A Pricey Journey to the West: How Job Offers in Europe Lure Migrant Workers from Asia and Put Them at Risk of Debt Bondage

Debt bondage is an issue common with migrant workers who oftentimes lack choices in finding employment in their home countries. Such a disadvantage is oftentimes capitalized on by employment agencies or prospective employers to bind them to debts that, while seemingly consensual, is imposed upon them due to their lack of choices. Debt bondage comes in many different forms, from different parties, in different stages of the recruitment process, and causes different adverse effects for the recruited workers. The most common means to bond migrant workers to debt is by imposing excessive fees on them.[1] The phenomenon of debt bondage is commonplace among migrant workers, in wide range of industries they worked for; farming,[2] domestic works,[3] fisheries,[4] and manufacturing to name a few.

Czech Republic and Poland with their growing affluence and high demand for skilled and unskilled migrant labour are both popular Eastern European destinations for Asian migrant workers. According to a finding by Verité, workers from the Philippines bound for jobs in both countries often have to pay illegal and excessive recruitment fees which ultimately force workers to borrow money.[6] The same research also found two main root causes which include the unlicensed or unauthorized employment agencies involvement in migration and the frequent use of irregular migration channels, including the misuse of employment visas, such as au pair, transit, travel, or student visas.[8]

The United Kingdom (UK), while not enjoying the steep economic growth experienced by some Eastern European countries, remains dependent on migrant workers to fill jobs locals cannot do or are not willing to do. Since 2019, the UK has been gradually loosening its labour market for non-EU seasonal workers.[9] One of the more recent countries of origin of seasonal workers traveling to the UK is Indonesia.[10] A UK-based organisation, Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC), reported that Indonesian migrant workers were often duped by employment brokers in their countries of origin to pay illegal and excessive recruitment fees.[11] According SEEAC as well, the sale of fake UK residency cards and driving licenses further aggravated the situation of debt-ridden workers.[12]

While Czech Republic, Poland, and UK are different jurisdictions, migratory patterns of migrant workers to those countries depict us a glaring yet somewhat overlooked issue; debt bondage issue arises when there is inadequate law enforcement and is made difficult by the transnational nature of the debt bondage itself. Cross border enforcement by governments may be the most feasible top-down solution to combat debt bondage but only serves as a band-aid solution to a deep-rooted problem; at the same time, migrant workers (including people seeking to migrate), their prospective employers and agencies facilitating migration play a key important role in disseminating and maintaining in-community awareness of this issue.

Source [1]: https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/bonded-labour/

Source [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/18/migrant-care-workers-uk-debt

Source [3]: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/mar/14/forced-labour-common-among-hong-kongs-domestic-helpers-study-finds

Source [4]: https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/the-sea/charting-a-course-away-from-modern-day-slavery

Source [5]: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2167362/dozens-hong-kong-domestic-helpers-learn-break-cycle-debt

Source [6]: https://verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Labor-Risk-Philippines-to-Europe_Verite-March-2021.pdf

Source [7]: https://www.cer.org.uk/insights/post-brexit-immigration-uk-labour-market

Source [8]: https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-workers-farming-idUKL8N38S2O4

Source [9]: Ibid.

Source [10]: Ibid.