AI’s research has indicated that some recruitment agencies and brokers are involved in the trafficking of Nepalese migrants for exploitation and forced labour. This violates both ILO Forced Labour Convention No. 29, ratified by Nepal in 2002, and key provisions of Nepal’s Foreign Employment Act, 2007. Documented cases include migrants forced to work long hours without a day rest, accept lower than promised wages, were locked in, had passports confiscated and were physical beaten or denied food when they did not comply with their employer’s demands.
In a short accompanying video, the General Secretary of the Nepalese trade union GEFONT, Umesh Upadhyaya reports on the treatment of Nepalese migrant workers abroad and how they do not receive any assistance from embassies in the country where they end up working.
The ITUC and GEFONT sent these observations documented by Amnesty International on the application of the ILO Forced Labour Convention No. 29 to the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Standards and Recommendations in August 2011.
