Nov 9, 2016
When the employer of a migrant domestic worker takes her passport and refuses to return it if she seeks to leave, that is forced labor.
When a family works at a brick kiln to pay off a debt, their children prevented from attending school, that is forced labor.
When Uzbek teachers and doctors are mandated by the government to spend two months each fall picking cotton, that is forced labor.
Around the world, nearly 21 million people are forced laborers—11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys. Ninety percent of forced labor takes place in the private economy, where it generates $150 billion in illegal profits per year.
Today, an International Labor Organization (ILO) Protocol on Forced Labor enters into force, requiring countries that ratify it to ensure the release, recovery and rehabilitation of people living in modern slavery. Adopted by the ILO in 2014, the protocol also protects workers from prosecution for any laws they were made to break while they were in forced labor.
The protocol and the accompanying recommendation supplement the 1930 ILO standard covering forced labor, Convention 29, and gives “new impetus to the global fight against all forms of forced labor, including trafficking in persons and slavery-like practices,” according to the ILO.
The protocol also bolsters the ILO’s 1957 Abolition of Forced Labor Convention 105. (Here’s a summary of the two forced labor conventions and the protocol.)
Protocol Would Compensate Those in Forced Labor
Among its provisions, the protocol:
- Guarantees forced laborers access to justice and compensation—even if they’re not legal residents of the country where they work.
- Protects individuals, especially migrant workers, from possible abusive and fraudulent practices during the labor recruitment and placement process.
- Requires employers to exercise “due diligence” to avoid modern slavery in their business practices or supply chains.
Nigeria was the first country to ratify the protocol and since then, eight more countries have done so. The ILO is urging people to join its 50 for Freedom campaign, which aims for 50 countries to ratify the protocol by 2018 to be truly effective.
Join Campaign Urging Countries to Pass Protocol!
Send a message to your labor minister urging passage of the protocol here. The action is hosted by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which is a member of the 50 for Freedom coalition, as is the Solidarity Center.
You also can sign up to get more information on the campaign and spread the word to your networks and on social media with the hashtag #50FF.
Additional 50 for Freedom materials include:
Nov 8, 2016
I am Ma Lwin Lwin Mar and 34 years old. I come from Ngaputaw Township in Ayeyarwaddy Region to Hlaing Thar Yar and work in a garment factory. (Hlaing Thar Yar is a factory district outside Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, where 700,000 workers make clothes and goods for western brands.)
I work in the garment factory for my living and to support also my family.
While working here in the factory, CTUM (Confederation of Trade Unions-Myanmar) came and formed the trade union in November 2013. After formation of the trade union, 204 workers were dismissed by the factory owner without any reason and unlawfully in regard to the issue on (minimum daily wages of Kyat) 3,600 ($2.80).
When they tried unlawfully to dissolve our trade union, CTUM supported our organization very strongly. Because of the strong support of the CTUM, all the workers could come and work again at their worksites peacefully.
Therefore we would like to say that CTUM has taken the responsibility to solve all the unfair activities of the garment factory owner and take care of the workers when the factory owner and CTUM tried to settle.
Nov 8, 2016
“I am from Butere, western Kenya in Kakamega Country. I came to Nairobi to work in 2012 to look for a job to see how I can help myself and my family.
I am married. I was 16 years old when I got married. My husband is at home in Kakamega. My husband does casual work and does farm work. I have two children. One is around six years old and the other is still young, around four years old. They stay at home in Kakamega. My husband looks after them as well as my mother-in-law.
It was my decision to come to work in Nairobi because I needed to help my husband so that we can raise our family. I didn’t have a job when I came to Nairobi and so I came looking for a job. It took around two months to find a job; I stayed with some in-laws. I had a friend of my in-laws and she heard of this job, so it was through word of mouth. The job comes with a place to sleep. I go back to Kakamega to see my family in Nairobi on Saturday until Sunday and after one or two months, I go for three to four days to Kakamega and then I come back.
I went to school until I was around 15, but I didn’t continue. My parents did not have money so I couldn’t finish. I have three sisters and two brothers. Two of them have finished school and two of them haven’t. One sister and one brother finished school, but I didn’t. My favorite subject at school was science. I liked science because I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up but couldn’t because I didn’t have the money.
Paid on Time and Encouraged to Study
My employers are good to me. I get given food and meals three times a day, and time off. On Sundays, I am off and will go and see my family in Nairobi or friends. I will then travel home to see my children every six weeks by bus.
I start work at 5:30 a.m. and will first of all get the children up and dressed and give them breakfast. I will then send them off to school and clean the house. I will do the washing up and ironing and make sure everything is ready when they get home from school. Then I will help them have tea and cake.
My salary is around 10,000 Kenyan shillings (about $97) per month, but I also get my accommodation and food paid for. I also get a uniform. I send most of this money back home to Kakamega to pay for the school fees for my children but I also try and save some.
My employer is very good to me and is encouraging me to do a course in computers so I am hoping to start this soon. I would like to be better qualified so that I can go and get a better job and earn more money.
‘I Miss My Children’
I know that some girls are not as lucky as me and are not treated well. I have heard of girls who are not paid by their employers and are forced to work very bad hours for free. Some girls are beaten, too, but are too scared to go to the police.
They also have no money or means to escape or go back home. I have also heard how some girls are forced to sleep with their employers, but if this happens girls are often too ashamed to talk about it.
The hardest part of my job is being away from my children. I miss them.”
Lucy Nyangasi is a member of Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA).
Nov 7, 2016
In 2011, Anziret Urazbaeva saw her family in Kyrgyzstan separated as her husband, Gulamali Urazbaev, was forced to migrate to Russia for work. With no jobs available in Kyrgyzstan and the family struggling to secure food and other basics, Urazbaev, 46, a primary school teacher, left Anziret, his two sons and a daughter, and found a job at a construction company in Khimki, northwest of Moscow.
Working first as a painter and later laying mosaic tiles, Gulamali was punished by his employers, who reduced his wages because he lacked experience. Like most migrant workers, he sent most of his earnings home.
In 2014, Urazbaev lost his job in Khimki and was invited by friends to work in Sakhalin to pack frozen fish at a factory. His son, 18, joined him, to help the family. But Urazbaev’s wages again were cut, this time by an employer who cited the nation’s economic crisis as justification.
Back in Kyrgyzstan, Anziret, 44, tended cattle and a small plot of land—until she saw an opportunity to achieve a measure of economic independence. By taking part in a seminar organized by the Solidarity Center in cooperation with the Garment Workers’ Union, which represents rural women artisans, Anziret learned how to create hand-made products like scarves from the wool of her sheep and goats.
As she sells her goods, she hopes to launch an income-generating business and ultimately not rely solely upon the remittances from her husband and son to feed her family.