Addressing exploitation of labour migrants in Southeast Asia: Beyond a counter-trafficking criminal justice response

Large numbers of young people in Southeast Asia seek work opportunities outside their country of origin, migrating both regularly and irregularly, and with little power to access or negotiate safe and fair migration and work conditions. The risk of exploitation is high.The potential for human trafficking in these situations has attracted
significant attention. Yet much of the response by regional governments and international donors has focused on identifying and prosecuting ‘traffickers’ rather than addressing the many vulnerabilities and forms of exploitation that many labour migrants experience. This thematic brief sets out a diversity of forms of exploitation that labour migrants in Southeast Asia experience, and the implications for how efforts to respond might need to adapt. This includes broadening beyond the dominant frame of criminal justice in order to address exploitation at scale and in a manner that is realistic about the prevailing political economy.

Addressing exploitation of labour migrants in Southeast Asia: Beyond a counter-trafficking criminal justice response- Australian Aid, 2023 DOWNLOAD

Research report: Protecting Asian Trafficking Victims in Europe – In Focus: Czech Republic, Poland and Romania

News & AnalysisPublications

This research project focussed on Asian trafficking victims in Europe, especially in The Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania. Increasingly, Asian migrants are recruited to work in Europe. Among them are many people from the Philippines and Vietnam. ...Read More

TAGS: Asia Europe

Downstream due diligence: Setting the record straight

News & Analysis

The due diligence expectations contained in the OECD Guidelines and United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) have always, since their inception in 2011, been intended to take a risk-based approach that includes the full “value chain” of busines...Read More

TAGS:

Inside job: How business lobbyists used the Commission’s scrutiny procedures to weaken human rights and environmental legislation

News & Analysis

A proposed EU law that seeks to hold companies accountable for human rights abuses, climate change, and environmental destruction has been severely watered down by corporate lobbyists, with assistance from the European Commission’s own business-fr...Read More

TAGS: Due Diligence Europe

Brief – Policy Responses to Technology-Facilitated Trafficking in Human Beings: Analysis of Current Approaches and Considerations for Moving Forward

News & Analysis

Internet and communication technology (ICT) has led to the emergence and rapid expansion of technology-facilitated trafficking in human beings (THB). The misuse of technology has become central to the business model of human traffickers and is prese...Read More

TAGS: Information and Communications Technology Europe