We, the representatives of Civil Society Organisations and Migrant Development Societies working in various regions of Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, have concluded a two-day consultation on SafeandFairLabourMigrationofSriLankanwomen. The CSO representatives who participated in the consultation are from the Eastern Self Reliant Community Awakening Organisation, Centre for Human Rights and Community Development , Community Development Services, Women and Media Collective, Voice of Migrants Network, PREDO, SWOAD, SAMADANAM, FIRM, SAFE Foundation and VOICE. Participants representing the Migrant Development Societies are from Kurunegala, Batticaloa, Putlam, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Kandy, Vavuniya and Nuawara Eliya.
During the last two days our discussions focused on all stages of labour migration: pre-decision and pre-departure, while in employment abroad and life upon return. Based on our long experience of doing research, advocacy and ground level work and the rich lived experience and community engagement of Migrant Development Societies, we would like to make the following recommendations to the concerned authorities. We sincerely hope that our recommendations will be taken into consideration.
PRE-DEPARTURE ORIENTATION
The 28-day Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) must focus on enabling migrant workers, especially women workers in low-waged jobs, to uphold rights and dignity of all migrant workers. The Government should also actively include returnee migrant women’s experiences and concerns to improve the curricula for pre-departure orientation programmes.
Invest in modernizing facilities and equipment for training. And decentralise spaces and training programmes to reach the district level.
Migrant societies should be consulted in the review and assessment of training curricula to capacitate migrant workers with language skills, technical skills and background knowledge of the destination countries.
Recognise the lived experiences of returning migrants and allow opportunities for migrant returnees to participate in the facilitation of training programmes.
RECRUITMENT
Address and take action on recruitment irregularities such as high payments, contract violations, trafficking, dual contract signing etc.
Ensure the implementation of the existing code of ethics and monitoring mechanisms with regard to the recruitment agencies.
Recognise and regularise the intermediaries, for example, the sub-agents
Re-instate the process of signing the employment contracts in the own language of workers (e.g Sinhala and Tamil) at the Bureau office to ensure protection of their rights.
Given the increasing number of persons migrating on ‘visit visas’ make dedicated efforts to reach out and encourage them to register with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.
WHILE IN EMPLOYMENT ABROAD
Strengthen bilateral agreements and MOUs to focus on labour rights protection and the promotion of human rights.
Expand the mandate of Embassies and Consular Offices in destination countries to include legal and psycho-social support for distressed migrant workers.
Develop communication channels for addressing complaints by migrant workers
The Embassy should serve as a link between employers and agencies in handling cases of abuse
Consular assistance services must be gender-responsive and the quality of humanitarian support for distressed migrant workers in crisis situations must improve.
Labour attaches placed in countries of destination should be sensitized and undergo specific training to respond with empathy to deal with labour disputes.
Migrant workers must be able to exercise their voting rights while they are employed overseas. (Develop a system for absentee voting as they do in the Philippines).
Increase the percentage of registration fees from 10% to 30% for the insurance scheme to cover the welfare of migrants.
RIGHTS UPON RETURN
Return and Reintegration programmes should address the socio-economic challenges of returnees and their communities
The State must invest resources into better public services and welfare at the grassroots level that recognise the valuable contributions of migrant women workers, and address harmful stereotypes and the stigma facing returnee migrant women workers.
Ensure adequate implementation and monitoring of the Return and Reintegration Sub Policy by providing programmes to enhance women migrant workers’ skills, and access to opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.
Ensure access to upskilling programmes for all women workers and implement RPL system for NVQ level certifications.
Develop pension schemes for returnee migrants.
Establish identity cards for migrant returnees for special benefits (healthcare, public transport, banking etc.).
Recognise existing research studies on migrant workers and incorporate trends and patterns in policies and programmes to understand the impact of labour migration on women and communities.
Ensure participation and involvement of Migrant Development Societies to strengthen programmes focusing on migration.
We write this statement as an alliance of anti-trafficking experts and service providers from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America. We wish to express our deep concern over the proposals contained within the UK’s Illegal Migration Bill 2023. If enacted, this Bill will have grave consequences for our ability to work together across borders and combat human trafficking.
For decades, the UK has been a key ally in the fight against human trafficking. The proposals contained in this Bill risk undermining all the progress that has been made to date.
We are deeply concerned by the provisions of this Bill that remove all protections for victims of trafficking and asylum seekers who entered the UK without a visa, or with a visa that was obtained by the deception of their trafficker. These victims will be denied access to the Uk’s identification system, the national referral mechanism (NRM) and will face detention and deportation. This applies even to victims who entered the UK against their will.
If these provisions are enforced, many trafficking victims are likely to be denied protection. By its nature, the crime of human trafficking often entails transporting someone from one location to another. For foreign nationals, this will often have meant that they either entered the UK without a valid visa, or with a visa that their trafficker obtained on their behalf. As many trafficking victims in the UK are foreign nationals these provisions will apply to a huge proportion of trafficking victims. .
We wish to recall the horrific tragedy in Essex in 2019, where 39 Vietnamese people suffocated to death in the back of a refrigerated truck. It is widely understood that these 39 people were potential victims of human trafficking. Should any of them have survived, under this proposed legislation they would likely be refused protection. Under the draft law, these potential victims could have been detained and deported on the basis that they entered the UK without permission and had travelled through several other “safe” countries. This would be a clear violation of the UK’s international legal obligations under the UN Trafficking Convention and the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking.
If the UK departs from the internationally agreed law and principles in this field to such a great extent, this will also directly impact our ability to provide support and protection to victims of trafficking all over the world. Human trafficking is a global phenomenon that requires global cooperation between countries. For example, the case of the 39 Vietnamese people had repercussions for multiple countries across Europe and Asia, with court proceedings taking place in three countries across two continents. Our ability to do our jobs will be under threat if we cannot rely on the UK authorities to offer protection and support to potential victims of trafficking within their jurisdiction.
We also wish to comment on the narrow exception proposed in the Bill, that a victim will not be disqualified from protection if they are cooperating with a criminal investigation, but only “if the Secretary of State considers the individual’s physical presence in the United Kingdom to be necessary for that cooperation.” This exception will in practice do little to mitigate the harmful effects of this proposed legislation. Our collective experience has proven that there are many reasons why a victim of trafficking may be unable to cooperate with a criminal investigation. Many victims do not feel safe enough to do so until they have had the time to recover from their exploitation. Others will be fearful of the risk to themselves or their families back home. The practice of data-sharing with immigration enforcement can also make victims fearful of coming forward to support a prosecution - victims are often told by their exploiters that if they go to the police, this will result in their detention and deportation. This fear will become a reality if the Bill becomes law.
In light of the above, we urge the UK Government to reconsider the proposed legislation, and reaffirm its commitment to the global fight against human trafficking.
Signatories
Alianza Americas (United States)
Alliance Against Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal
AMKAS Nepal
Animus Association (Bulgaria)
Asociacion Civil de Derechos Humanos Mujeres Unidas Migrantes y Refugiadas en Argentina
Association for Community Development (Bangladesh)
Association Novi Put (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
ASTRA - Anti-Trafficking Action (Serbia)
Badabon Sangho (Bangladesh)
Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra
Ban Ying (Germany)
Biswas Nepal
Capital Humano y Social Alternativo (Peru)
CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago
CAREF - La Comisión Argentina para Refugiados y Migrantes
Comensha (Netherlands)
Comitato per i Diritti Civili delle Prostitute ApS (Italy)
Espacios de Mujer (Colombia)
European Sex Workers Alliance (Europe-wide)
Every Child Protected against Trafficking Guatemala
FIZ Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Human Trafficking (Switzerland)
Fundación Libera contra la Trata de Personas y la Esclavitud en Todas sus Formas (Chile)
GAATW Canada
Gabriela Germany
Human Trafficking Legal Centre (United States)
Human Resources Development Foundation (Turkey)
KOK - German NGO Network against Trafficking in Human Beings
La Strada International (Europe-wide)
La Strada Moldova
La Strada Ukraine
Liberty Shared (Hong Kong)
Mission d’intervention et de sensibilisation contre la traite des êtres humains (France)
National Workers Welfare Trust (India)
NGO Atina (Serbia)
OKUP (Bangladesh)
Open Gate - La Strada Macedonia
PION - Prostituertes interesseorganisasjon i Norge (Norway)
RE: THE TRAFFICKING OF PEOPLE FOR THE PURPOSE OF FORCED LABOUR IN ONLINE
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
8 February 2023
A. Introduction
This complaint is made by the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (in consultative status with AICHR since 2018), Tenaganita Malaysia, and Migrant Care Indonesia, and is directed at Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam.
B. Statement of facts
Since 2019, thousands of workers from the ASEAN region have been trafficked by organised criminal groups for the purpose of their forced labour in online criminal activity. Responding to advertisements offering jobs working online, a vast number of people have been tricked into traveling to Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.1 There have also been reports of at least one victim being tricked into travelling to Singapore, before being transported onwards to Thailand and Myanmar.2
On arrival at borders and airports, victims are typically met by several men who drive them to deserted hotels, casinos and other large buildings, which have been installed with metal window bars and barbed wire.3 Victims’ passports are taken from them immediately upon arrival and they are told that they are not permitted to leave the building’s compound under any circumstances. According to survivors, the victims are watched by security guards throughout the fenced-off compounds, some of them carry guns. Some victims have also been forced to sign a contract which would require them to pay a ransom to terminate the contract. In Malaysia it has been reported that this ransom can be up to RM80,000.00 per person (about 19,000 USD).
Victims are forced to work in these buildings, known as “fraud factories,” on online scams. The victims are forced to conduct online criminal activity, ranging from “love scams” and crypto fraud, to money laundering and illegal gambling. In general, the victims are paid far less than what they were promised (if they are paid at all).
Victims have reported serious physical abuse at the hands of their traffickers, including mental and physical torture. This includes being beaten, electrocuted and starved.4 Victims also report being forced into rooms too small to stand in and being deprived of natural light and water for hours.5 There have also been reports of sexual assault 6 and some women originally recruited to work in scam centres have reported being subsequently forced into situations of sexual exploitation.7
People who try to leave are told they must first pay off the “debts” they owe to the scam centres if they want to leave. Families of victims have been sent photographs of their loved ones tied up and physically abused along with demands for ransoms from the traffickers.8 Two Indonesian victims in Myanmar were told to pay RP150,000,000 (about 10,000 USD) or face being sold elsewhere.9
Those who cannot afford to pay are forced to attempt a perilous escape. In August 2022, 40 Vietnamese people imprisoned in a Cambodian casino broke out of the compound and jumped into a river in attempt to swim across the border. A 16-year old boy drowned during this escape attempt.10
Many victims were also re-trafficked several times upon arrival in the original country of destination.11 There have been reports of victims being trafficked between different ASEAN member countries. For example, after initially arriving in Cambodia, victims are sold on to other groups in Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, as well as within Cambodia.12 Survivors have reported that each time they were sold, they were sold for a higher price, meaning that the amount the victim had to pay to be allowed to leave becomes higher after each instance of re-trafficking.
To date victims from Indonesia,13 Malaysia,14 Myanmar,15Philippines,16 Thailand,17 and Viet Nam18 have been identified (in addition to many victims from outside the ASEAN region, including China,19 Hong Kong,20 Taiwan,21 Bangladesh,22 India,23 Pakistan,24 Ethiopia,25 Kenya,26 and Brazil 27).
Victims are of all genders but tend to be relatively young – many are teenagers28 and we are aware of at least three child victims.29 Traffickers appear to have taken advantage of the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and are targeting young university graduates who now have more limited job opportunities.30 Victims are targeted through sophisticated fake profiles and illegal websites, and post job opportunities overseas via social media. The victims also tend to be well-educated, computer-literate and usually speak at least one regional language, as well as English or Mandarin. Victims from Indonesia have reported that they were required to undergo an English language test and a typing test as part of the “recruitment” process.31
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