A/HRC/26/35
confiscation of passports) from a person under the menace of a penalty (such as the threat
of deportation for leaving one’s employer), this can amount to forced labour and in some
cases servitude. Furthermore, debt, usually due to recruitment loans taken out with a very
high interest rate, is sometimes used to coerce migrants to accept work to which they did
not originally agree, and thus constitutes a component of forced labour.
47.
Migrants are often deceived by their recruiters about their salaries, working hours,
days off and the nature of the work, and experience exploitative working conditions and
non-payment of salaries. Such deception and exploitation can amount to trafficking for
labour exploitation. Information available to the Special Rapporteur indicates that
recruitment agents are sometimes involved in trafficking of migrants for forced labour.
They deliberately deceive prospective migrants about the conditions of work and withhold
their passports, knowing they will be exploited.
12.
Termination of employment
48.
Migrants often experience that their work contract does not make the terms and
conditions for the termination of the employment relationship clear. They can thus be
denied the freedom to terminate employment and find another employer. Additionally,
where an exit permit from the employer is required, migrants may be denied the right to
leave the country. Migrants are also often victims of unfair dismissal. For instance, if their
work is no longer required, despite the fact that they have a contract, their employer may
tell them there is no work for them, resulting in the migrants either being left without a job,
or sent back to their country of origin. In countries where the residence permit is linked to
the employer, migrants may end up in an irregular situation if they choose to stay in the
country, looking for a new job. The law may also not recognize the validity of a contract
with an irregular migrant, who may be left without protection.
D.
1.
Groups of migrants specifically at risk of exploitation
Temporary migrant workers
49.
Many temporary migrant workers are filling permanent labour needs, while others
perform seasonal work, including in agriculture or tourism, which may amount to “circular”
migration when the migrant returns year after year. Temporary migration is frequently
discussed in international forums, such as the Global Forum on Migration and
Development, as something uniquely positive. However, temporary migration programmes
can have very negative consequences in terms of human rights, including access to
economic and social rights, the right to family life and protection from exploitation.
Generally, such programmes do not give migrants the right to free choice of employment,
which makes them become dependent on their employer and vulnerable to abuse.
Additionally, temporary migrants usually do not have access to welfare benefits given to
long-term residents, and may be excluded from wage protection and social security
programmes, including health insurance and employment injury coverage. As a result,
temporary migrants often live in substandard housing or makeshift accommodation. States
often restrict the rights of temporary migrant workers to family reunification and vocational
training. Temporary migration programmes are inflexible to the needs of migrant workers,
and give unequal power to the employer. As temporary migrant workers spend a short time
in a specific area, they may find access to legal services and the judicial system difficult,
inter alia due to lack of knowledge of the local law, language barriers, cultural isolation,
their precarious migration status, as well as restricted right to organize. In particular, farm
work, which is frequently seasonal and performed by temporary/circular migrant workers,
is in some countries excluded from labour laws. This makes it very difficult for migrant
farm workers to enforce their rights or improve their working conditions.
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