(MENAFN- Gulf Times) World leaders and governments were called upon to implement labour-friendly measures and reforms to protect the interests of migrants at a session on "Preventing labour trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers" at the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Monday.
While highlighting the necessity of giving a better deal for the regular migrants, the panellists criticised the loopholes in the recruitment and immigration procedures in several parts of the world.
UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in women and children Maria Gracia Glamarinaro described human trafficking as something most closer to modern slavery in its real form.
Stressing that governments have a responsibility to protect forced migrants from different conflict zones, the UN official said there have been numerous examples of even such displaced people being exploited by both their employers and recruiting agents of those countries to where they moved for safety and security.
While ruing the absence of permission to form trade unions to protect the workers in many countries, Glamarianaro said the authorities of such places are duty-bound to ensure better social security to workers, who in many cases, are otherwise victimised and harassed by both their recruiters and employers.
Echoing similar sentiments, European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control official Annlina Jokinsen said one of the best ways to stop the harassment and exploitation of migrants by their employers and recruiters is to impose financial sanctions. She said the studies that their institute made from the ongoing practices in Estonia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden have found such steps as financial sanctions had a positive effect on the lives of migrants and the respective governments could successfully tackle many illegal practices adopted by some employers.
Independent expert Liliama Sorrentino was more vocal in her criticism of such practices as the holding of salaries and retention of workers' passports. While focusing on such issues as abusive recruitment, exploitative employment and trafficking of migrant workers in the Baltic Sea region, the speaker said most issues had their origin in the illegal practices adopted by recruiters and the developments starting from there would make victims continue to suffer at the hands of their employers as well.
Asserting that decent work environs are as much a right for a regular migrant as for others in a country to which one migrates, Sorrentino said only a transparent labour system could ensure better working conditions for migrants and also provide a better social security for them.
"To facilitate a better work scenario, there should not be any room for a recruitment fee for migrants in search of employment," she said while speaking out against such inhuman practices adopted by employers in some countries as cancellation of work contracts and forcing authorities to cancel the ID of migrants at no notice. "Such unlawful practices would not only land workers in numerous troubles but also make them feel wholly unsafe in their place of work".
Peter Van Hauwermeiran of Belgium's Ministry of Social Security explained how his country had worked over the years to facilitate a better deal for its immigrants. The Belgian official said an effective and efficient team of labour inspectors is a must for any country which receives a considerably large number of migrants. If the labour inspection teams are efficient, half the problems of regular migrants are solved in no time, said Hauwemeiran even while expressing his concern at the growing number of human trafficking cases in many parts of the world, including in Europe.
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