Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2015, Publicación: 105ª reunión CIT (2016)

Convenio sobre el trabajo forzoso, 1930 (núm. 29) - Azerbaiyán (Ratificación : 1992)

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Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Vulnerable situation of migrant workers in the construction sector, agriculture and domestic work. In its previous comments, the Committee took note of the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), on a case of alleged transnational trafficking for labour exploitation in Azerbaijan, involving men from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. According to the allegations, in 2009 the alleged victims responded to an employment offer as construction workers in Azerbaijan by a company and, once in Azerbaijan, were not provided with any legal work permits, but only with tourist visas, having also to hand over their passports to their employer. The workers were allegedly obliged to live at the construction site, being strictly forbidden to leave, accommodated in very poor conditions, and subjected to threats and penalties, including physical punishment. The Government indicated that no complaint or communication from workers employed by the company regarding labour violations had been submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, and that following a communication received from the non-governmental organization, the Azerbaijan Migration Centre, alleging violations of the rights of the workers concerned, an appropriate investigation had been undertaken by the State Labour Inspectorate, which did not confirm the allegations against the company.

The Committee notes the adoption of the Migration Code on 2 July 2013 (Law No. 713-IVQ), according to which employers cannot collect and keep the passports of migrant workers and stateless persons (section 63.6). Moreover, persons collecting, holding or hiding the passport and identification documents of migrant workers and stateless persons shall be liable in accordance with national law (section 82.5). The Committee further notes the report published on 23 May 2014 by the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), concerning the application by Azerbaijan of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Committee notes that GRETA indicates that additional measures should be taken by the Government in order to enable legal migration for work in the country.

The Committee notes with concern that, according to reports made by GRETA, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the Universal Periodic Review and by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Azerbaijan is increasingly becoming a country of destination for trafficking of migrants workers for the purpose of labour exploitation, in particular in the construction sector, and to a lesser extent in agriculture and domestic work. Migrants working in such sectors are faced with difficulties making them vulnerable to illegal employment practices and serious forms of abuse (E/C.12/AZE/CO/3, A/HRC/WG.6/16/AZE/3 and CRI(2011)19). The Committee notes that, as indicated by GRETA in its report, the Government acknowledged the fact that labour exploitation can become a problem with the increase of migrant workers and the boom of the construction sector, in particular in the context of the First European Games organized in 2015 in Baku.

In this regard, the Committee recalls the importance of taking effective action to ensure that the system of the employment of migrant workers does not place the workers concerned in a situation of increased vulnerability, particularly where they are subjected to abusive practices by employers, such as retention of passports, deprivation of liberty, late payment or underpayment of wages and physical and sexual abuse, as such practices might cause their employment to be transformed into situations that could amount to forced labour. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that migrant workers are fully protected from abusive practices and conditions that amount to the exaction of forced labour including trafficking in persons, in particular in the sectors at risk, such as construction, agriculture and domestic work. The Committee also urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that complaints of forced labour from migrant workers are thoroughly investigated and promptly prosecuted, leading to effective and dissuasive sanctions against the perpetrators. Please provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions concerning the exploitative employment conditions of migrant workers which amount to forced labour, and the specific penalties applied.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.