What is human trafficking, forced labour/labour exploitation?

Yes all European countries have criminalised human trafficking. Some also have a separate criminal offence for forced labour. If that is not the case forced labour has to be prosecuted under the human trafficking article and proven as such. Human Trafficking and Forced labour are severe forms of labour exploitation, other forms of labour exploitation are mostly not criminalised by European countries. This means that if human trafficking and forced labour cannot be proven, victims can only claim rights via civil procedures arguing a violation of their labour rights.

Yes all European countries have criminalised human trafficking. Some also have a separate criminal offence for forced labour. If that is not the case forced labour has to be prosecuted under the human trafficking article and proven as such. Human Trafficking and Forced labour are severe forms of labour exploitation, other forms of labour exploitation are mostly not criminalised by European countries. This means that if human trafficking and forced labour cannot be proven, victims can only claim rights via civil procedures arguing a violation of their labour rights.

Yes all European countries have criminalised human trafficking. Some also have a separate criminal offence for forced labour. If that is not the case forced labour has to be prosecuted under the human trafficking article and proven as such. Human Trafficking and Forced labour are severe forms of labour exploitation, other forms of labour exploitation are mostly not criminalised by European countries. This means that if human trafficking and forced labour cannot be proven, victims can only claim rights via civil procedures arguing a violation of their labour rights.

Not only North Korean workers but also other migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. North Koreans are extra vulnerable, because the North Korean government is not directly involved in subjecting North Koreans to forced labour, among others in prison camps in the country or abroad. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 persons are held in detention camps in remote areas of the country; where they are subject to forced labour, including logging, mining, and farming for long hours under harsh conditions. The North Korean government recruits workers for bilateral contracts with foreign governments, including in Russia, countries in Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, East and Southeast Asia, including Mongolia, and the Middle East. North Korea has the highest number of modern-day slaves according to the Global Slavery Index.

There are credible reports, among others by the Leiden Asian Centre that many North Korean workers sent abroad by the regime under these contracts are subjected to forced labour, with their movement and communications constantly under surveillance and restricted by North Korean government minders. The Leiden Asia Centre previously issued reports in 2018 and 2016 warning that European and Dutch companies were using North Korean forced labour at Polish shipyards, which lead to further investigations and the complaint by La Strada International, Prakken d’Olivera and GLAN.

When these cases were reported in Poland and other European countries, most North Korean workers have been deported, including the workers that worked in the supply chains of the two shipbuilding companies. The workers have not been compensated for the violations and abuse or the lost income.

The Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage which were published this year on 12 September by ILO, Walk Free and IOM calculate that currently 50 million people are in a situation of modern slavery globally and that the number has risen by ten million in five years. The new global estimates reveal that approximately 28 million (27.6) persons are trapped in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage. Human trafficking situations fall under the forced labour estimates.

Migrant workers that are exploited in Europe originate from many different countries, including from Europe but in particular also from Afrika, Asia and Latin America. They work regulated or undocumented in many different labour sectors.  Especially during the COVID years, it became visible that thousands of migrants work in Europe in low paid and exploitative jobs, supporting European countries to plug their labour shortfalls. They often face abuse and exploitation while trying to survive on the street, in private homes, in bars, restaurants, sweatshops, in rural fields and elsewhere at the margins of our societies. While both women and men can be victims of severe forms of labour exploitation, women more than men tend to occupy jobs within the informal sector, which is not covered by any labour legislation or social protection.

Also now with the World Cub in Qatar we saw that many migrant workers building the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha for the 2022 World Cup have suffered systematic abuses, in some cases forced labour. Some workers even died during the construction works.

The five sectors accounting for the majority of total adult forced labour are according to the ILO: services and domestic work, manufacturing, construction, agriculture (excluding fishing). Other sectors form smaller shares but nonetheless still account for hundreds of thousands of people. These include adult workers who are forced to dig for minerals or perform other mining and quarrying work, fishers who are trapped in forced labour aboard fishing vessels, people forced to beg on the street, and people forced into illicit activities. But also other sectors, like shipyards as we see with this case.