ILO publications

2013

1. Caught at Sea - Forced Labour and Trafficking in Fisheries

   31 May 2013

   Recent in-depth studies have described and analysed severe cases of forced labour and human trafficking in the fisheries sector. Whereas the fisheries sector counts among the most important economic sectors providing food security and employment worldwide, these studies reveal that, on board fishing vessels, fishers - many of them migrant workers - are subjected to extreme forms of human rights abuses, including forced labour and human trafficking. This report examines recent literature on forced labour and human trafficking in the fisheries sector, with the focus on fishing vessels engaged in commercial marine fisheries. The report considers institutional and legal frameworks as well as multistakeholder initiatives that have the potential to impact fishers’ safety and working conditions.

2012

1. Hard to see, harder to count - Survey guidelines to estimate forced labour of adults and children

   01 June 2012

   These guidelines share the experience gained and lessons learned by the ILO between 2008 and 2010 through quantitative surveys of forced labour and human trafficking undertaken at country level. They aim to provide comprehensive information and tools to enable national statistical offices and research institutes to undertake national surveys on forced labour of adults and/or children.

2. ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour 2012: Results and Methodology

   01 June 2012

   The purpose of the present document is to describe in detail the revised methodology used to generate the 2012 ILO global estimate of forced labour, covering the period from 2002 to 2011, and the main results obtained.

3. Summary of the ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour

   01 June 2012

   Using a new and improved statistical methodology, the ILO estimates that 20.9 million people are victims of forced labour globally, trapped in jobs into which they were coerced or deceived and which they cannot leave.

4. 

   Joint UN Commentary on the EU Directive on human trafficking – A Human Rights-Based Approach

   07 March 2012

   “Prevent. Combat. Protect” is the joint UNHCR, OHCHR, UNICEF, UNODC, ILO and UN Women commentary on selected articles of the EU Directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting victims. It promotes a human rights-based approach, provides guidance to policy-makers and legislators in EU Member States on key articles of the Directive, and makes recommendations for the transposition and implementation of the Directive.

5. Buried in bricks: A rapid assessment of bonded labour in brick kilns in Afghanistan

   06 February 2012

   This study provides an accurate depiction of bonded labour in brick kilns in two provinces of Afghanistan (Kabul and Nangarhar), to illustrate the demand and supply-side of one of the most prevalent, yet least known, forms of hazardous labour in Afghanistan.

6. SAP-FL Newsletter : Issue 3 - 2013

   31 January 2012

   Newsletter prepared by the ILO Special Action Programme to combat forced labour. Third issue 2013

2011

1. The good practices of labour inspection in Brazil: the eradication of labour analogous to slavery

   15 April 2011

   This publication was produced under the framework of technical cooperation undertaken between the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Secretariat of Labour Inspection (SIT). This partnership is embodied in the collection “The Good Practices of Labour Inspection in Brazil,” comprised of four publications on the labour inspection system in Brazil and the Brazilian labour inspection experiences in the following areas: eradication of child labour; combating forced labour; and the maritime sector. The eradication of labour analogous to slavery is today one of the main objectives of the Brazilian agenda for the promotion of human rights. This document presents a synthesis of labour inspection actions of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE), in cooperation with governmental partners, employer associations, workers’ unions and civil society organizations in the fi ght against this extreme form of labour exploitation.

2. SAP-FL Newsletter: Issue 2 - 2011

   15 February 2011

   Newsletter prepared by the ILO Special Action Programme to combat forced labour. Second issue 2011

2010

1. SAP-FL Newsletter: Issue 1 - 2010

   10 July 2010

   Newsletter prepared by the ILO Special Action Programme to combat forced labour. First issue 2010

2. 

   Concealed chains: Labour exploitation and Chinese migrants in Europe

   28 January 2010

   This groundbreaking book exposes the hidden world of Chinese irregular migrants in three European countries: France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Chinese workers migrating to Europe pay huge sums of money to intermediaries, often leaving them trapped in debt before they even begin their journey.

2009

1. Trade unions and indigenous communities combating forced labour in the Peruvian Amazon region

   15 December 2009

   Case study prepared by Sanna Saarto, ILO’s Programme to Combat Forced Labour, Peru, for the guide to ILO Convention No. 169 “Indigenous and tribal peoples’ rights in practice”, Geneva, ILO, 2009.

2. Labour migration and the emergence of private employment agencies in Tajikistan: A review of current law and practice

   01 December 2009

   Joint publication of the International Labour Organization and the International Organisation for Migration. This study is the first in-depth analysis of the normative framework regulating PrEAs in Tajikistan. It also describes practical experiences of the industry including various abusive practices that require the attention of law makers.

3. Preventing Forced Labour Exploitation and Promoting Good Labour Practices in the Russian Construction Industry

   20 October 2009

   Joint report: International Labour Organization and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The report should be seen as an initial attempt to analyse labour conditions in Russia’s construction sector and to discuss the feasibility of using the elements of corporate responsibility as tools to address some of the deficiencies, especially related to labour rights and the exploitation of migrant workers.

4. Executive Summary "Forced labour: Coercion and exploitation in the private economy"

   19 August 2009

   This co-publication by the ILO and Lynne Rienner is based on more than six years of research and features case studies from Latin America, South Asia, Africa and Europe.

5. Fighting forced labour: the example of Brazil

   15 July 2009

   For some fifteen years, since a new inter-ministerial body was created in 1995 to coordinate action against forced labour, Brazil has been addressing the problem with vigour and determination. It has done so in many ways, involving different government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society, the media, academic organizations and others.

6. Recruitment of Pakistani Workers for Overseas Employment: Mechanisms, Exploitation and Vulnerabilities

   01 July 2009

   This study in Pakistan was commissioned against the backdrop of growing concern globally about the particular vulnerability of both regular and irregular migrant workers to exploitation, trafficking and forced labour. It was undertaken to inform dialogue between Asian sender and Middle Eastern destination countries, at a Gulf Forum on Temporary Contractual Labour held in Abu Dhabi in early 2008, along with a sister study addressing similar questions in Bangladesh.

7. Unravelling the vicious cycle of recruitment

   29 May 2009

   This study in Bangladesh was commissioned against the backdrop of growing concern globally about the particular vulnerability of both regular and irregular migrant workers to exploitation, trafficking and forced labour. It was undertaken to inform dialogue between Asian sender and Middle Eastern destination countries, at a Gulf Forum on Temporary Contractual Labour, held in Abu Dhabi in early 2008, along with a sister study addressing similar questions in Pakistan. While provisional findings were first presented at that time, we are now pleased to publish the full findings of the research, following the launch of the ILO’s third global report on forced labour, entitled “The cost of coercion” on 12 May 2009.

8. 

   The cost of coercion

   12 May 2009

   Forced labour is the antithesis of decent work. The least protected persons, including women and youth, indigenous peoples, and migrant workers, are particularly vulnerable. Modern forced labour can be eradicated with a sustained commitment and resources.

9. Forced Labour and Human Trafficking: Casebook of Court Decisions

   06 May 2009

   This training manual for judges, prosecutors and legal practitioners