Key stakeholders discuss how to tackle forced labour and make it less profitable

BRUSSELS (ILO News) - The ILO launched its report Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour, during a high-level conference in Brussels, which was co-hosted by MEP Bernd Lange, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade and ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue, Manuela Tomei.

She underlined the need to take action to ensure that forced labour becomes a high-risk, low-profit undertaking. “236 billion dollars annually. This is the obscene amount of money forced labour generates. It is a figure so colossal, it rivals the annual GDP of entire European Union member states, like Latvia or Croatia,” said Ms Tomei.

She underlined the need to take action to ensure that forced labour becomes a high-risk, low-profit undertaking. “236 billion dollars annually. This is the obscene amount of money forced labour generates. It is a figure so colossal, it rivals the annual GDP of entire European Union member states, like Latvia or Croatia,” said Ms Tomei.

Behind these numbers are individuals trapped in a cycle of abuse, subjected to various forms of coercion making it impossible for them to escape jobs they have engaged in against their will. Over one third of the victims endure the systematic and deliberate withholding of wages, and this is often coupled with threats of dismissal, physical and sexual violence, and a deprivation of basic needs.

Ms Tomei described the various ways in which forced labour severely hurts our society: governments lose vital tax revenue due to the illicit nature of these profits, and forced labour erodes the level-playing field for companies. Moreover, the very fabric of social order is threatened as criminal networks are strengthened, corruption festers and the rule of law is undermined.

“We must ensure that the fundamental principles and rights at work are upheld everywhere in the world and across domestic and cross-border supply chains. We must also strengthen labour inspectorates and make sure that the sanctions imposed on perpetrators are dissuasive and proportionate,” she concluded.

“It is only together that we can move the needle on the eradication of forced labour,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, addressing the conference. The EU and ILO are implementing several initiatives to fight forced labour, such as the Trade for Decent Work project.

Panellists Diane Schmitt, EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator; Renate Hornung-Draus, IOE Vice-President to the ILO; and Esther Lynch, General-Secretary of ETUC, agreed that urgent action is needed on the ground to tackle forced labour. Several participants also underlined the need for protection, and access to effective remedy for each victim.

The report is co-funded by the government of France. “We need to think about the drivers behind forced labour,” Anousheh Karvar, French Government Delegate to the ILO. “Governments today have a huge responsibility to bring to justice the criminals who organize forced labour, and ensure that redress and compensation is provided to the victims. These are serious crimes, that should be covered by our national criminal codes.”

The authors of the report stressed the urgent need to strengthen enforcement to make forced labour less profitable, and to implement prevention measures to address its root causes and reduce vulnerabilities.