A/HRC/23/41
protection, available in the event of abuse, exploitation or other rights violations. 33 States
should ensure information is accurate and relevant during pre-departure sessions, including
those conducted by private agencies.
22.
Returnee migrant workers along with organizations working with migrant workers
should be encouraged to hold training and informational sessions to make outgoing migrant
workers aware of situations and experiences they are likely to face in receiving States and
recourse available to them in times of abuse, exploitation and distress. 34 However, as predeparture sessions frequently take place only a short time prior to departure, 35 this does not
give migrant workers enough time to process the information. Pre-departure sessions and
trainings should, therefore, be designed and conducted in ways that ensure maximum
understanding of the information by migrant workers. Post-arrival orientation sessions that
reinforce and contextualize information received during pre-departure sessions should also
take place to support migrant workers with integration in receiving States. 36
Regulation of recruitment agencies
23.
States are obligated to protect the right to health of individuals from interference by
third parties. Recruitment agencies, which are mostly private enterprises, are typically the
first point of contact in the formal migration process for low-skilled migrant workers, many
of whom are illiterate and poor. They provide information to migrant workers about job
opportunities and living and work conditions in receiving States for a fee. They also arrange
documentation necessary for migration, thus playing a crucial role in guiding migrant
workers through important phases of migration. 37 Dependence on recruitment agencies may
render migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, necessitating regulation of
recruitment agencies by sending States.
24.
As an essential aspect of protecting the right to health of migrant workers, States
should ensure monitoring and accountability of recruitment agencies. States may monitor
recruitment agencies through legislation, providing for mandatory licensing requirements,
regular reporting and independent monitoring and inspections. 38 Monitoring is also
necessary to prevent illegal recruitment agencies from entering the market and exploiting
migrant workers.39
25.
To prevent exploitation, States should ensure that written employment contracts
address issues such as the underlying determinants of health, including occupational health,
access to health facilities, goods and services, and compensation for employment-related
injury and death, as well as mechanisms for settling disputes. 40
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
8
Ibid., guideline 12.8.
IOM, Migrant Resource Centres, An Initial Assessment, IOM Migration Research Series No. 40,
(2010), available from http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/MRS_40.pdf.
A.K. Masud Ali, Pre-departure Orientation Programme, p. 104 (see footnote 31).
Farooq Azam, Public Policies to Support International Migration, p. 107 (see footnote 30); ILO,
Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration, guidelines 12.1-12.2 (see footnote 32).
Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, Migration’s Middlemen: Regulating Recruitment Agencies in the
Philippines - UAE Corridor, (2010).
Committee on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
(CMW), general comment No. 1 (2010) on migrant domestic workers, para. 34; ILO, Guide to
Private Employment Agencies: Regulation, Monitoring and Enforcement (2007), p. 13.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), ILO, IOM, Handbook on Establishing
Effective Labour Migration Policies in Countries of Origin and Destination (2006).
ILO, Guide to Private Employment Agencies, p. 26 (see footnote 38); Farooq Azam, Public Policies
to Support International Migration, p. 11 (see footnote 30).
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