Labour Exploitation Trafficking and Migrant Health

In addition, recruitment also took place at the bus station in Liniers, where migrants arrived in Buenos
Aires. Pedro, a 29-year-old migrant worker, spoke about this type of recruitment: “We were at the
terminal and so, we started meeting people little by little and we got a job.” Some migrant workers
were recruited upon arrival, either at the bus station or in their new neighbourhoods, when they
were approached by people offering job opportunities in the textile industry.
Finally, Eric, a 24-year-old migrant worker, reported radio advertising on the Bolivian diaspora radio
station 62 as a well-known source of recruitment: “I was living in my home town and I moved to
Cochabamba. When I arrived I asked at the bus ticket office where was a radio [station] and said that
I was looking for a job (...) if you go to the radio [station] and say that you that you have just arrived
from the farm, so I wanted to do the same here (...) here are some Bolivian radios advertising for job
in textiles.”
Recruitment among compatriots is a common practice; in general people mentioned having been
recruited by “uncles or cousins” but when asked further about blood ties, these alleged relatives
turned out to be family acquaintances or friends. This seemed to be common among migrant workers
but was also reported by Ada, a 33-year-old victim of trafficking: “In Argentina we know someone who
is a relative (...) she’s the one who proposed us to go and work there (...) we dived into it confident
that we would be with someone we knew when we arrived (...) this woman used to call my mother
asking if she knew someone who would be willing to go and take on a sewing job.”
Being approached by or connected to employment through another Bolivian seemed to be a key
element to establish trust, and social networks were important for the dissemination of information
regarding job opportunities abroad.
Travel conditions
All participants reported travelling by bus from Bolivia to Buenos Aires. The journey usually took two
to three days and all crossed the border using their Bolivian identity cards, as permitted by Argentine
migration law. The long journey was described by Juan, a 25-year-old migrant worker: “It was a long
trip, yes it was. It took us a while at the border, in La Quiaca (…) where we changed buses to enter
with the identity card and all that. The line was so long that we arrived at 6:00 a.m. and had to wait
until 2:00 p. m.” Among the interviewees were two victims of trafficking who had migrated when they
were minors. One of them, José, talked about how he obtained a travel permit signed by his parents
in advance, to allow him to cross the border with the recruiter: “Uhm, the paperwork at the court,
the permit (…) at ‘el Alto’ to take out a permit if I’m not wrong (…) my mother had to sign, with the
person I was going with, that I was going with my friend.” The other, Leo, age 19, went to the border
with his mother so she could give permission in person for the recruiter (who in this case turned out
to be a trafficker) to cross the border with her son.
Regarding travel preparations, trafficked migrants’ tickets were paid for by their recruiter or employer,
with the agreement that the cost would be discounted from their salary upon arrival, something which
was later used to coerce and control them. As Alba, a 33-year-old victim of trafficking, recounted:
“‘Do not let me down, come to the terminal and we are going to go directly because you are not
paying for the ticket’, they told me (...) [the owner told her that her pay check] here is USD 100, but I
spent USD 400 in all your tickets; this USD 100 will go towards your debt [to reimburse for the ticket]
(...) every month was the same.” This contrasted to the experience of most of the migrant workers,
who indicated that they bought their tickets themselves using their savings, or by borrowing money
from relatives or friends.
Regarding levels of coercion while people were in transit or travelling to the destination, victims
of trafficking who were interviewed said they (with other victims) travelled with their recruiters,
who took them to the place where they would be exploited. Leo, 19, said: “I travelled with two
other people, plus the woman who accompanied us (…) the three of us arrived and a man who was
supposed to be this woman’s husband took us directly to the house by taxi.” There was one exception
62
There are many diaspora radio stations located in the areas were the Bolivian community lives in Buenos Aires.
Labour Exploitation, Trafficking and Migrant Health
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