FORCED LABOUR should be criminalised and its victims given protection, a round-table discussion was told yesterday.
Ireland’s responsibilities under international and EU law require the enactment of a law prohibiting forced labour and making it a criminal offence resulting in imprisonment, according to a paper prepared for the meeting.
The meeting was organised by the Migrants Rights Centre Ireland, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the International Labour Organisation.
Since 2006, the rights centre has dealt with approximately 150 cases of forced labour, according to Gráinne O’Toole of the centre and the author of the paper. However, she said this represented only a small number of cases and research was needed to identify the extent of the problem.
Workers in forced labour situations work mainly in non-unionised and unregulated sectors such as private homes, agriculture, restaurants, seafaring, care and construction. Ms O’Toole said there was no law in place in the Irish jurisdiction that addressed the crime of forcing people to work without their valid consent.
The framework paper was endorsed by the International Labour Organisation. Beate Andrees of the labour organisation told the meeting that if cases did not fall within a trafficking framework, they rarely got prosecuted.
Ms Andrees emphasised the vital role of the National Employment Rights Authority in tackling forced labour, given its role in preventing workplace exploitation and bringing employers into compliance. She stressed the need for formal collaboration between the authority and the Garda in investigating forced labour.
Ms O’Toole said the protection of victims of forced labour needed to be at the heart of addressing the problem as otherwise the law would be ineffective in ensuring the identification of victims and their safety.
Ireland is a signatory to both UN conventions on forced labour and the European Convention on Human Rights, she said.
The European Court of Human Rights has held that article four of the convention requires states to adopt criminal law provisions that penalise slavery, servitude and forced labour.
However, Ms O’Toole said more was required, including orders for compensation for the victims. In addition, victims should be protected and their safety guaranteed, which was essential to ensure people came forward.
In some circumstances coerced workers may become undocumented and it will be necessary to regularise their immigration status while they are assisting the State in investigating the crime.
The paper said greater flexibility was required in the work permit system, allowing permit holders to move freely between jobs in a defined sector.