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RECRUITMENT IN CHINA: SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES, RISKS & REMEDIES

Held on: 31 March 2020

This webinar examined risks and promising practices in migrant worker recruitment in China. We welcomed guest speakers from Inno & Ethical Trading Initiative.

Key Topics

  • The common challenges particular to internal migrants in China that lead to a greater vulnerability to modern slavery (e.g. the Hukou system)
  • Typical demographics or migration patterns for internal Chinese migrant workers
  • Case studies of key risks and remedies from the ground
  • Relevant government policies or reforms which may change the migrant workers’ situation in China in coming years
  • Suggestions for what companies do to mitigate forced labour risk when buying from China

This webinar is one hour long. Click on the image below to view.

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INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION TO MALAYSIA & TAIWAN: CHALLENGES AND PROMISING PRACTISES

Held on: 11 March 2020

This webinar examined risks and promising practices in migrant worker recruitment in Malaysia and Taiwan. We welcomed guest speakers from Human Rights at Sea and the Responsible Business Alliance.

Key Topics

  • Current and past trends of use of migrant labour, handling and remediation in the Taiwanese fishing sector and the Malaysian manufacturing sector
  • Risks and vulnerabilities of migrant workers: case studies from the ground
  • The role of recruitment agencies – the ‘good, bad and ugly’
  • Recent legal and policy developments nationally and internationally
  • Best and promising practices

Watch a recorded version of the webinar (1 hour): click on the image below

SPEAKER BIOS:

David Hammond, CEO of Human Rights at Sea.

Human Rights at Sea is an independent civil-society charitable NGO platform. Mr. Hammond is a leading advocate for the on-going international development and drive for the explicit codification of the concept of ‘Human Rights at Sea’ by civil society throughout the maritime environment, and its inclusion in applicable future national and international legislation.

Khai Yau Chua, Senior Program Manager at Responsible Business Alliance

The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), formerly the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), is a nonprofit comprised of electronics, retail, auto and toy companies committed to supporting the rights and well-being of workers and communities worldwide affected by the global supply chain. Khai is a core staff of the RBA’s Responsible Labor Initiative, a multi-industry, multi-stakeholder initiative focused on ensuring the rights of workers vulnerable to forced labour in global supply chains are consistently respected and promoted.

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TURNING TO TECH TO SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE RECRUITMENT

Held on: 14 January 2020

In recent years, technology solutions have emerged to transform migrant worker protection, a selection of which are introduced in this webinar. This session was organized by Freedom Collaborative, an online platform providing data and expertise to anti-trafficking stakeholders globally. Mekong Club was speaker and moderator.

Webinar key points:

  • How technology can offer to fill information gaps, promote fair recruitment processes, and capture the workers’ experiences within supply chains.
  • Existing initiatives for Migrant workers in Southeast Asia, including blockchain, virtual reality, chat bots, and apps.
  • Lessons learned regarding the development of effective platforms, improved accessibility and usage, and addressing risks to users and platform hosts.

To view the webinar recording CLICK HERE

 

SPEAKER BIOS

Phoebe Ewen is a project manager at The Mekong Club, a Hong Kong-based organization that works with private sector organizations to develop technology to create transparency and security in labor supply chains.

Marja Paavilainen is the Senior Programme Officer for the ILO’s TRIANGLE in ASEAN, responsible for the programme’s regional level work and ASEAN engagement.

David Vilchez recently joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Myanmar as the Communications and Reporting Officer where he specializes in strengthening the community outreach and communications for development components of the mission’s labor migration project portfolio.

Javier Sola is the Program Director of the Cambodian NGO Open Institute, manages Information and Communications Technologies for Development projects in education, employment, migration, health, and child protection.

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RESPONSIBLE RECRUITMENT: THEORY, REALITY AND LESSONS TO LEARN

Held on: 27 November, 2019

To kick off our activities in this space, Mekong Club hosted a complimentary webinar to introduce responsible recruitment’s theory and practise. The webinar was led by Phil Marshall, international recruitment and modern slavery expert, as a guest speaker.

Webinar keypoints

  • Key principles designed to protect migrant workers from exploitation
  • Trends and pitfalls in existing global recruitment processes that leave migrants vulnerable to modern slavery
  • Theory and reality – common views and approaches, on-the-ground realities, migrant voice and Newton’s third law

Watch a recorded version of the webinar (1 hour): click on the image below

SPEAKER BIO:

Phil Marshall is a Board Member and Senior Advisor to the Mekong Club, as well as Director of Private Sector Engagement for the Research and Communications Group, where he leads Reflex – a program to address labour exploitation in company supply chains. Phil Marshall has been working on programmes to combat human trafficking and forced labour for the past 19 years. He was the first Regional Project Manager of the Bangkok-based UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and has subsequently worked as a consultant on all aspects of the response. He recently developed a programme design toolkit with the UN Inter-Agency Coordinating Group against Trafficking (ICAT) to help ensure programmes to respond to trafficking are better aligned with accumulated knowledge within and outside of the sector.

Phil is currently focusing on emerging approaches to modern forms of slavery, and has a particular interest in the potential to “crowd out” exploitative recruitment practice through development of cleaner migration pathways.

 

Webinar moderator: Silvia Mera, Program Director, Mekong Club