Issue paper: Fair recruitment in international labour migration between Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

This paper was prepared for the ILO Regional Offices for Arab States and for Asia the Pacific, Realizing a Fair Migration Agenda: Labour Flows between Asia and Arab States Experts Meeting, held in Kathmandu in December 2014. The paper provides an overview of the international labour standards on recruitment, and current practices in countries of origin and destination, in particular the role that private recruitment agencies play. The main issues for achieving a fair migration system are analysed, including the political economy behind recruitment, and the potential to make international labour recruitment fair and transparent.