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Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- During her mission to Lebanon, the Special Rapporteur was informed that migrant domestic workers made up 25 per cent of the Lebanese workforce and faced "physical abuse, a category encompassing physical suffering caused by working a minimum of 18 hours per day and physical assault … non-payment of wages, sexual abuse, moral harassment, food deprivation, sexual harassment, forced labour … physical threats, forced prostitution, non-renewal of papers and employment of minors" (A/HRC/21/41/Add.1, para. 9). The Governments of Madagascar, Philippines and Sri Lanka have since prohibited their citizens from working in domestic service in Lebanon due to these extremely poor conditions and the fact that there is virtually no system in place in Lebanon to protect domestic workers. Article 7 of the Lebanese Labour Code of 1946 specifically excludes domestic workers from its provisions (ibid., para. 21).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Migrant workers are also disproportionately affected by contemporary forms of slavery. Many are especially vulnerable because they are employed far from their homes, lack language skills and familiarity with host country legal systems, may be undocumented, hired through recruitment agencies, are unprotected by laws in host jurisdictions, rarely receive adequate training, lack access to effective grievance mechanisms, are vulnerable to contract substitution, and/or are severely underpaid. Limitations on migrant workers' freedom of movement greatly increase their chances of becoming victims of contemporary slavery. Employers may confiscate their passports or identity papers and migrant workers are often employed in remote locations where they are dependent on their employers even for basic necessities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Certain countries also have laws that make migrant workers vulnerable to slavery-like practices. For example, in the Dominican Republic, temporary migrants must be provided with a "temporary worker card". This carnet only allows them "to perform the gainful activity for which they were admitted, for the authorized period of time and within the authorized area". Migration Law 285-04 stipulates that employers should "repatriate" workers once their carnets expire, giving employers the authority to deport workers. This creates a legal restriction on migrant workers' freedom of movement, links them to a specific employer and creates an inherent menace of penalty of deportation for leaving their jobs or workplaces.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Yet, even when inspectors are trained to identify victims of slavery, many victims may be afraid to talk because of threats made against them. This is especially true with migrant workers, many of whom are afraid that authorities may harass, detain or deport them. In the United States of America, for example, some migrant workers have reported that they are afraid to talk to neighbours or unable to do so owing to language barriers. In some cases, their employers have threatened to report them to immigration authorities if they try to leave.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- A number of countries have also established specific protections for migrant workers, many of whom are extremely vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery. In 2011, the Czech Republic made several legislative changes to improve protections for migrants and reduce their vulnerability to exploitation. The Act on Residence of Foreign Nationals was amended to require that employers cover the costs of repatriation when foreign nationals exit the country before the expiration of their work permit. Taiwanese law requires government oversight of the agencies through which migrant workers are recruited in order to ensure that they are not charged excessive service fees. In the United Arab Emirates, Ministerial Resolution No. 1186 of 2010 allows migrant workers to transfer from one employer to another after their contracts expire. In 2007, the Mexican National Migration Institute improved labour protections for migrant agricultural workers with the intent of regularizing and reducing abuses of migrant workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Some countries of origin of migrant workers have also taken important steps. They have established protections for their citizens to reduce the risk of contemporary forms of slavery when migrating overseas for employment. The Nepalese Foreign Employment Act of 2007 delineates the role of the Government in the management of overseas employment through the regulation of licences for recruitment agencies. It also defines the process of recruitment for overseas employment; sets minimum wage, labour contract and insurance requirements; requires pre-departure training; and sets procedures for filing complaints. However, it failed to cover employment of Nepali migrants in India. In May 2012, the Government of Nepal announced a policy of mandatory verification of migrant workers' documents by Nepali missions abroad and that it was working with receiving-country Governments to establish a minimum salary for Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are amongst the largest employers of Nepali workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- In order to do so, some sending and receiving countries of migrant workers have signed bilateral agreements or memoranda of understanding. Argentina and Peru, for example, recently established a Memorandum of Understanding on migrant domestic workers (see A/HRC/15/20, para. 82), while a new one for the employment of Indonesian maids was signed between the Governments of Indonesia and Malaysia in 2011 to update a 2006 agreement. This agreement requires an employment contract, sets recruitment fees, provides for a weekly day of rest, allows maids to keep their passports and requires the month-long training of Indonesian maids prior to entering Malaysia as workers. The agreement lifted a two-year ban that Indonesia had imposed on migration to Malaysia for domestic work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- One of the most important steps in ensuring the successful implementation of laws on contemporary forms of slavery is the provision of training to authorities, including law enforcement officers, labour inspectors, judges and immigration officials. Training should cover relevant law, victim protection mechanisms and techniques for identifying victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- There have also been recent awareness-raising campaigns on an international level that focus on awareness among global companies. Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has laid out a series of good practice examples on global migration to which businesses should adhere. BSR establishes specific standards regarding the legal status of migrant workers, worker rights, recruitment, orientation and training, wages and benefits, withholding of documents, living conditions, leave, grievance mechanisms, and termination and repatriation. ILO has also developed a handbook for employers and business on forced labour, which seeks to raise their awareness and understanding of the issue.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The identification of victims is greatly aided by strengthening the capacity of labour inspectorates and other public institutions, such as police and immigration authorities, and by raising the awareness of authorities regarding laws on contemporary forms of slavery and techniques for identifying victims. The creation of specialized units to identify victims is also crucial. In the Czech Republic, a special police department aimed at uncovering forced labour was established in April 2006. Brazil also offers an important and highly successful example of specialized training, with its mobile inspections unit comprised of representatives from across government enforcement agencies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery 2013, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Nevertheless, Government-run rehabilitation and reintegration efforts are not always effective. In these cases, other stakeholders can offer assistance. Unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in sending and receiving countries have cooperated in order to facilitate the reintegration of victims when return home. In Nepal, where government reintegration services have been limited, two NGOs rehabilitate and reintegrate returned migrant workers. Pouraki Nepal was initiated by women migrant workers, while Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee advocates for the rights of male migrants. In-country research in Nepal also indicates that a new foundation to aid migrant workers has been established, with a free training centre in Kathmandu that helps rehabilitate and reintegrate returned migrant workers, including a counselling centre for female returnees.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- HIV/AIDS has had a huge impact on all of society, not least those subject to child slavery in mining and quarrying. In central and southern Africa the scourge of AIDS has left many orphans. This situation - coupled with the fact that there is already a lot of pressure on the disintegrating traditional extended family support system - means that many orphans end up working unaccompanied in this sector.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 90
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur recommends that States ratify fully and implement all relevant international legal instruments to prevent child slavery such as the 1926 Slavery Convention, the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- ILO estimated in 2012 that 20.9 million people worldwide were victims of forced labour. These figures refer to all forms of forced labour, however given the close interrelationship with debt bondage, the figures offer some insight into debt bondage prevalence trends globally. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the highest absolute number of victims of forced labour: 11.7 million, or 56 per cent of the global total. The second-highest number is in Africa, with 3.7 million (18 per cent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, with 1.8 million (9 per cent). Developed economies and the European Union account for 1.5 million victims of forced labour (7 per cent), while the non-EU countries of Central, South-East and Eastern Europe and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States have 1.6 million (7 per cent). In the Middle East, there are an estimated 600,000 victims (3 per cent). ILO has noted that the average period of time that victims spend in forced labour is approximately 18 months, with significant variation according to the forms of forced labour and across regions. The ILO data also illustrates that forced labour affects international migrants, internally displaced persons and people in their home countries. ILO estimates that there are 9.1 million victims (44 per cent) who have moved either internally or internationally, and 11.8 million (56 per cent) who are subjected to forced labour in their place of origin or residence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The right to be free from slavery is a peremptory norm of international law from which no derogation is permitted and creates an erga omnes obligation on all States to protect this right. It is entrenched in the Slavery Convention of 1926 and has been incorporated into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 4), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 8 (1)) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art. 11 (1)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Eradicating contemporary forms of slavery from supply chains 2015, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- In other cases, some legal jurisdictions are part of the problem, exacerbating the vulnerability of workers to contemporary forms of slavery. This is the case in countries where laws tie migrant workers to specific employers, preventing them from leaving without the employer's authorization. In some countries, for example, certain categories of workers are not guaranteed their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and thus not allowed to form or join trade unions or hold office within them, which adds to their vulnerability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- A precarious visa and immigration status, unfamiliarity with the local context and language and discrimination make migrant domestic workers particularly vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and subjugation to slavery-like practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Neo-bondage may also emerge in the context of migration for domestic work. Migrant domestic workers will often assume a considerable debt towards the employer or the agency organizing her recruitment and transport to cover the cost of the air ticket and recruitment fees. The domestic worker is then expected to work off this debt. In many countries, migrant domestic workers are not able to change employers as the validity of their visa depends on the initial employer's sponsorship (see section 2f). In addition, they might be blocked from returning to their home country, because employers or recruitment agencies withhold passports or return air tickets. They cannot leave their position before they have worked off their recruitment debt. With salaries being often as low as US$ 100-300 per month, this means that migrant domestic workers become bonded for long periods to a single employer, making them easily exploitable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Migrant domestic workers commonly have a particularly precarious residence status, making them dependent on their employer and hence easy to exploit. A number of countries in Asia and the Middle East (where the system is known as kafalah) still tie a domestic worker's visa to a particular family. The domestic worker is only allowed to change visa sponsors without the employers' consent in exceptional circumstances that are, in practice, hard to invoke. A live-in worker who is dismissed can find herself from one moment to the next in the street with no income, legal residence status, family support network, return air ticket or right to seek another job.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Prejudices also reveal themselves in pay differences. Studies in Middle Eastern countries found, for instance, that Filipina migrant domestic workers are usually paid more than their more dark-skinned colleagues from South Asia or Africa.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The migrant domestic sector is particularly underregulated. Many countries have left the organization of this sector entirely to transnational recruitment agencies who are often more concerned with satisfying employers' needs than protecting the human rights of the human beings they recruit. In some cases, the authorities have not even put in place basic measures, such as a registration system that records which recruitment agency is bringing in which domestic worker and who that person ends up working for. Problems are often handled by immigration authorities, which lack the technical expertise to appropriately address them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- International human rights law outlaws domestic and other forms of servitude. Apart from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 Supplementary Convention on Slavery, relevant norms can be found in the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 8), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art. 11), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 27), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 7 on just and favourable conditions of work) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 19 and 32), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 11 on women's right not to be discriminated in the field of employment).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Building on these norms, the committees of independent experts overseeing State parties' compliance with the obligations assumed under these treaties (treaty bodies) have made repeated references to the exploitation of domestic workers in their concluding observations on country reports. Conversely, individual complaints mechanisms, including the Special Rapporteur's communications procedure, remain underutilized. In its general comment No. 28 on gender equality, the Human Rights Committee has made specific references to slavery disguised, inter alia, as domestic or other kinds of personal service. When the present document was being finalized, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families was discussing a general comment on migrant domestic workers, with a view to adopting it at the end of 2010.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- [The criminalization of all forms of slavery and servitude, in line with States' international obligations, is one aspect of an effective response. At the same time, the issue is embedded in the wider challenge to ensure that domestic workers are finally provided with equal protection of their labour rights. Combating domestic servitude and protecting domestic workers' rights are two sides of the same coin. The Special Rapporteur recommends that States:] Require that domestic workers receive a written contract in a language they can understand and that wage payments are made into a bank account. States should set a minimum wage for all domestic workers, including migrants, that should be above the poverty line of the country concerned and under no circumstances lower than the World Bank reference line indicating poverty (currently set at US$ 2 per day). Any additional payments in kind should not be counted towards the minimum wage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- [Domestic workers have made impressive gains in organizing themselves across the globe. More efforts are needed, however, to empower individual workers. The Special Rapporteur recommends:] National authorities, cooperating with domestic workers associations, unions and national human rights institutions, should launch campaigns to inform prospective and current domestic workers what rights they have and how they can enforce them. Information has to be provided in places and languages accessible to all domestic workers, including migrants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Manifestations and causes of domestic servitude 2010, para. 98
- Paragraph text
- [Normative action at the international level reflects has long been a reflection of the indolence of many States to provide effective protection against domestic servitude at the national level. The Special Rapporteur therefore welcomes the fact that the ILO finally resolved to adopt a convention on decent standards for domestic work and hopes that recommendations contained in this report will be reflected in the Convention. The Special Rapporteur recommends that:] States cooperate within the ILO to ensure that the future convention on decent standards domestic work is based on the major human rights treaties and entails specific commitments to regulate all aspects of recruitment, placement and work, including with regard to migrant domestic work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Priorities of the new mandate holder 2014, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In particular, the Special Rapporteur views the elimination of domestic servitude as a key priority of the mandate, as that form of slavery continues to exist across both developed and developing countries. Women, low-skilled migrant workers, indigenous people, internally displaced persons and other marginalized groups and groups that are discriminated against are the most vulnerable to exploitation in domestic servitude.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
27 shown of 27 entities