The Role of Recruitment Fees and Abusive and Fraudulent Recruitment Practices of Recruitment Agencies in Trafficking in Persons This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Department of State. UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna The Role of Recruitment Fees and Abusive and Fraudulent Practices of Recruitment Agencies in Trafficking in Persons UNITED NATIONS Vienna, 2015 The description and classification of countries and territories in this study and the arrangement of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. © United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2015 ii Acknowledgments The present publication was developed by UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section under the overall leadership of Ilias Chatzis and the coordination of Silke Albert. The publication was drafted by Quinn Kepes and Philip Hunter, with the support of Daryll Delgado (in‐country survey in Indonesia), Livia Wagner (in‐country survey in Peru and desk review for Latin America) and Azzeddine Salmane (in‐country surveys in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates). Particular thanks are owed to Tatiana Balisova, (UNODC), who reviewed and revised and contributed significantly to the present publication. Two expert group meetings held in Vienna, Austria, in October 2014 and in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2014, elaborated concepts and provided inputs to this publication. The meeting in Bangkok was jointly organized with the International Labour Organization (ILO) who carried out a parallel, related research (“Regulating labour recruitment to prevent human trafficking and to foster fair migration: models, challenges and opportunities”). The meetings brought together more than 100 experts from national governments, employer and worker organizations, academia, inter‐ governmental and non‐governmental organizations, as well as private business and civil society. UNODC expresses its gratitude to the experts who participated in the expert group meetings and who substantially contributed to the present report including Daniele Santa Catarina, Brazil; Mansour Jobe, Gambia; Heike Rudat, Germany; Dimistrijs Trofimovs, Latvia; Hanne Sophie Greve, Norway; Sasa Gosic, Serbia; Patricia Fernandez Olalla, Spain; Joan Kagezi, Uganda; Carla M. Bury, USA; Greenwell Lyempe, Zambia; Gulnara Shahinian, Council of Europe, Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, (GRETA); Zuzanna Muskat‐Gorska, International Trade Union Confederation, (ITUC); Sandro Pettineo, International Confederation of Private Employment Services, (Ciett); Vassiliy Yuzhanin, International Organization for Migration, (IOM); Neill Wilkins, The Institute for Human Rights and Business, (IHRB); Mariyana Radeva‐Berket, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, (ICMPD); Liliana Sorrentino, The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, (HEUNI); Ruth Pojman and Aimée Comrie, Organization for Security and Co‐operation in Europe, (OSCE), Office of the Special Representative and Co‐ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings; Marija Andjelkovic, ASTRA (Anti‐Trafficking Action), Serbia; Irena Konečná, La Strada International; Hanny Ben‐Israel, Kav LaOved (Protection of Workers’ Rights), Israel; Matthew McEvoy, Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales, A.C. (ProDESC), Mexico; Neha Misra, Solidarity Center and Suzanne Tomatore, City Bar Justice Center, USA, as well as Ahmad Mohammed Al Busmait, May Al Asmi and Mohammed Dito, Bahrain; Rahmar Sori, Indonesia; Shree Adhikari, Nepal; Narayanappa Janardhan and Mohsin Ali Al Nasee, United Arab Emirates; Krystal Thompson, Australia‐Asia Program to Combat Trafficking iii in Persons (AAPTIP); Lara White (IOM); Gerard Smith, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Paul Buckley, United Nations Inter‐Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP); Klara Skrivankova, Anti‐Slavery International; Bandana Pattanaik, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW); Geeta Sekhon, Independent Expert; Rami Asrawi, Jordanian Association of Recruiting Agency in the Domestic Work Sector and Orient Recruiting Agency, Jordan; Vichuta Ly, Legal Support for Children and Women, Cambodia; Marie Apostol, The Fair Hiring Initiative (TFHI), the Philippines and all the other experts who participated in the two expert group meetings, including those, whose participation in has been facilitated by the ILO. UNODC also expresses its gratitude to the Governments of Bahrain, Indonesia, Peru and the United Arab Emirates and the experts nominated by them for their participation in the in‐country surveys. Thanks are also extended to Paula Switon, Rahel Gershuni and Henna Mustonen (UNODC) for their contributions and guidance, as well as to the colleagues from the ILO, in particular Beate Andrees, Alix Nasri and Houtan Homayounpour for their support and cooperation. iv Contents 1 Background .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Context of the study ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Structure of this report .................................................................................................... 4 2 Understanding the linkages between abusive recruitment practices and trafficking in persons ............................................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Introduction: Abusive recruitment practices and recruitment fees ............................... 5 2.2 Examples of abusive recruitment practices, including charging recruitment fees ....... 10 2.3 Links between abusive recruitment practices and trafficking in persons ..................... 15 2.4 Relevant international legal framework ........................................................................ 19 2.4.1 Trafficking in Persons Protocol .............................................................................. 19 2.4.2 Transnational Organized Crime Convention ......................................................... 20 2.4.3 Smuggling of Migrants Protocol ............................................................................ 22 2.4.4 United Nations Convention against Corruption .................................................... 23 2.4.5 International instruments concerning forced labour ............................................ 24 2.4.6 International standards on recruitment agencies and fees .................................. 25 2.4.7 Child labour and child trafficking ........................................................................... 26 2.4.8 Migrant workers .................................................................................................... 27 2.4.9 Other relevant international instruments ............................................................. 27 2.4.10 Instruments addressing the private sector ........................................................... 29 3 National law, regulation and institutional mechanisms ........................................................ 30 3.1 Legislative approaches to the linkages between trafficking in persons and abusive recruitment practices ................................................................................................................ 30 3.2 Differences between countries of origin and destination ............................................. 31 3.3 Good practices and gaps in addressing recruitment abuse through legislation ........... 33 3.3.1 Good practices in legislative approaches .............................................................. 33 3.3.2 Institutional frameworks ....................................................................................... 41 3.3.3 Gaps in legislation .................................................................................................. 43 4 Law enforcement and criminal justice .................................................................................. 45 4.1 Prosecuting abusive recruitment practices as trafficking in persons ............................ 45 v 4.2 Tackling abusive recruitment practices using other laws ............................................. 50 4.3 Challenges and weaknesses in addressing abusive recruitment practices ................... 55 5 Voluntary initiatives .............................................................................................................. 59 5.1 The role of business ....................................................................................................... 59 5.2 Risks to businesses related to recruitment abuse and human trafficking .................... 59 5.3 Company efforts to address the risk of trafficking in persons ...................................... 60 5.4 Shortcomings in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies ................................ 61 5.5 Good practice in voluntary initiatives to address recruitment abuses ......................... 61 5.6