Brexit and Human Trafficking: Three Areas for Concern

The consequences for the UK and the world post Brexit have still to become clear, and may not do for at least another decade. One issue that needs to be considered is the impact of the UK leaving the EU on the ever growing, international industry of human trafficking.

When we talk about human trafficking a simple definition would be the moving of a person from one place to another, with or without their consent, in order to exploit them in a different destination. This can be internal however most of the time human trafficking involves an element of cross border migration. As such human trafficking can be labelled as a global issue which requires international co-operation to resolve and combat. The UK has altered its relations with the rest of the world by leaving the EU and this will undoubtedly impact upon its competency with helping to combat human trafficking.

There are three key areas that the UK will need to monitor closely and aim to resolve as it goes forward with separating from Europe and European institutions.

1. The “Tough Borders” approach

A key component of the vote to leave campaign was that the UK needs better control of immigration. This could potentially manifest itself in different ways, but the overall paradigm appears to be that the UK needs better control over who they let in and they therefore need “tougher borders.”

When talking about the issue of human trafficking one argument made by supporters of the “tough borders” approach is that free movement of people in the EU has led to transnational criminal organisations. Iain Duncan Smith has said, specifying the Schengen no borders area,  this has facilitated people smuggling and human trafficking throughout Europe. To what extent does this account of human trafficking hold up against the views of experts in the area as well as empirical evidence as to how increasing control at a border impacts upon human trafficking?

There are a few issues with the “tough borders” as a means to reduce human trafficking as well as how it impacts upon human trafficking generally.

The first issue is that as a means of preventing people taking risks to cross a border, it presumes that migrants are informed and that also, particularly with refugees, the cost of being found to be an illegal migrant is enough of a disincentive relative to the trauma they have just escaped. A recent report written by Ana Gomes, a Portuguese MEP, found that the numbers of people arriving at Calais had dramatically increased post-Brexit because criminal gangs had misinformed migrants that Brexit would make it easier for people to enter the UK.

Continuing on the theme of Calais, another criticism of this theory is that the UK has in fact always had policed borders that could monitor illegal migration. At the moment Calais effectively acts as the UK’s southern most border through the 2003 Touquet Treaty with France. With the UK leaving Europe and so rescinding any responsibility to other EU citizens there may be little incentive for France to uphold this treaty, so in effect making it harder to police the southern border.

Further issues highlighted by Aidan McQuade, Director of Human Rights Watch, are that often victims come through legal channels, voluntarily, and are then exploited once they get to the destination country. He also mentions that often victims of trafficking  are made to work in destination countries in order to pay off the debt of the cost of getting them into the country, this debt will be increased if it involves creation of passports etc.

Overall it is recognised that tough borders actually put people into a position of greater vulnerability. In what is already a hidden crime, people fleeing desperate situations take greater risks in order to overcome borders and to get into a place of safety, this makes them easy targets for criminal gangs to exploit. This has been seen clearly with regards to the refugee crisis (https://stopscottishslavery.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/syrian-refugees-easy-prey-for-human-traffickers-a-sad-consequence-of-european-immigration-policy/) with people going to extreme lengths in order to cross a border.

2. The importance of European Co-operation in Combating Trafficking

Human trafficking is predominantly an international issue and as such preventing it and prosecuting traffickers as a deterrent requires international co-operation. Specifically this takes the form of the sharing of intelligence and resources for the protection of victims as well as the prosecution of traffickers.

Two important institutions for facilitating this are Europol and Eurojust.  Europol describe their motives as “creating a safer Europe for the benefit of EU citizens.” Essentially they are an international police force that specifically target international crime and they list tackling human trafficking as one of their key objectives. Eurojust is a judicial arm to the EU with respect to international crime, their aim is described in Article 85 of the Lisbon Treaty and states that Eurojust facilitates the co-ordination and co-operation of member states judicial systems in order to prosecute serious international crime.

These two organisations are extremely important for the prosecution of human traffickers but also in protecting victims. Sir Hugh Orde, former president of UK Association for Police Officers, said prior to the vote that it would be worrying to lose Eurojust and Europol. He also mentioned that the UK would lose the European Arrest Warrant and that the EU provides translators and experts that streamline the sharing of information. Without this resource the sharing of evidence will take longer and be more expensive. Sir Hugh’s faith in the EU for dealing with international crime is backed up by previous UK actions. The UK has used Eurojust for joint investigations more than any other EU country, 67 between 2011-2015 of which 16 involved human trafficking.

Compounding the problems the UK could face by leaving these organisations is that the need for international co-operation on migration is increasing. This can be attributed to, in part, the refugee crisis. A report made in late 2015 by Europol stated that they believed up to 90% of people entering the EU from non-EU countries are doing so through “facilitation services” most of which are criminal gangs. Europol believes that because of this there is a greatly increased risk of exploitation of people in destination countries. This is an extremely worrying claim from Europol for the efforts of combating human trafficking and suggests a very large amount of people are currently, and will be, extremely vulnerable to being trafficked.

There is the possibility that the UK will be able to form bilateral treaties with organisations such as Eurojust and Europol, however these could take up to years to form at a time where the UK will be attempting to make a large amount of international treaties, such as trade agreements. Until something solid is in place a very high amount of people are more vulnerable to trafficking and traffickers are less likely to be prosecuted.

3. European Legislation

The majority of human rights advances in legislation in the UK originally come from European directives. For example the Human Rights Act 1998 pretty much embodies the same terms as are in the European Convention on Human Rights. The rights guaranteed in the 1998 act do afford some protection for victims of trafficking, such as the right to non-degrading treatment; the right to life and the freedom from slavery and forced labour. The EU has also created numerous employment rights that protect a person against being exploited at work, such as forced labour.

Importantly the EU has created legislation that is specific to the issue of human trafficking. Directive 2011/36/EU  on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Protecting its Victims and Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, 2005 are two specific examples. These two pieces of legislation enshrine obligations on the UK towards prevention of trafficking, prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims of trafficking. They are two of the most extensive and specific pieces of international legislation on the issue of human trafficking. The legislation was created through an amalgamation of expertise and experience from every signatory member state, the UK in particular being very influential. As Professor Michael Dougan, Liverpool University, puts it: “The EU is not something that happens to us (the UK), we are major players.”

Some specific examples of what is contained in the European legislation includes the right for victims of trafficking to access legal and medical aid and not be prosecuted for a crime they committed as a consequences of being trafficked. Kevin Hyland is the UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner and directs the UK government’s efforts at tackling human trafficking. It was decided in Article 19 of the above Directive that every EU member state should have someone of this nature who would then interact with each member state’s representative. This is crucial for the gathering and sharing of information about trends and concerns with the ever changing, hidden crime of human trafficking.

EU legislation on human trafficking has been partially embodied by the Human Trafficking (Scotland) Act 2015 as well as the Modern Slavery Act of the same year. While these pieces of UK legislation go some way to fulfill European obligations there are still a lot of criticisms of them, particularly when talking about victim protection. It is unclear what will happen with legislation that has been influenced by EU directives now Professor Dougan suggests that any Act with a European influence will need to be reviewed and this process could take up to ten years. During this time victims of trafficking are vulnerable.

As well as this Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery, states that because the UK will lose its position on the council of ministers it will lose all ability to influence new legislation and methods of tackling trafficking in the future. With human trafficking being an ever changing and hidden crime that we are still learning about, this is a big blow for trafficking victims generally to lose UK expertise but also for the UK in gaining insight as to the best way to deal with the issue within its own borders.

There are therefore some serious areas of concern with the UKs future ability to combat trafficking and contribute anything internationally to counteract an international crime once it has left the EU. These issues should be looked at seriously. The sentiment made by Boris Johnson recently, that despite leaving the EU “the UK is not leaving Europe” is a positive one because in order to protect victims of this vicious crime international co-ordination and co-operation is paramount. The UK separating itself from the rest of Europe would be to completely abandon the thousands of people at risk of human trafficking or victims that are currently being exploited.

References

1. Banks, M., Calais migrant numbers swollen by Brexit says Ana Gomes, (The Parliament, 2016), <https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/news/calais-migrant-numbers-swollen-brexit-result-says-ana-gomes>
2. Dougan, M., Transcript: Professor Michael Dougan on the EU referendum, (University of Liverpool, 2016), <https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2016/06/22/transcript-professor-michael-dougan-eu-referendum/>
3. Eurojust, History of Eurojust, <http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/about/background/Pages/history.aspx>
4. Europol, About Europol, https://www.europol.europa.eu/content/page/about-europol-17>
5. Europol, Interpol, Migrant Smuggling Networks: Joint Europol-Interpol Report (Europol-Interpol 2016) – can find at – <https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwiH9Kq9gvbNAhWHB8AKHcatCusQFgg1MAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.europol.europa.eu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fpublications%2Fep-ip_report_executive_summary.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFHvrB-6XI8gYDO5r6IZ81WgXNFlw>
6. McQuade, A., Brexit could destroy EU progress on tackling modern slavery?, (Left Foot Forward, 2016), < http://leftfootforward.org/2016/06/brexit-could-destroy-eu-progress-on-tackling-modern-slavery/>
7. Rentoul, J., EU referendum will we gain or lose rights by leaving the European Union?, (The Independent, 2016), <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-uk-rights-will-we-gain-or-lose-a7054091.html>
8. Smith, I.D., Iain Duncan Smith on Brexit: The EU creates political extremism, (Newsweek, 2016), <http://europe.newsweek.com/brexit-tory-iain-duncan-smith-remaining-part-dysfunctional-declining-eu-not-470729>
9. Stapleton, P., What would Brexit mean for labour rights and exploitation? (Focus on Labour Exploitaion, 2016), <http://www.labourexploitation.org/news/what-would-brexit-mean-labour-rights-and-exploitation>
10. Swidlicki, P., Would Brexit leave the UK be better placed to handle the Calais crisis? (Open Europe, 2016), < http://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/would-brexit-leave-the-uk-better-placed-to-tackle-the-calais-crisis/>
11. Wintour, P., Boris Johnson Launches Charm Offensive at French Embassy, (The Guardian, 2016), <http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/14/boris-johnson-uk-outside-the-eu-will-play-greater-role-in-europe>

 

Syrian Refugees “Easy Prey” for Human Traffickers: A Sad Consequence of European Immigration Policy?

“Modern, enterprising, organised criminal gangs go where the opportunity is high and the risk is low,” Brian Donald, Europol’s Chief of Staff

There are certain factors which have been shown to make a person more vulnerable to becoming a victim of human trafficking, by which we mean being coerced or misled into being exploited either sexually or physically using someone as a possession in order to generate income such as forced labour. The first characteristic is being a migrant, the second being in a large group full of anonymous unmonitored people and lastly, being at the point of desperation where the spectrum of accepted hardships or risky decision making is greatly widened. All three of these qualities can be attributed to the 10.8 million people currently fleeing their war torn homes in Syria. This has led Kevin Hyland, the Independent Human Trafficking Commissioner to the UK, to refer to the Syrian refugees as “easy prey” for human traffickers. What must be considered is how Europe’s answer to the crisis, including the UK position, is actually contributing and in fact stimulating the trade in human beings who are attempting to leave their devastated lives behind them.

It has been shown that, although a person can be trafficked internally, being a migrant makes a person greatly more vulnerable to being trafficked. This is due to not knowing the native tongue or customs as well as being unfamiliar with employment rights and governmental institutions. For many there is an acceptance that ‘this is how things are done in this country,’ particularly when talking about forced labour.

Being in a large group of unidentifiable people has consistently been shown to make people more vulnerable to being trafficked. A controversial and well publicised example of this is the Super bowl in USA. This is one of the biggest sporting events of the year, drawing in large crowds of people. Arizona State University of Social work researched the issue in 2014 and found ,when assessing whether human trafficking increases in the city that the Superbowl is held, that there is “distinct movement and marketing trends that tend to correspond with the build up of the Superbowl.” A similar phenomenon was occurred after the Nepal earthquake in April 2015. The earthquakes left many people without shelter and in large camps. Nepalese authorities stated that there was a large increase in instances of human trafficking after the earthquake with opportunistic traffickers offering a better life across the border into India. Clearly these factors can be attributed to Syrian refugees, making them extremely vulnerable.

But it is perhaps the issue of desperation which has the greatest causal link with European countries independent policies on dealing with the issue of Syrian refugees. Currently the UK has settled 1000 refugees, many of which are living in Scotland. The UK aim is to settle 20,000 by 2020. The European policy position can generally be criticised for contributing to a rise in human trafficking in Syrian refugees due to two main factors. The first of these is that, simply put, Europe is not taking in enough refugees put in the context of their population sizes and GDP values. The second issue is that currently the European positions are not harmonious or in any way linked or communicated with one another for a collective broader goal or fair method of dealing with the issue. There is no unified European policy that deals with the settling of refugees based on population size, GDP and population diversity etc.

Currently the majority of refugees have been taken in by neighbouring, developing, countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. This grouping of countries currently holds around four million refugees, which is twenty times that of Europe. In fact 1 in 4 people currently living in Lebanon is a refugee. The consequences of this is that poorer countries are being saturated with people. There are little chances for jobs, local resources are squeezed and people live in barely habitable conditions.

There has been an evidenced increase in “negative coping strategies,” in order to live in these conditions. This means that often people are more willing to accept their sexual exploitation or becoming a slave labourer in order simply to live in accommodation and have food. The fact that so many refugees are settling into shocking conditions in less developed countries is perhaps indicative of the fact that Europe’s limit on how many refugees they are willing to accept is insubstantial. Their desperation makes them vulnerable to any alternative and has led to a greater acceptance of criminal gangs to cross the border into Europe. This problem is compounded if you belong to certain minorities Aramean Christians, Syrian Kurds who without ID can only travel illegally, as well as LGBT, who believe that they would be subjugated in another Muslim country and any objector to the Assad regime who would also be refused a passport.

The increased demand of travel into Europe illegally, has stimulated an increase in the number of professional criminal gangs working in the area, willing to take advantage of people’s desperation. One third of all smuggling groups working in the area are engaged in other criminal activity such as human trafficking, money laundering or the drug trade. Reports suggest that lightweight, cheap rubber dinghies are being bought so that traffickers don’t waste too much of an investment if they are caught, as well as being able to pop the dinghies quickly in order to be saved by boats rather than being turned away. This has caused numerous deaths, all for the price of $1200 for each passenger. There is also a very high chance that once in Europe refugees will be then transferred into another form of exploitation. There is a wealth of anecdotal evidence of refugees going through horrific ordeals at the hands of traffickers such as rape and forced obedience through violence. In August 27^th seventy one refugees were found rotting in a meat truck that had been abandoned by smugglers in Austria.

The second problem is the complete lack of a well communicated, harmonious, strategic European response. To their credit countries such as Sweden and Germany have attempted to take in large numbers of refugees, if the refugees are able to make it there without support. Problematically this is being done alongside other European countries with a much tougher border policy such as Hungary, which is currently building a 100 mile fence on its border. EU law states that when a person enters a European country as a refugee then they must settle in the first country that they get into. Countries such as Greece, Czech Republic and Hungary have either refused or are unable to take in many refugees. The fact that some countries in Europe are offering to take in more refugees, incentivises people to try and cross these tougher borders by any means they can, often by using criminal gangs. On point of entry into Europe, rather than being allocated a country to live in based on its population size, resources and GDP , refugees are instead walking across Europe in large caravans. European law enforcement agencies have so far recorded, a conservative estimate, of over 7000 unaccompanied minors making the trip. The Guardian gives a hopeless account of Marah Babili, 19 years old, who is looking after six younger siblings on her own and has been forced into a situation of sleeping rough for days at a time and being turned away from camps. Save the Children have stated that these children are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into drug smuggling, manual labour, domestic work or prostitution.

Currently 1 in every 122 people in the world is a refugee, with the Syrian crisis hugely exacerbating the issue. What solutions can be provided by Scotland and the UK to this difficult problem and its symptomatic parasite human trafficking?. Amnesty International has called the response of wealthy nations in dealing with refugees as a “catastrophic failure.” 86% of refugees are currently being settled in developing countries. The UN only had 46% of their Syrian humanitarian aid appeal met which has left a lack of food and medicine in the area. Amnesty has given an eight point plan for dealing with the global refugee crisis (https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2015/10/catastrophic-moral-failure-as-millions-of-refugees-left-to-cruel-and-uncertain-fates/), which involves an increase in funding, providing safe routes of travel, prioritising human life over immigration policies, tackling trafficking gangs and supporting victims as well as government initiatives to tackle xenophobic attitudes. The UK pledge of 20,000 refugees over four years equates to 0.5% of the total amount of Syrian refugees, it amounts to 188 per one million of its population as opposed to the 2,974 that Sweden has proposed and 2,116 that Germany has agreed. As a vocal member of the European community the UK also has a responsibility to form a fairer more effective system for allocation of refugees within Europe that provides safety quickly and efficiently into countries that have the resources to be able to cater for their needs. The European Commission has made a plan of relocation of refugees based on a quota system of how able a country is to take refugees. This would mean safely transferring refugees into countries more able to deal with the increase in refugees. The UK has opted out of this scheme, this shows a lack of attempting to work with other countries to find a collective systematic solution to the issue. This is an inappropriate response to the problem and endangers more people by making them vulnerable to trafficking in the ways already discussed. A detailed analysis of the European response to the Syrian refugee crisis from a British response can be found at this link: (http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/sep/08/uk-refugee-plan-comparison-european-countries).

 

Sources

UK Government, Syrians and the UK: Research Briefings, (House of Commons Library, December 2015)<http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06805&gt;

Clarke-Billings, L., Child victims of Nepal earthquake sold to factories and brothels by human traffickers (The Independent, 2015), <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/child-victims-of-nepal-earthquake-sold-to-factories-and-brothels-by-human-traffickers-10276506.html&gt;

Jones, S., Nepal Earthquake Leaves Bitter Legacy as Children Become Quarry for Traffickers, (The Guardian, October 2015), <http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/oct/25/nepal-earthquake-six-month-anniversary-children-orphans-people-traffickers&gt;

Gabriel, D., The Plight of Syria’s Refugees Exploited by Human Traffickers: A Negleccted Phenomenon of the Syrian War, (World Council of Arameans, 2013), <http://www.wcango.org/images/WCA_PR_HumanTraffickersExploitingSyriaWar_280513.pdf&gt;

Dearden, L., Refugee Crisis: Lost Children Being Split from Parents Left “Vulnerable to Trafficking and Abuse”, (The Independent, September 2015), <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-lost-children-being-split-from-parents-left-vulnerable-to-trafficking-and-abuse-10494331.html&gt;

Melichor, J.K., Who Benefits from Syria’s Refugee Crisis: Human Smugglers, (The National Review, October 2015), <http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426046/human-smugglers-profit-syrian-refugee-crisis&gt;

Price, R., Google Maps is Putting Europe’s Human Traffickers out of Business, (The Business Insider, September 2015), <http://uk.businessinsider.com/refugee-crisis-how-syrian-migrants-use-smartphones-avoid-traffickers-2015-9&gt;

Healy, C., Desperation Leaves Syrian Refugees Open to Exploitation, (International Centre For Migration Policy Development, 2015), <http://www.icmpd.org/footernavigation/search/news-results/news-detail/desperation_leaves_syrian_refugees_open_to_exploitation/&gt;

Serwood, H., Unaccompanied Young Refugees in Europe “at Risk from Criminal Gangs”(The Guardian, 2015), <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/01/unaccompanied-young-refugees-europe-traffickers&gt;

Amnesty International, Catastrophic Moral Failure as Rich Countries Leave Millions of Refugees to Cruel and Uncertain Fates, (Amnesty International, October 2015),<https://www.amnesty.org/en/pressreleases/2015/10/catastrophic-moral-failure-as-millions-of-refugees-left-to-cruel-and-uncertain-fates/&gt;

Dearden, L., 6 Charts and a Map that Show Where Europe’s Refugees are Coming from and the Perilous Journey they are Taking, (The Independent, September 2015)<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/refugee-crisis-six-charts-that-show-where-refugees-are-coming-from-where-they-are-going-and-how-they-10482415.html&gt;

Yes Hee Lee, M.,A Bipartisan Fail Over Claims There was a 300 Percent Increase in ‘Escort’ Ads During the Dallas Super Bowl, (Washington Post, 2015)<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/01/29/a-bipartisan-fail-over-claims-there-was-a-300-percent-increase-in-escort-ads-during-the-dallas-super-bowl/&gt;

BBC News, Syrian Refugees Flight Lands in UK, (BBC, November 2015), <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34839477&gt;

Arnett, G., Nardelli, A.,How does UK refugee commitment compare with other countries?, (The Guardian, September 2015),<http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/sep/08/uk-refugee-plan-comparison-european-countries&gt;

5 Products That are Made Using Slave Labour and are Being Bought in the UK

Modern slavery is, unfortunately, a growing problem. It is estimated that it currently affects 21 million people worldwide, by the ILO. The UK is not immune to the problem and there have been a significant number of harrowing cases occurring within UK borders. The consequence of globalisation is that the choices British consumer makes can influence people’s lives internationally. The demand for and consumption of the five products below is having an effect on the slave trade both domestically and internationally. That is not to say that responsibility lies completely with the consumer.

If we were to see a connection between the legal industries that are using slave labour we see that there are large supply chains with subsidiaries, agents and subcontractors which means that the company with the money has very little connection or responsibility to the eventual labourer. Conglomerates and contracts have become the nooses and whips of modern day slavery. There is a sad incongruity between the futility of the eventual products compared with the ordeal that the workers go through to make them.

1.Cannabis

                The production of illegal products puts workers in a much more vulnerable position as they are completely unregulated. In a 2010/11 study it was found that a 1/3 of people aged between 16-59 had used cannabis, perhaps with some people being non-forthcoming when asked by a stranger. In 2005 90% of cannabis used in the UK was imported from North Africa and the middle east. Currently 90% is made domestically, over the same period of time the amount of Vietnamese Cannabis farms have sharply risen, 150% in the last two years. Philip Ishola, former head of the UK’s Counter Human Trafficking Bureau, estimates that there are currently 3000 Vietnamese children in forced labour cultivating cannabis in the UK. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that 30 Vietnamese children arrive illegally in the UK every month. Children are used much more in Cannabis cultivation than in other industries due to the nature of the work and maintaining the plants.

The issue appears to be disproportionately to do with Vietnamese people in the UK. 96% of people trafficked into the cannabis cultivation industry are Vietnamese with 80% of these being children. David Cameron in a recent visit to Vietnam has spoken about the issue and and will ask the UK independent human trafficking commissioner to do a “fact finding mission.” While cannabis remains illegal, victims have no employment rights and are frequently being prosecuted for their role in its production. There is a short video on the unfortunate experiences of one boy, called Hien, in Scotland that was trafficked from Vietnam for the purpose of cannabis cultivation on the link below: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/may/23/vietnam-children-trafficking-nail-bar-cannabis

2.Gold

In humanity’s history we have only mined enough gold to fill two Olympic swimming pools, it is a difficult process. Large corporations will only use a mine for the period of time where it is efficient to do so. This has left a large amount of disused mines across South America and Africa. In a lot of these cases these mines have been taken over by criminal gangs who are producing gold without any employment rights regulation whatsoever. Using South Africa as an example, there are an estimated 14,000 people working in illegal mines, generating an estimated $550m a year. A group of NGOs estimate that 2000 of these workers are in slave like conditions where they are bought and sold, unpaid and working nineteen hour days, sometimes not coming up for a fortnight. In March 2014 twenty one Zimbabwean workers died in a situation like this.

In 2013 an NGO called Verité carried out research in Peru. They found that 20% of gold in Peru was being made illegally, in isolated regions within the Amazon. In these illegal mining camps Verité found evidence of severe exploitation with people feeling under threat of violence, being exposed to potentially lethal doses of mercury, total lack of healthcare and a lack of food. In 2010 ILO found that 50,000 children were involved in the gold mining industry in Peru and were described as being subject to “the worst form of child labour.” Worryingly Verité’s research showed large amounts of the gold made in these circumstances, was making its way into the Western market. One company Universal Metal Trading SAC, who were buying gold from a region of Peru where 97% of the gold is made illegally, exported $901m worth of gold to Switzerland. After the gold arrives in Switzerland it can be passed on into any industry that is using gold such as jewellery and electronics. This is an issue of supply chains and lack of monitoring of employment standards. One suggestion given is an implementation of law to better regulate supply chains such as the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act 2010. The advice for the consumer from Verité is when buying a product which uses gold ensure that it complies with Corporate Social Responsibility schemes and has been monitored by a fair trade organisation.

3.FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

It has been frequently argued that being a migrant makes a person that much more vulnerable to exploitation. There are multiple reasons for this, for example, not understanding the local language or customs, namely employment rights and also many cases of debt bondage.

Qatar is in an almost unique position whereby the majority of the Qatari population is made up of migrants. The population of Qatar is two million with one point four of this being made up of migrant workers. An extremely affluent minority live in a position of superiority over a mass of workers who have come from surrounding poorer countries.

The issues surrounding the working conditions of labourers working on projects related to the 2022 World Cup have been very public. The Guardian found evidence of passports being taken by employers, not being paid for months, working in 45⁰C temperatures for eleven hours a day and six days a week for 45p and hour, whilst living in barely habitable conditions. This has led to an unprecedented number of deaths, in May of 2014 there was one migrant worker dying every day whilst working on a world cup project. In 2012 there were 13,500 deaths from migrant workers from Sri Lanka, Nepal and India. Cause of death is most often given as “natural causes” barring workers families from receiving insurance payments.

Workers are bound into this situation by the contract of their employment which uses the kafala system. Under the kafala system a worker cannot leave the job they are in and are not allowed to leave the country without their employers express agreement. This means that workers are given a choice between carrying on in their current situation or attempting to leave and being criminally punished. During the Nepal earthquakes of April 2015, many workers were prevented from going home to see their loved ones or be at their funerals. Amnesty International has called this a “blatant human rights violation.”

There has been evidence of change in Qatar. “Labour cities” have been built with improved living conditions for workers. This is still not the case for everyone and there is still a high proportion of workers living in unchanged conditions of dust, exposed gas canisters and eight to a room. The Qatar government have increased the amount of labour inspectors, which has been viewed in a positive light as well as making a move to electronic payment which makes employers more accountable. There is a suggestion that the changes being made are part of a PR facade. A BBC reporter Mark Lobel was recently arrested for attempting to investigate an area of workers residences that was not part of the new scheme. There has been no evidence of trying to get rid of the kafala system, which has led the Guardian to suggest that currently any changes made may be purely “cosmetic.”

4.Tea

A legacy of colonial Britain is that it created tea producing “villages” in India and Sri Lanka. These isolated, remote communities are completely reliant on the production of tea for their sustainability. There are little chances for education or opportunities outside of tea manufacturing.

A study done in 2014 by Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute looked at a group called TATA Global Beverages, one of the largest tea companies in India and former owner of Tetley. The study looked at the situation of 30,000 workers who worked on plantations run by a subsidiary of TATA Global Beverages. Columbia Law School argued that workers were kept in a permanent state of poverty. A 2013 study showed that there were up to 250 pupils to a teacher in the area and that only 43% of schools provided drinking water. The same study showed that on average men in the area were consuming 50% of their recommended calories whereas for women it was 66%. The consequence of this is a desperate desire for a better life and thus vulnerability to exploitation from people promising work in the city and a better wage. This exact situation was highlighted by Unicef, in a 2011-13 study they found 3000 women and children had been trafficked into cities. Evidence has been found of children being sold for as little as £20. For girls the form of exploitation was predominantly sexual whereas for boys it was forced labour.

In terms of solutions, for the consumer, tea can now be bought with accreditation of being fairly made such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and that Ethical Tea Partnership. Stop the Traffik suggest the need for a “holistic approach” between local NGOs, government, corporations and the consumer. There is a desperate need to improve the lives of people working in the areas of tea plantations, such as education, raising of awareness of the threat of traffickers, improvements in health care and access to drinking water.

5. Chocolate

                An industry worth $90bn, selling chocolate is a profitable business with a large group of sweet tooth consumers. Unfortunately evidence would suggest that very little of this wealth trickles down to the original harvesters of the cacao bean.

                70% of the world’s cacao beans are exported from West Africa, more specifically the countries of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Western Africa is an impoverished part of the world with a dependence on the exporting of cacao to large industries for their subsistence. This dependence creates an unequal relationship that results in farmers being paid as little as $2 a day for cacao production. In order to make a profit farmers rely on slave labour, much of it involving children.

The life of people living in these conditions is extremely harsh. Research has shown people sleeping on planks in windowless buildings that are often locked at night time to prevent escape, use of physical violence, often whips to make people work faster. This is estimated to currently affect 1.8m children in Western Africa, the majority of whom are aged between 12-16 but with evidence of children as young as 5.

A currently ongoing court case has been lodged against Nestle, Mars and Hershey’s. The applicants are suing for false advertising on the basis that these companies suggest that they are ethical and have a zero tolerance for cacao produced through slave labour, yet at the same time still buying from regions where slave labour is prevalent and doing little to regulate the conditions of workers that are producing the cacao that they are buying. The current emphasis is on the chocolate industry itself to improve conditions. This is another industry where people fall victim to supply chains and the company that is making the money can absolve itself from responsibility of the initial labourer. Nestle appears to have taken the most initiative and has stated it will invest $100m into the area to try and improve conditions and education of people. The industry itself has pledged to have 100% ethically produced chocolate by 2020. There is still a lot of scepticism as to the truth in this and as yet there is little evidence of change, in fact a recent study by Payson Center for International Development of Tulane University found that conditions are worsening. As a consumer buying Fairtrade is an option, although there have been instances of Fairtrade certified farms being found to have slave labour like conditions. Food is Power give a list on their website of chocolates that they can recommend as ethical http://www.foodispower.org/chocolate-list/.

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