Recommendations to Prevent Recurrence of Human Trafficking of Foreign Seasonal Workers and Improve the System
- Recommendations to the Prime Minister for improvement, including reacssignment of the ministry in charge and establishment of a legal framework
□ On October 10, 2024, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (hereinafter 'NHRCK') decided to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and other relevant agencies to improve the system in response to a complaint of human trafficking of foreign seasonal workers.
○ The NHRCK determined that the victims, who entered the country as seasonal workers through an MOU between local government of City A in the Philippines and County H in the Republic of Korea, were victims of human trafficking, including passport confiscation and wage exploitation by intermediaries, and pointed out issues such as weaknesses in the system and poor management and supervision by related organizations that led to such incident, and recommended that the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice, and relevant local governments improve the system and prevent recurrence.
□ The NHRCK, together with relevant organizations, has conducted monitoring of the recruitment process and human rights violations of seasonal workers since last year, during which the victims’ case was reported.
□ In this case, the NHRCK comprehensively analyzed the statements and data obtained through various investigations and confirmed the following:
1. An intermediary’s involvement in the County H’s seasonal worker program
- County H signed a memorandum of understanding with foreign municipalities, including those in the Philippines, to receive seasonal workers through a labor intermediary.
- The seasonal worker program is operated under the guidelines of the Ministry of Justice without additional legal basis, and the guidelines stipulate that delegating work to a private individual or organization constitutes a serious infringement that can lead to the cancellation of the MOU. This is also included in the MOU between County H and City A in the Philippines.
- County H conducted key business processes through the intermediary J, and City A explained during the NHRCK investigation that it had not delegated authority to J.
2. Intermediary's passport confiscation and wage exploitation
- The victims were approached by J's company at a seasonal work promotion event at the city hall in their home country and attended a training program run by the company. The victims signed loan and guarantee documents and contracts required by the company.
- The victims did not have their passports in their possession during their stay in the Republic of Korea, and when they opened a Korean bank account, an automatic transfer of KRW 750,000 per month was set up to be sent to J. On the day they received their salaries from their employer, KRW 750,000 was sent to J.
3. Measures implemented by County H and the municipal government before and after the receipt of complaint
- In 2023, County H accompanied J on several occasions to visit farms for guidance and inspection of seasonal workers' work sites.
- As a result of the investigation after receiving the complaint, 49 cases of wage exploitation, 7 cases of confiscation of passbooks, 1 case of violation of workplace change permit, 1 case of non-payment of wages, and 1 case of assault (verbal abuse) were reported in County H.
□ The NHRCK identified problems with the foreign seasonal worker system as a whole, including County H's accountability, and recommended improvements to the relevant authorities as follows:
1. To the Prime Minister,
- Considering that the seasonal worker system is designed to secure workforce in rural and fishing areas, reassign the ministry in charge of policy formulation and operation of the system.
- Establish a legal basis for the system to ensure consistency and continuity in its operation and to ensure workers' basic rights.
- Enhance public nature of the system to prevent possible harms such as human trafficking that can be caused by the involvement of private intermediaries, and consider raising the level of the MOU to the national or municipal level to share parts of the tasks of basic municipalities.
- To strengthen the transparency of the system, disclose relevant information and allow experts to participate in the process of checking the status and establishing improvement plans.
2. To the Minister of Justice,
- Ensure that victims are not disadvantaged in the future
- To protect human rights of seasonal workers including the right to work, establish specific guidelines and ensure key information is easily understood by providing documents such as guidebooks.
3. To the governor of the County H government and the municipal government,
- Conduct periodic human rights investigation, disclose the results and measures taken, and implement measures to improve the objectivity and credibility of the investigations.
- Take concrete measures to eliminate the involvement of intermediaries in the operation of the system and to strengthen human resources to carry out the project directly.
□ The NHRCK takes a hard look at the situation where intermediaries are deeply involved in the operation of local governments' seasonal worker programs and trafficking of seasonal workers continues to occur, as in the case of County H. The NHRCK strongly urges the government, local governments, and relevant organizations to work more closely together to establish institutional mechanisms to prevent such human rights violations from recurring.
Attached Anonymous Decision Part I. End.
