ITUC and local affiliates spearhead initiative to protect migrant workers’ rights

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the world’s largest trade union federation, together with local ITUC affiliates, unveiled the Migrant Workers Recruitment Advisor (MRA) website in Sinhala and Tamil in their efforts to safeguard and protect the rights of Sri Lanka’s migrant workers. 

The MRA website, recruitmentadvisor.org, is an easily accessible platform for Sri Lankan migrant workers to share their experience by reviewing recruitment agencies, enabling others seeking similar opportunities to research and find information relevant to their recruitment option. The website’s functionality allows workers to comment on their experiences and rate the recruitment agencies while enabling them to learn about their labour rights in the process. 

Since 2018, the ITUC and local affiliates have been closely engaging with migrant worker communities in Sri Lanka to gather reviews about recruitment experiences to protect locals from pursuing overseas employment with minimal screening and endorsement. ITUC’s local affiliates include Sri Lanka Nidahas Sewaka Sangamaya (SLNSS), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), and National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) —trade union organisations that extend their support to drive the MRA agenda island-wide to key stakeholders in a collaborative effort to ensure fair recruitment across the labour migration sector.

Spokesperson for the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC AP General Secretary Shoya Yoshida said: “International labour migration from Sri Lanka has seen an increase in recent times, particularly with lucrative employment opportunities offered by countries in the Gulf. Workers often put themselves at risk due to lack of a sustainable income, and with minimal or no research, take up foreign employment offered by agencies that leave them vulnerable to labour exploitation. It is even more alarming when governments have not provided clear requirements in law to protect migrant workers, inevitably leading to a violation of their rights. By launching the Migrant Workers Recruitment Advisor (MRA) website in the Sinhalese and Tamil languages, we believe it can help mitigate the risk of migrant worker exploitation. We encourage all workers to avail of this opportunity to do due diligence and research agencies that promote foreign employment before making any commitment.”

“The impact of COVID-19 has also added undue pressure, with migrant workers left unemployed and forced to be repatriated, leaving them either stranded in the countries of employment or left uncompensated in the process,” he added. 

The MRA website was launched to enable the ITUC and its affiliates to create a global peer-to-peer recruitment review platform that provides accurate information on recruitment to both prospective migrant workers, as well as workers already employed overseas. Ultimately, the website will also allow more transparency for employers, compliant labour recruiters and other relevant actors and a valuable tool to enhance fair recruitment practices in the inter of all. The website was generated as a solution to drive effective mechanisms to reduce deceptive and fraudulent recruitment practices that leave workers more vulnerable to labour exploitation and forced labour across the world. The MRA website presently lists countless agencies in Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, to name a few.

The ILO’s EQUIP (Equipping Sri Lanka to Counter Trafficking in Persons) project funded by United States Department of States, South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau (US DOS SCA) and ILO’s Global REFRAME project funded by European Union has provided technical and financial support to the ITUC’s local affiliates to implement fair recruitment principle through the MRA website. The MRA is a key tool to promote fair recruitment in practice, in line with the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment, and the definition of recruitment fees and costs. 

About the International Trade Union Confederation

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is the global voice of the world’s working people. The ITUC’s main objective is the promotion and defence of workers’ rights and interests, through international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning and advocacy within the major global institutions. The organisation has close relations with the Global Union Federations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC). It also works closely with the International Labour Organisation and with several other UN Specialised Agencies.

About the International Labour Organisation

The ILO is the first specialised agency of the UN in 1946 and gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments to ensure that the views of the social partners are closely reflected in labour standards and in shaping policies and programs. In 2014, the ILO has launched Fair Recruitment Initiative, grounded on International Labour Standards, to help prevent human trafficking and forced labour, protect the rights of workers from abusive practices, reduce the cost of labour migration and enhance development outcomes of migration. The centrepiece of the Fair Recruitment Initiative is the above-mentioned General principles, the only internationally negotiated and agreed, comprehensive, policy guidance document in this area.