Background

Recruitment of migrant workers should be conducted in a way that respects, protects and fulfils internationally recognized human rights. When these rights are violated, workers – irrespective of their nationality, legal status, gender, religion, ethnicity, caste or any other social or economic considerations – must have the right to access justice and to seek effective remedy.

Access to justice is central to making human rights, including labour rights, a reality for all workers and individuals. It is premised upon the central tenet of non-discrimination – that every person is entitled, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, to equal treatment and protection under the law.

Ensuring effective access to justice forms critical component of the ILO’s work on labour migration and fair recruitment. The ILO has worked to advance access to justice for migrant workers through a number of activities, including legislative review and analysis, capacity building of duty bearers, and information and awareness-raising among migrant workers, among other areas. Recently, access to justice has been recognized as a “priority area of focus” by the Fair Recruitment Initiative (FRI) Advisory Committee.

The ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative Knowledge Hub will host a roundtable discussion on “Access to justice for recruitment-related abuses” to share ILO’s latest research findings and explore practical tools and approaches.

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Panelists

1. Equidem Research and Consulting – to share findings from the ILO Working Paper on “Fair recruitment and access to justice for migrant workers” which provides an overview of the legal framework and current gaps in rights protection throughout the labour migration cycle; and explores examples of good practices that are constructively addressing barriers.

2. Justice without Borders (JWB) – to share experience in development of a legal strategy guide to support transnational access to justice for migrant domestic workers who have been charged illegal agency fees in the Philippines-Hong Kong (China) corridor.

3. Social Science Baha (SSB) Nepal – to share research from Nepal, with a focus on decentralization of the grievance mechanism process and the system of “alternative dispute resolution”, as a means to increase access to justice.

4. Member of the Global Business Network on Forced Labour – to share private sector initiatives to enable access to justice, including remedy through reimbursement of recruitment fees paid.

5. Trade union/Migrant worker resource centre representative (Malaysian Trades Union Congress - MTUC) – to share on the role of trade unions in promoting fair recruitment and securing justice for migrant workers

Objectives

Dissemination of research findings from the ILO Working Paper on “Fair recruitment and access to justice for migrant workers”, through a roundtable discussion featuring global experts and practitioners

Identify key areas of intervention for the Fair Recruitment Initiative to take forward in the field of access to justice (for example, specific tools or working groups to be developed)

Key documents

• Concept Note - Access to Justice Roundtable.pdf (163.32 Ko)

• Agenda - Access to Justice Roundtable.pdf (130.82 Ko)