With over 368,000 Filipino citizens in Europe, the Philippines is a key source of labour in the region. The process of gaining employment in Europe can be fraught with risks; some Filipino workers may find themselves working under exploitative conditions, or under the weight of debt from fees paid during the recruitment and migration process.
With the support of Porticus, Verité conducted an assessment of labor risks for Filipino migrant workers involved in the fishing, seafaring, and domestic work sectors in Europe, as well as in two emerging host countries for Filipino workers: the Czech Republic and Poland. Findings from this research document the root causes of labour risk associated with the recruitment and hiring process and those that arise while being deployed in Europe. For each target sector and host country, the report provides steps that governments, the private sector, civil society, trade unions, and other stakeholders can take to reduce labor exploitation among Filipino migrant workers.
La Strada International was consulted for the report. With support of Porticus, La Strada International is currently conducting the project ‘Cross-Continent Collaborations to Protect Asian Trafficking Victims in Europe’ which aims to strengthen access to legal aid, strategic litigation and protection services for Asian victims trafficked in Europe. This project focuses also on Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Romania. See https://www.lastradainternational.org/projects-campaigns/protecting-asian-trafficking-victims-in-europe/