Category : Interdiction de l’Esclavage et du Travail Forcé (Paragraphe 40 du Code)

MAJOR BRAND COMMITS TO RESPECT LABOUR RIGHTS OF SECURITY GUARDS

Background

It is well-documented that third-country nationals (TCNs) are frequently subjected to illegal recruitment practices, including deceptive hiring, trafficking and forced labour. In the private security sector, contractors often use local recruitment agents that target vulnerable and poor workers. Agents charge prospective third-country nationals ‘workers recruiting fees,’ leading to increased risk of debt. Moreover, agents often withhold information on the location and conditions of employment. These practices are hallmarks of forced labour. Hence, it is important for companies to properly acknowledge such illegal recruitment practices and ensure they comply with their corporate responsibilities and human rights obligations set forth by the Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.   

Since 2022, IKEA updated its Inter IKEA Group policy on human rights, which materialised after an Inter IKEA Group-wide human rights baseline assessment which was subsequently cleared by the Management Board. The policy underscores IKEA’s commitment to respecting international human rights standards in its areas of operation. It emphasises embedding human rights considerations throughout the company’s activities and decisions. This involves proactively identifying potential human rights impacts, addressing any negative impacts and maintaining transparency and accountability.  

Good Practice

In Malaysia, IKEA stores severed ties with a private security provider after an investigation allegedly revealed a breach of IKEA’s own labour policies. The investigation allegedly disclosed that “many » security guards in IKEA’s Malaysian stores had paid recruitment fees to secure their positions. It was reported that these mostly Nepali workers paid fees as high as $1,000, and “multiple layers of sub agents [were] involved in the process in rural villages…” Subsequently, Ikano, the company that runs IKEA stores in Malaysia, secured a new supplier that recruited workers directly, instead of using subcontractors. Ikano also stated that it would conduct follow-up audits. Finally, Ikano explained that the incident had been reported to local authorities and the Nepalese embassy.  

Inter IKEA Group has acknowledged the various human rights risks when it comes to recruiting migrant workers, including high recruitment fees that migrant workers frequently pay. In response to this risk, IKEA completed projects to map their labour supply chains and highlight the risks associated with migrant worker recruitment.  

As a result of the risks associated with migrant worker recruitment, IKEA developed Guidelines on Responsible Recruitment, which aim to build the “understanding and ability of suppliers to responsibly manage the recruitment of migrant workers.” IKEA has since emphasised that they aim to improve and strengthen their dialogue with their suppliers while addressing key topics including working hours, fundamental labour rights and responsible recruitment of migrant workers to respect their human rights due diligence commitments.  

Corporate Ethics

IKEA developed Guidelines on Responsible Recruitment, which aim to build the “understanding and ability of suppliers to responsibly manage the recruitment of migrant workers.” IKEA is committed to eliminate worker-paid recruitment fees as shown by their stark decision in Malaysia to terminate their relationship with the private security contractor. The Swedish Company is co-founder of the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment chaired by the Institute for Human Rights and Business. This group works to eradicate worker-paid recruitment fees by following the “Employer Pays” principle aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goal of decent work for all. IKEA expressly stated that they “strongly believe that migrant workers should be treated with respect” and they have therefore “committed to advocate for this goal more widely, with governments, businesses and other relevant organizations, and continue to look for ways to assist and support migrant workers.”  

Additionally, IKEA developed an introductory course on human rights and due diligence for all Inter IKEA Group co-workers during the 2022 Fiscal Year. More training programmes were created in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration for IKEA employees and business partners in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Australia. The programmes cover international standards, national laws, methods for taking action against unfair treatment and labour exploitation.

The International Code of Conduct

The International Code of Conduct prohibits Member and Affiliate companies from engaging in the trafficking of persons and requires their personnel to report any instances of trafficking to competent authorities. The International Code of Conduct defines human trafficking, in this context, as the recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labour or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or slavery.  

Furthermore, the International Code of Conduct prohibits Member and Affiliate Companies from using slavery, forced or compulsory labour, or to be complicit in any other entity´s use of such labour. 

Member and Affiliate companies of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) commit to the responsible provision of Security Services to support the rule of law, respect the human rights of all persons, and protect the interests of their clients.  

By joining ICoCA, the Member and Affiliate Companies affirm that they have a responsibility to respect the human rights of, and fulfil humanitarian responsibilities towards, all those affected by their business activities, including personnel, clients, suppliers, shareholders, and the population of the area in which services are provided. Furthermore, clients could also require that their security providers are ICoCA certified.  

Disclaimer 

The case map intends to promote conversations on the responsible provision of private security services, by providing a selection that shows on the one hand cases of abuses by private security companies, and on the other, cases of good practice. The case map exists to inform and provide a representation of selected incidents as well as good practices in the field of private security.  

The descriptions of the cases reproduced here are not intended to represent opinions or advertisements of the ICoCA or the authors. In cases where the practices of private security providers are presented as responsible, this should not be interpreted as legitimising any potential human rights violations that may have occurred. Similarly, the inclusion of certain cases does not imply that the ICoCA or authors endorse the conduct of any private security companies that have engaged in human rights abuses or violations. 

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This case was prepared by Anyssa Boyer, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. 

NEPALI CONTRACTORS KILLED IN IRAQ

Background

Despite regulations in this area, it is well-documented that third-country nationals (TCNs) are frequently subjected to illegal recruitment practices, including deceptive hiring, trafficking, and forced labour. An ACLU report found that at the time of the report, tens of thousands of TCNs were hired each year through U.S. government contracts to work at U.S. military and diplomatic missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, often recruited with these illegal recruitment practices. Indeed, in 2010 and 2011, there were more TCNs supporting the U.S. military in Iraq than American and local contractors combined. These TCNs come from all over the world, but frequently come from Chile, Colombia, Fiji, India, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, and Uganda.

In this sector, contractors often use local recruiting agents that target vulnerable, poor workers. Agents charge prospective TCN workers recruiting fees, which TCNs frequently go into debt to pay, under the false information about the location and conditions of work. These TCNs often do not become aware that they are actually going to work in Iraq or Afghanistan until after they reach transit points or arrive in these countries. Further, once they arrive, TCNs may learn that they will make significantly less than they were promised, are threatened if they try to leave or seek alternative employment, and may have their passports confiscated.

These practices are hallmarks of modern slavery, forced labour, and trafficking.

The IncidentSecurity guard in Mosul, Iraq.

In 2004, twelve Nepali men were recruited to work in Jordan by a Nepali recruiting company. Each man was promised a hotel-related job in Jordan, and the family of each man went into debt to pay recruitment fees. Once the men made it to Jordan, the men were allegedly subject to threats, locked into a compound, and their passports were confiscated. In Jordan, they were told for the first time that they were being sent to work in Iraq as defence contractors, and that they would actually be paid about three-quarters of what they were promised.

The men eventually travelled through Iraq to a United States military base to work for Daoud & Partners, a Jordanian corporation that had a subcontract with the US defence contractor and private security service provider, Kellogg Brown Root. On the way to the base, they were captured by Iraqi insurgents. The insurgents executed them, and a video of the executions was broadcasted by media outlets.

The Plaintiff that survived, Gurung, was not in the same car, and arrived at Al Asad. Plaintiff Gurung worked on the base in a warehouse position, and alleged that Daoud and Kellogg Brown Root told him that “he could not leave Iraq until his work was complete.”

Legal Aspects

Adhikari v. Kellogg Brown and Root, Inc. 

In 2008, the families of the victims, in addition to a Daoud employee that was not captured (Plaintiffs), sued Daoud and Kellogg Brown Root. The collective Plaintiffs alleged that the two companies “willfully and purposefully formed an enterprise with the goal of procuring cheap labour and increasing profits.” The Plaintiffs brought causes of action under the Alien Tort Statute, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and state common law. The Plaintiffs quickly settled with Daoud, but they continued their lawsuit against Kellogg Brown Root.

Eventually, after six years, a federal district court dismissed all of the Plaintiffs’ claims, and in 2017, the Court of Appeals held that the dismissal of these claims was proper. The Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that the Alien Tort Statute did not apply, as the Statute did not apply extraterritorially.  Specifically, the Court found that the alleged misconduct could not be deemed “domestic” under the Statute, because all of the alleged international law violations occurred in a foreign country, despite the fact that Al Asad was under U.S. control, and Kellogg conducted financial transactions through U.S. banks.

Further, the Court of Appeals agreed that the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act also did not apply extraterritorially at the time of the incident, and that the Plaintiffs could not rely on the state common law claims to save their suit.

The International Code of Conduct

The International Code of Conduct prohibits Member and Affiliate companies from engaging in the trafficking of persons, and requires their personnel to report any instances of trafficking to Competent Authorities. The International Code of Conduct defines human trafficking, in this context, as the recruitment, harbouring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labour or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or slavery (section 39).

Further, the International Code of Conduct prohibits Member and Affiliate Companies from using slavery, forced or compulsory labour, or to be complicit in any other entity´s use of such labour (section 40).

Section 54 of the Code also prescribes that “Member and Affiliate Companies will only hold passports, other travel documents, or other identification documents of their Personnel for the shortest period of time reasonable for administrative processing or other legitimate purposes.”

Resources on Human Trafficking

Resources on the Prohibition of Slavery and Forced Labour

Impact

The Plaintiffs confidentially settled with Daoud during the course of the litigation.

The case also received significant international attention, including multiple congressional hearings, and serving as the subject of a book, The Girl From Kathmandu by Cam Simpson.

Discussion

How can States and other clients ensure that their supply chains do not involve modern slavery?

How can the recruiting practices of private security companies be extra sensitive to the risks of modern slavery in countries with vulnerable worker populations?

Related incidents

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Case prepared by Madison Zeeman