Tricked and Trapped: Human Trafficking in the Middle East, ‎pdf 4.1 MB

Trade unions could help ensure that the existing legal framework provides
appropriate protection to all affected workers. 14 They could also have a
clear role to play, in cooperation with government agencies and specialized
NGOs, in ensuring that the appropriate labour inspection and regulatory
systems are identifying those who are being subjected to forced labour. 15
Trade unions should be supported in their efforts to monitor conditions
of recruitment and employment, particularly in locations and sectors
where the risk of forced labour and trafficking is serious, and where these
conditions may escape the attention of labour inspection services. The ILO
can provide technical assistance to trade union officers and their members
who may need specific training, in order to identify and document cases
of abuse, file complaints, and seek redress from the appropriate authorities.
In addition, ILO programmes in the Middle East can strengthen the capacity
of trade unions to organize those workers most at risk of forced labour,
including in the agricultural, construction, domestic work and entertainment
industries, and support their efforts to bargain collectively. Programmes could
be developed in collaboration with the respective Global Union federations.
Good practices have been identified in cooperation between trade unions
in Middle Eastern countries and their counterparts in countries of origin,
including countries that send many domestic workers to the region. Trade
unions in the Middle East could promote these reciprocal arrangements,
through which migrant workers affiliated to trade unions in their country of
origin can also receive the benefits of union membership in the destination
country.
Trade unions are ideally placed to raise awareness, as they are mass membership
organizations with direct access to the workforce. Trade unions in the Middle
East could develop and disseminate tools adapted to each country in order
to raise awareness on forced labour and human trafficking. Partnerships
to raise awareness have already been signed in the region to combat debt
bondage and trafficking among thousands of migrant workers who travel to
work in these countries. Through these partnership agreements, trade unions
exchange information and good practices. They also ensure that migrant
workers are provided with information on their rights before they leave their
home countries, and can access assistance once they arrive in the destination
countries. 16
Finally, trade unions, together with other specialized agencies, could look into
possibilities for providing counselling and vocational training opportunities
that can empower victims of forced labour and allow them to return home
14
ITUC: How to combat forced labour and trafficking: Best practices manual for trade
unions (Brussels, 2010), p. 18.
15
Ibid., p. 22.
16
Ibid., p. 24.
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