Act now: Workers like Elvira at risk
Elvira is one of the millions of migrant workers who are promised better futures by recruitment agents only to be tricked into forced labor. [1] Call on your country now to demand better protections for workers like Elvira.
Elvira was not allowed to go outside and slept on the floor next to her employer.
Elvira turned to a work placement agency when her husband became too sick to work. She took up a position in Qatar with a family who refused to give her a day off and paid her less than stated in her contract.
She sought help from the agency but they didn’t answer her call. The family in Qatar then sent her to the United Kingdom to work for a family member where the abuse got worse. Elvira worked all the time, and her employer would insult her by calling her a “dog” and “stupid”.
Whilst the physical shackles of slavery might be clear, new forms of modern slavery can take the shape of companies that trick migrants into exploitative work placements. Unscrupulous agencies for work are one of the drivers of human trafficking and forced labor.[2]
These agencies trick workers like Elvira by telling them they have found them a good job. In reality, workers are then trafficked into slavery in another country. Elvira was made to work 20 hours a day without pay and was only allowed to eat one piece of bread.
But there is something governments can do to protect migrant workers from abusive and fraudulent recruitment and placement agencies.
Call on your government to take steps to regulate agencies and help ensure migrant workers are no longer tricked into forced labor and slavery.
With your help we can shine a light on governments to demand workers are protected. Existing laws are not enough to stop millions from being trafficked into slavery. We need better measures to regulate the recruitment and placement of workers!
Governments have indicated that they recognize the need for the regulation of the recruitment process. In 2014, governments overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new international law that calls for just that – the Forced Labour Protocol. However, to make this new law applicable in your country, your government has to ratify the Protocol. To date only 40 countries have done that.
Has your country joined the Forced Labour Protocol?
Voting for strong laws is not enough! We need those laws and regulations put in place so that people like Elvira are protectedfrom unscrupulous recruitment agents who trick workers into modern slavery.
Sign the campaign to call on your government to act.
In solidarity,
Herrana and the Freedom United team
Herrana Addisu Advocacy Officer, Freedom United |
