Labour Exploitation Trafficking and Migrant Health

Safe migration in this study arm occurred for two groups: those who travelled formally through the
employment agency in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and those who had trusted contacts at their destination.
Findings suggest that future research should explore whether prospective migrants are safer if they
have one of these processes in place prior to leaving home to ensure they are not exploited.
Traffickers took the migrants’ passports at the earliest possible moment; they used the leverage
of the registration laws to further extend the monetary debt the victims of trafficking owed them.
Policies should target these exploitative practices.
Both migrant workers and victims of trafficking were exposed to and described health outcomes
that are typical for the construction industry, including musculoskeletal injuries, lacerations, lung
infections and ocular injuries. Both migrant workers and victims of trafficking learned most of their
construction skills on the job, with the victims of trafficking tending to be engaged in more unskilled
tasks. PPE use was rare among victims of trafficking and inconsistent among the migrant workers.
Most of the injuries described were avoidable with proper use of PPE. Both groups of interviewees
noted the negative impact of the harsh environmental conditions, including the extreme cold and
heat and the presence of dust. The intensity and duration of the workday was similar for migrants and
victims of trafficking but their control over their schedules differed. Victims of trafficking were forced
to work long hours with tightly observed breaks, if given; migrant workers were more able to control
if and when they took breaks, when they finished the workday and the tasks they did. Construction is
a dangerous industry, and migrants and victims of trafficking alike inadequately protected their head,
ears, eyes, lungs, hands and feet with PPE. Helping migrants understand the real risks associated with
not wearing PPE may be beneficial. Employers should be engaged in creating incentives to wearing
PPE, as well as ensuring safer work conditions.
Migrant workers experienced psychological abuse and occasional physical altercations associated
with ethnic conflicts among co-workers. Victims of trafficking experienced pervasive psychological
violence – including constant monitoring, threats, insults and sleep deprivation – often perpetrated
by employers and managers as well as by co-workers; this continued throughout their exploitation.
Physical violence and threats were meant to deter escape.
Migrant workers and victims of trafficking described crowded, cold, wet living conditions with poor
access to running water and electricity. Victims of trafficking noted that they were monitored while
they were sleeping; some appeared to have worse access to basic hygiene than the migrant workers.
Both groups largely lived at their worksite, although migrant workers had the option to live elsewhere.
Living conditions among victims of trafficking and migrant workers seemed to be conducive to the
spread of TB; yet migrant workers had a very low awareness of the symptoms associated with TB,
possibly leading to its spread to other migrants. Increasing migrant knowledge of TB and its effects
on health, as well as improving access to treatment, may help reduce the spread of TB, including
drug resistant strains, in the region. The Government could consider implementing mobile health
screening and care, particularly during the height of the migration season, and placing these clinics
along commonly accessed migration routes and migrant destinations.
Migrant workers, and in particular those of Kyrgyz origin, were able to move about quite freely.
Those without all of the proper legal documentation were fearful of encountering the police. The
movements of victims of trafficking were extremely restricted; this was reinforced with guard dogs,
guards, geographical isolation, monitoring systems, threats and withholding of documentation and
by victims’ perceptions of indebtedness to their traffickers.
Migrant workers generally had the freedom to access medical services, but barriers to care included
undocumented status and cost. Migrant workers and victims of trafficking typically self-treated
with pills that they brought with them from their countries of origin, or, in the case of the victims
of trafficking, those that were supplied to them by guards. Victims of trafficking were released to
return home if they sustained a disabling illness or injury. Access to medical care was poor for both
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Executive Summary