upon the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the weal th of human rights instruments, labour standards and soft law norms. This must take into account the rights and needs of migrant workers and the benefits of facilitated mobility and incentivize accessible, regular, safe and affordable labour mobility. States must also determine the regulatory environment in which employers recruit and use migrant labour. The key elements of such a transition include: (a) Banning of recruitment fees; (b) Effective regulation, licensing and monitoring of recruiters; (c) Harmonization of the legal and policy frameworks relating to recruitment. 73. Voluntary compliance is not enough to protect the rights of migrants, and sustained political will is needed to ensure that Governments use their legislative, policymaking, investigative and judicial powers to protect the rights of individuals, regardless of nationality or status. 74. International and regional cooperation is essential to transition to an ethical system, as the playing field must be levelled in order to make pro gress. No one country alone will be able to end exploitative and abusive recruitment. Member States must develop a level playing field for all recruitment agencies, using initiatives such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Fair Recruitment Initiative and the IOM International Recruitment Integrity System. 75. Governments should engage with the private sector. There is a strong business case for a transition to an ethical recruitment system for a number of reasons, including the consequent reduction in reputational and legal risks, and greater efficiency and productivity gains within business operations and the extended supply chain. Governments, international organizations and business associations must use this business case alongside key international legal and policy standards to engage with the private sector, raise awareness within it on the issues and determine the steps needed to achieve a wholesale transition to an ethical recruitment system. 76. In turn, the private sector must fully comply with all relevant international human rights and labour standards and fully implement the Respect, Protect and Remedy framework within the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in relation to migrant workers, by, inter alia, developing a zero -tolerance policy on the payment of recruitment fees by workers, auditing supply chains and ensuring human rights due diligence with all contractors and subcontractors. 16-13509 15/24