Exploitation of migrant workers

Research project awarded NSfK grant 2020

One of the Nordic projects awarded NSfK research grant this year was the co-Nordic research project ”Law in action – Policy and legal responses to the exploitation of migrant workers in the Nordic countries”.

The Nordic research team is lead by Isabel Schoultz, Associate Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology of Law, Lund University. For abstract of this project and the other projects awarded NSfK research grants 2020, please click here.

Current topic in public debate in Finland

Photo: Pixabay

The issue of exploitation of migrant workers has this past week been widely discussed and debated in Finland, after an article was published in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on the exploitation of workers in the Finnish cleaning industry. The article in English can be read here.

Investigations for the article were carried out during many months and the material included ia interviews with around thirty cleaners, extensive documentation material from law enforcement and various other agencies and authorities. The conclusion in the article was that “The scale of exploitation is large. At worst conditions are inhumane and reminiscent of human trafficking.”

One of the experts interviewed in the article is NSfK Council member Natalia Ollus, Director of HEUNI / The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control.
Natalia also participated in discussions on the subject in Finnish TV and in a pod talk together with journalist Johan Ekman. Click here to listen to the pod in Swedish at the public service broadcasting company Yle´s site.

HEUNIs new investigation tool to uncover labour trafficking

Heuni recently released a new investigation tool for law enforcement and labour inspectors: Uncovering labour trafficking – Investigation tool for law enforcement and checklist for labour inspectors” 

The publication was developed in the EU-funded FLOW project with partner countries Bulgaria, Estonia and Latvia. HEUNI writes that “The investigation tool describes labour trafficking and exploitation in general. It also follows the progress of police investigations from start to finish. Moreover, it works as a concrete aid for coordinated and well-planned actions in effective labour trafficking investigations.”