MERCHANTS OF LABOUR MERCHANTS OF LABOUR Editor Christiane KUPTSCH* Contributors Beate ANDREES Christiane KUPTSCH Cesar A. AVERIA Jr. Philip MARTIN Ibrahim AWAD Alan MATHESON Bernd BALKENHOL Anna di MATTIA Nilim BARUAH Susan MAYBUD John CONNELL NG Cher Pong Mary CUNNEEN Rajendra G. PARATIAN Luc DEMARET Dan REES Mohammed DITO L.K. RUHUNAGE Bruce GOLDSTEIN Verena SCHMIDT Eric GRAVEL Tasneem SIDDIQUI Ellen HANSEN Barbara STILWELL Christian HESS Christiane WISKOW * I wish to express my sincere gratitude to both Anna di Mattia and Kristen O’Connor for their most valuable assistance with the English language editing of this volume and thank Anna di Mattia for her support, dedication and hard work in organizing the ‘Merchants of Labour Policy Dialogue’ where the idea for this book was born. International Institute for Labour Studies Geneva International Labour Office Geneva Published by the International Institute for Labour Studies The International Institute for Labour Studies (IILS) was established in 1960 as an autonomous facility of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to further policy research, public debate and the sharing of knowledge on emerging labour and social issues of concern to the ILO and its constituents — labour, business and government. Copyright © International Labour Organization (International Institute for Labour Studies) 2006. Short excerpts from this publication may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to the Director, International Institute for Labour Studies, P.O. Box 6, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. 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For on-line orders, see www.ilo.org/publns Photocomposed in Switzerland BRI Printed in France NOU Contents List of contributors . ix Foreword . xi Gerry Rodgers Introductory overview . 1 Christiane Kuptsch Part I: ‘Merchants’ of various types: yesterday and today . 13 Regulating private recruiters: The core issues . 13 Philip Martin Recruitment bureaux and money transfer agencies: Similarities and differences . 27 Bernd Balkenhol ‘Merchants of labour’ in three centuries: Lessons from history for reforming 21st century exploitation of migrant labour . 31 Bruce Goldstein Part II: The empirical framework: Country and regional experiences 37 The regulation of recruitment agencies: Experience and good practices in countries of origin in Asia . 37 Nilim Baruah Private recruitment agencies in the era of globalization: Challenges and responses – The case of the Philippines . 47 Cesar A. Averia, Jr. v Merchants of labour Institutional monitoring of migrant recruitment in Sri Lanka . 53 L.K. Ruhunage Protection of Bangladeshi migrants through good governance . 63 Tasneem Siddiqui Australia: ‘Good practice’! . 91 Alan Matheson Management of foreign workers in Singapore: Regulation of employment agents . 99 Ng Cher Pong What can we learn from Bahrain’s labour market reform? . 109 Mohammed Dito Merchants of labour in the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt as a case study . 115 Ibrahim Awad The South African experience . 121 Rajendra G. Paratian Part III: Recruitment and ILO standards . 145 ILO standards concerning employment services . 145 Eric Gravel ILO Convention 181: The employers’ perspective . 155 Christian Hess Private employment agencies: The challenges ahead from the workers’ perspective . 159 Luc Demaret Implementation of Convention 181 through regulation – The ILO experience . 169 Ellen Hansen Combating criminal activities in the recruitment of migrant workers 175 Beate Andrees Part IV: Innovative policy and possible protection strategies . 185 Strategies to combat forced labour in the context of migration . 185 Mary Cunneen Temporary migrant workers: Organizing and protection strategies by trade unions . 191 Verena Schmidt vi Contents Curbing malpractice: The role of information campaigns in international labour migration . 207 Anna di Mattia New measures to tackle exploitation in the UK agricultural industry 217 Dan Rees ‘Care trade’: The international brokering of health care professionals 223 Susan Maybud and Christiane Wiskow Merchants of medical care: Recruiting agencies in the global health care chain . 239 John Connell and Barbara Stilwell Annex I: “Merchants of labour: Policy dialogue on the agents of international labour migration”: Agenda . 255 Annex II: “Merchants of labour: Policy dialogue on the agents of international labour migration”: List of participants . 257 vii List of contributors Beate ANDREES Anti-Trafficking Specialist, Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, InFocus Programme on Promoting the Declaration, ILO Cesar A. AVERIA, Jr. President, EDI Staffbuilders International Inc., Philippines Ibrahim AWAD Director, International Migration Programme, ILO; formerly Director, ILO Subregional Office for North Africa – Cairo, Egypt Bernd BALKENHOL Head, Social Finance Programme, ILO Nilim BARUAH Head, Labour Migration Service, International Organization for Migration (IOM) John CONNELL Professor of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney, Australia Mary CUNNEEN Director, Anti-Slavery International, United Kingdom Luc DEMARET Focal Point for Migration, Bureau for Workers’ Activities, ILO Mohammed DITO Policy Development Manager, Bahrain Economic Development Board; formerly Head, Employment Services Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Bahrain Bruce GOLDSTEIN Co-Executive Director, Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc., United States Eric GRAVEL Team on Employment and Social Policies and Tripartite Consultations, International Labour Standards Department, ILO ix Merchants of labour Ellen HANSEN Senior Employment Services Specialist, InFocus Programme on Skills, Knowledge and Employability, ILO Christian HESS Senior Adviser, Bureau for Employers’ Activities, ILO Christiane KUPTSCH Senior Research Officer, International Institute for Labour Studies, ILO Philip L. MARTIN Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California- Davis, United States Alan MATHESON Australian Council of Trade Unions Anna di MATTIA Research Officer, International Institute for Labour Studies, ILO Susan MAYBUD Health Services Specialist, Sectoral Activities Department, ILO NG Cher Pong Divisional Director, Foreign Manpower Management Division, Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Rajendra G. PARATIAN Senior Labour Market Policy Specialist, ILO Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa – Harare, Zimbabwe Dan REES Director, Ethical Trading Initiative, United Kingdom L.K. RUHUNAGE Employment and Welfare Counsellor, Sri Lanka Consulate, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Verena SCHMIDT ILO Coordinator of the Global Union Research Network (GURN), Bureau for Workers’ Activities, ILO Tasneem SIDDIQUI Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Refugee and Migratory Move- ments Research Unit (RMMRU), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Barbara STILWELL Coordinator, Department of Human Resources for Health, World Health Organization (WHO) Christiane WISKOW Director and Research Consultant, Salumondi, Health Personnel and International Public Health, Geneva, Switzerland x Foreword he present volume contains the papers that were presented at T‘Merchants of Labour: Policy Dialogue on the Agents of Inter- national Labour Migration’ held on 28 and 29 April 2005. ‘Merchants of labour’ are public and private agents who move workers over national borders. Their practices as well as the implications for migrants are among the most under researched topics in migration research. This is due to lack of reliable data and wide variation in policy regime in different regions of the world, ranging from laissez-faire vis-à- vis private recruiters to a state monopoly on labour exchange activities. There is, however, recognition that recruitment can play a key role in cre- ating vulnerabilities in the final employment stage. Despite knowledge gaps, one sentiment is also widely shared: over- all, the significance of private recruitment agencies in deploying migrant workers has risen considerably in the last decades, often to the detriment of bilateral agreements and public employment services. Thus, when the ILO tripartite constituents of governments, employers and workers during the 2004 International Labour Conference requested that a non- binding multilateral framework “proposing guidelines and principles for policies based on best practices and international standards” be devel- oped, they saw best practices in the area of “licensing and supervision of recruitment and contracting agencies” among the important points that the framework should cover.1 Similarly, the World Commission on the 1 For details please refer to “Resolution concerning a fair deal for migrant workers in the global econ- omy”, ILC92-PR22-269-En.doc: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/download/ilcmig_ res-eng.pdf xi Merchants of labour Social Dimension of Globalization argued that the emergence of new pri- vate institutional