JUST TRANSITION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND 4IR

28 Million people in forced labour worldwide

People who are exploited for forced labour face a variety of types of coercion that compel them to work against their will.

Context

Forced labour, including child labour, is a global issue that affects people of all income levels. It entails force, threats, or exploitation, depriving people of their freedom, education, and fundamental rights. Children in forced labour frequently confront hazardous conditions in areas such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and household work. While upper-middle and high-income countries account for more than half of all forced labour, low-income countries have the highest rate, with 6.3 incidents per thousand inhabitants. Forced labour is still a widespread problem, fueled by poverty, inequality, and lax legal enforcement, necessitating immediate worldwide action to address its core causes and safeguard vulnerable communities.

Definition

According to the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), forced or compulsory labour is: “All work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.”

This definition has three elements:

Work or service encompasses all sorts of work performed in any activity, industry, or sector, including the informal economy.
Menace of any penalty refers to a variety of penalties used to force someone to work.
Involuntariness: The terms “offered voluntarily” allude to a worker’s free and informed permission to accept a job and his or her right to depart at any moment. This is not the case when an employer or recruiter makes false promises in order to persuade a worker to choose a position that he or she would not have accepted otherwise.

The ILO clarifies that compelled labor can manifest in a variety of ways, including

Debt Bondage: Workers are forced to work to repay debts on terms that are unclear or impossible to achieve.
Human trafficking: It occurs when people are coercively or deceptively recruited, transferred, or harbored for the purpose of exploitation.
Domestic servitude: Workers are forced to labor in private homes under situations that violate their rights and freedoms.
Child Labor: Children work in jobs that are psychologically, physically, socially, or morally detrimental and interfere with their education

Forced Labour Statistics

Global Statistics:

27.6 million individuals, including 3.3 million children, are forced to work.
The private sector, including industry, agriculture, and domestic employment, accounts for 86% of all occurrences of forced labour.
Forced labour earns $150 billion in unlawful earnings each y

Bangladesh Statistics:

Bangladesh has 4.7 million child labourers, with 1.28 million working in dangerous conditions.
Every year, thousands of people are trafficked, with many ending up as forced labour.
Approximately 18.7% of the population lives below the poverty line, increasing vulnerability to forced labour.

Risk Factors

Forced child labour is driven by multiple interconnected risk factors, including:

Economic Factors: Poverty, unemployment, economic inequality, and debt bondage force families to rely on child labour to survive.
Social and Cultural Factors: Lack of education, cultural acceptance of child labour, family dynamics, and migration increase the vulnerability of children to exploitation.
Political Factors: Weak law enforcement, corruption, and political instability allow forced child labour to persist in many regions.
Environmental Factors: Natural disasters, rapid urbanization, and changing environmental conditions contribute to children being pushed into labour.
Industry-Specific Factors: Industries like agriculture, mining, and textiles often exploit cheap child labour due to high demand for low-cost work.

Human Trafficking: Trafficking networks and lack of birth registration leave children susceptible to forced labour and exploitation.

Industries

Domestic Work: Domestic employment accounts for a large share of forced labour, particularly among women and girls. Migrant labourers are often exploited due to their isolation and lack of legal protection.
Agriculture and Fishing: Forced labour is common in agriculture and fishing, particularly in seasonal work. Workers are frequently subjected to debt bondage and unsafe working circumstances, especially in the cocoa, coffee, cotton, sugarcane, and fishing industries.
Construction: Migrant construction workers, particularly those working on infrastructure projects, are subjected to forced labour. This includes long hours, hazardous working conditions, and underpayment, particularly in the Middle East and portions of Asia.
Manufacturing: Forced labour in manufacturing occurs throughout worldwide supply chains, particularly in the textile, electronics, and footwear sectors. Workers frequently encounter risky conditions, extreme
Mining and quarrying: Forced labour is prevalent in mining and quarrying, particularly in artisanal and small-scale businesses. Workers, especially children, face risky conditions while harvesting resources such as gold, diamonds, and coal.
Sex Work & Human Trafficking: Forced labour is prevalent in the sex industry and human trafficking networks. Victims are frequently persuaded into exploitation via physical and psychological techniques.
Hospitality and tourism: Forced labour is prevalent in the hospitality and tourism industries, with hotel and restaurant employees frequently subjected to exploitation, long hours, and low compensation, particularly among illegal workers.
Forestry and Logging: Illegal logging and exploitation in the forestry and logging industries can entail forced labour. Workers frequently endure perilous conditions and are subjected to physical coercion in isolated locations.

International Labour Standards on Forced Labour

The Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), adopted in 1930, contains the definition of forced labour and provides that it should be punished as a crime. This is one of the most ratified ILO standards.

The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105), adopted in 1957, deals with state-imposed forms of forced labour. This is one of the most ratified ILO standards.

The Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention, (P029), adopted in 2014, requires ratifying countries to take effective measures to prevent forced labour, protect victims and ensure their access to justice.

The Protocol complements the Convention No. 29, therefore only countries that have ratified this Convention can ratify the Protocol.

The Forced Labour Recommendation (No. 203), adopted in 2014, provides further guidance on how to implement the Protocol.

It is a non-binding document that does not require ratification.

Forced labour is a truly global problem affecting every region and all countries in the world whether industrialised or developing, rich or poor. Labour intensive and unregulated industries are affected the most: agriculture, domestic work, construction, mining, quarrying and brick kilns, manufacturing processing and packaging, entertainment and prostitution.