Petra Burčíková, Director, La Strada CZ Human Trafficking and Forced or Exploitative Labour in the Czech Republic - research conclusions

 TIP Movement of people by means of coercion for purpose of exploitation  Forced Labour Work/services exacted under menace of penalty to which the person has not offered himself voluntarily.

Project  Financially supported by Agis Programme  Partners Anti-Slavery International, Great Britain Migrants Rights Centre, Ireland APAV, Portugal La Strada Czech Republic  Country reports based on unified methodology

Methodology  Questionnaires  Interviews  Case study analysis  Media monitoring

Conclusions  General  Industries, nationalities, coercion  Legal

1 General  Exploited persons are not Czech or “developed” countries’ nationals  They are persons with precarious/irregular residence status – from economically less developed countries

2 General Practical impossibility to protect their rights is one of the main factors allowing exploitation of aliens.

3 General Human trafficking and labour exploitation are less connected to illegal border-crossing than generally expected.

4 General Motivation to leave the country of origin/seek a job abroad was in all cases economic, in some cases combined with political reasons.

5 General  Impossible to separate strictly forced labour in sex industry from forced labour in other sectors  Forced labour in both areas may be combined in a story of a single person as experiences following one after another or as simultaneous double exploitation.

6 Industries  Industries with high incidence of exploitative labour – construction, agriculture (forestry), services  Existence of gender divide Men – forestry, construction Women – agriculture, textile, cleaning, domestic work M+W – work in bars/restaurants, sales, (esp. Vietnamese/Chinese communities)

7 Nationalities  Most significant source regions of persons exploited in labour in CR Former SU – Ukraine Asia – Vietnam  Other source countries: Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, less frequent Georgia and Chechnya

8 Forms of coercion  Abuse of vulnerability or dependence – almost universal  ILO forced labour indicators Most often – retention of wages/documents Often – violence/threat of violence, threat of denunciation to authorities, restriction of liberty Least often – debt bondage  Succession in application of different methods

9 Legal  Violation of obligations under national and international legislation ILO Convention No. 29 (Forced and Compulsory Labour) Other Instruments (Bill of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, ICCPR, ICESCR, Council Framework Decision on THB)

Factors affecting exploitation and trafficking Workers’ poverty, isolation and lack of awareness of rights Business demands for low cost, disposable labour Coercive threat to workers Complexity of migration and labour regulations in the receiving country

Ways Forward  Data collection and reasearch - precondition of evidence-based policies  Equal treatment of migrants and citizens at least in work related matters  Impact assessment with regard to trafficking and exploitation – essential part of migration policies  Companies taking responsibility for forced labour in their total supply chains  Demand and supply of migrant labour should be recognized and reflected in employment, social and migration policies.

La Strada Czech Republic   