IOM-MPI Issue in Brief No. 4 - Regulating Private Recruitment in the Asia-Middle East Labour Migration Corridor

The Middle East represents one of the most sought-after and competitive labour markets in the world, with an estimated 10 million contract workers in the Gulf states alone – 70 per cent of whom are Asian. 

The vast majority of this temporary labour movement is brokered by recruitment agencies; and with the supply of labour overwhelmingly outweighing demand, oversight of recruitment practices is extremely difficult. Migrant workers are willing to pay a stiff premium to work in the Middle East, even in the face of onerous placement fees and less-than-ideal work and living conditions once at destination. 

In Regulating Private Recruitment in the Asia? Middle East Labour Migration Corridor, author Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias examines how sometimes unscrupulous recruitment agencies take advantage of the migrants they purport to serve, by charging excessive placement fees and offering expensive pre-departure loans. 

The issue brief, the fourth in a series launched by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and the International Organization for Migration’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, discusses the policy options that could be implemented to curb abuses by increasing government intervention in recruitment operations. 

Available policy levers for regulating recruitment practices are many and should aim to achieve the following overarching goals: (1) reduce the number of recruitment agencies to an optimal level to prevent cut-throat competition, (2) bring subagents and brokers into the formal sector, (3) regulate transactions among recruiters and between recruiters and employers and (4) harmonize regulations governing recruitment agencies at origin and destination. 

The issue brief suggests that governments at both origin and destination should become involved by introducing parallel measures (such as provision of equal treatment and basic rights) that empower labour migrants and give them the needed negotiating leverage in an otherwise unequal employment relationship. 

The IOM-MPI issue briefs, a monthly joint-publication offering succinct insights on migration issues affecting the Asia-Pacific region today, are available at IOM Online Bookstore and Migration Policy Institute.

 

Fair and Ethical Recruitment Due Diligence Toolkit by IOM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Fair and Ethical Recruitment Due Diligence Toolkit was developed to support business enterprises in fulfilling their responsibility to respect human rights in the context of international recruitment. It provides practical tools that enterprises can use to conduct comprehensive due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Practice, and IOM’s Migrant Worker Guidelines (MWGs). It can be used by enterprises to develop or strengthen due diligence processes in directly recruiting and managing business relationships with labour recruiters and private employment agencies that place migrant workers.

The tools within the Toolkit contain detailed guidelines and practical recommendations on how the due diligence processes described in the UNGPs and MWGs can be operationalized. The tools include interactive features that will direct users to the next due diligence process or the corresponding actions that are recommended for them to take. Enterprises may directly use or edit the tools to adapt to the unique nature of their operations and business relationships.

 

Tools to operationalize fair and ethical recruitment due diligence:

1. 1. Embedding fair and ethical recruitment principles into policies and management systems
    
2. 2. Identifying and assessing adverse human and labour rights impacts on migrant workers

• Risk Assessment Tool
• Self-assessment Checklist

 

1. 3. Preventing and mitigating adverse human and labour rights impacts on migrant workers

• Corrective Action Plan Template (linked to the Self-assessment Checklist)
• Training Management Tool
• Pre-departure Orientation Checklist
• Post-arrival Orientation Template

 

1. 4. Tracking implementation and results

• Worker Interview Tool
• Fair and Ethical Recruitment Due Diligence Monitoring Tool

 

1. 5. Communicating how adverse impacts are addressed
    
2. 6. Providing access to remedy

• Grievance and Remediation Management Tool
• Grievance and Remediation Monitoring Tool

 

Access the full Toolkit here.

For questions, please email iom.dd.support@iom.int.

 

Lessons Learned Part 1: Outreach to migrant women in areas of origin

This document describes the lessons learned by the Work in Freedom programme on outreach to migrant women in areas where they migrate from. This compilation was preceded by an earlier edition of Lessons Learned in October 2017, followed by another one in February 2019. The findings are important to inform Governments, donors and civil society groups on their policies regarding the protection of migrant women, safe migration, pre-departure training and orientation and more.

 

Fair recruitment in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico: Assessing progress and addressing gaps

Analysis of progress and gaps in the regulatory framework, policies and enforcement on fair recruitment in the region and in each country, with recommendations to address regional and national challenges.

The document also compiles cases, good practices and recent efforts in various sectors and regions at local and international level by governments, employers' organisations and workers' organisations.