Drawing on extensive empirical research, we provide advice and collaborate with a range of government and non-government stakeholders to improve migrant workers' access to justice in their country of origin, particularly in South and South East Asia. We have advised government ministries and staff, and collaborate with civil society organisations and trade unions in Indonesia and Nepal to improve migrant workers' access to justice in each country and through their embassies abroad.
Migrant workers’ access to justice in Indonesia: report and policy briefs
Using the case study of Indonesian migrant workers who travel to work in the Middle East, this study is the first to comprehensively examine migrant workers’ access to justice in their country of origin. The report on the study Migrant Workers' Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia, analyses the mechanisms through which migrant workers may access justice in Indonesia, and the systemic barriers that prevent most workers from receiving full redress for harms that they suffer before, during, and after their work abroad. It addresses recommendations to government, parliament, civil society, donors, and others, with a companion series of for improving migrant workers' access to justice and private sector accountability. The report is used by Indonesian civil society groups and migrant worker trade unions to use and test existing justice mechanisms to enforce migrant workers’ rights. The study was undertaken by Bassina Farbenblum in collaboration with Sarah Paoletti, Eleanor Taylor-Nicholson and Dina Nuriyati, and was funded by the OSF International Migration Initiative.
Migrant workers’ access to justice in Nepal: report and policy briefs
This study comprehensively examines the Nepali mechanisms through which migrant workers may seek remedies for harms suffered during recruitment or while working in the Middle East. The report on the study, Migrant Workers' Access to Justice at Home: Nepal finds that despite Nepal’s efforts to protect migrant workers, it is generally failing to hold private recruitment companies and individual agents accountable, and the vast majority of workers remain unable to access compensation or other forms of justice in Nepal or abroad. The study reveals that the laws that govern recruitment and placement of Nepali migrant workers are relatively robust, but their implementation and enforcement are weak. The report and its accompanying policy briefs recommend clear pathways to improving the governance, operation, access and effectiveness of each of Nepal’s redress mechanisms, and to more effective regulation of migrant worker recruitment. The study, undertaken by Bassina Farbenblum in collaboration with Sarah Paoletti, Eleanor Taylor-Nicholson and Bandita Sijapati, was funded by the OSF International Migration Initiative.