Data gathered by Nepali CSOs highlights a lack of protection for the country’s migrant workers
A new data report reveals widespread exploitation of Nepali workers abroad, Oxfam calls on the global community to ramp up efforts to reduce poverty in East Africa, and former workers from a Malaysian factory launch legal action again Dyson over allegations of labour abuse.
Freedom Collaborative’s latest report on migrant movement has revealed a large number of cases of trafficking and exploitation of Nepali migrant workers, but weak enforcement and inadequate oversight of the laws and regulations that should protect them. The report identifies an urgent need for larger data sets to provide an evidence base for the issues facing Nepali workers overseas, which could lead to more effective action and better collaboration between stakeholders.
“Nepal’s human trafficking routes: mapping destinations for migrant labour using collective data”, in partnership with Winrock International’s USAID Asia CTIP program, was produced as a joint project with two local CSOs: Aaprabasi Mahila Kamdar Samuha Nepal (AMKAS) and Pravasi Nepali Coordination Committee (PNCC). AMKAS is a network of returnee migrant women which fights against the legal and social discrimination that makes females more vulnerable to exploitation. It also protects women through policy advocacy, knowledge creation and vocational training, and supports them during reintegration. PNCC works with a multitude of stakeholders in both Nepal and destination countries, and provides rescue and repatriation services. It also advocates for the protection and rights of male migrants, and fights the stigma around male victimization.
The report sheds light on the migrant journey with Nepal as a source country, and all 498 routes submitted were from cases that the organizations worked on directly. It found that the most common destination countries are Malaysia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, where migrants mostly work in the hospitality, entertainment, manufacturing and construction industries, and as domestic workers. Excessive working hours, psychological abuse and the withholding of identity documents were all reported as violations, but overall the most common forms of exploitation were fraud and coercion, meaning that the majority of migrants initially consented to their job offers, but later found themselves in a situation that was different from the one they had been promised.
Nepal has a longstanding history of outward migration, predominantly resulting from a lack of economic opportunities at home. Remittances from foreign employment make up more than a quarter of national GDP – one of the highest proportions in the world. However, as many migrant workers are unskilled, they rely on recruitment agencies and intermediaries that often charge exorbitant fees, creating situations of debt bondage. This means that many workers face constant uncertainty, starting at recruitment and continuing into their employment experience.
While institutional structures and labour policies exist, and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security claims to safeguard the rights of migrants, enforcement is weak and there appears to be a lack of oversight to curb bad recruitment practices. Government processes for data collection, formal reintegration and repatriation are outdated, making collaboration between CSOs and the government very complicated; the data available is not good enough for identifying trends in labour migration and informing policy. Furthermore, CSOs face funding shortages and widespread opposition, as there is a general reluctance to accept the gravity of the human trafficking problem in Nepal.
In response to these issues, the participating CSOs have been working to implement improved case data record-keeping, in order to highlight migrant stories and provide an evidence base that can be used to guide policy decisions. This report represents part of that effort, and will contribute to improving the situation around data capture, and sharing and coordination, across the region. It is hoped it will inspire others to do the same, leading to an improved overview of relevant actors and available data contributors, as well as increased participation and familiarity with collaborative data collections.
We also hope the report becomes a foundation for further research on migratory routes involving Nepal, and look forward to working with other Nepali and Asian organizations to expand the data set as part of a regional data collection effort in 2022.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
A new research report by Oxfam shows the pandemic has dramatically increased poverty and inequality in East Africa and that post-pandemic austerity will make this worse. According to the authors, East African countries could spend more on public services and enhance workers’ rights with increased taxation on those who can best afford it and more comprehensive debt relief and external funding – but this will happen only if governments, regional institutions and the global community drastically increase their commitment to reducing inequality and eliminating poverty by 2030.
A group of migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh who worked in a factory in Malaysia which predominantly manufactured products for Dyson have launched compensation claims against the company relating to allegations of extensive violations of their legal rights, including forced labour, physical and psychological harm, false imprisonment, cruel and degrading treatment, and exposure to extremely hazardous working conditions.
A new report by the Burma Human Rights Network documents the miserable conditions in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The founder and executive director at BHRN said at the launch event that organized crime and militant groups have significant control within parts of the camps. “You cannot say or do anything against them,” he said. “Rohingya people have become a raw material for human traffickers. For them, this is a very good population to exploit.”
In the lead up to the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday, many organizations posted about the possible connection between the championship game and sex trafficking, while others suggested that attention focused on the host city during the event merely reveals trafficking that is always there. This video from Love146 and article by ECPAT highlight the two sides of the debate.
A man who is suspected of being a high-ranking member of a Vietnamese people-smuggling network has been arrested by the UK’s National Crime Agency. The arrest is part of the latest phase of an investigation into the smuggling of mainly Vietnamese migrants into the UK in the backs of lorries in August, September and October 2020.
Four members of a criminal enterprise based in southeast England have been convicted of modern slavery and fraud offences after more than 30 vulnerable teenage girls were recruited and used to carry out theft and fraud over a period of more than two years. It is believed to be the first time the Modern Slavery Act has been applied to a fraud enterprise in UK law.
The Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) has announced an open competition for grant funding in five priority categories to support the Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS). The application deadline is 5pm EDT on 10 March 2022.
One of our community members is seeking recommendations for survivor consultants in China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to review and provide input on a draft of an upcoming APEC counter-trafficking strategy. Please reach out via email!
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