A new web platform has been launched to help protect migrant workers from abusive employment practices through user reviews of recruitment agencies.
Developed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Migrant Recruitment Advisor (MRA), which can be accessed at https://www.recruitmentadvisor.org/, allows migrant workers to comment on their experiences, rate the recruitment agencies and learn about their rights.
The platform lists thousands of agencies in Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries.
“The ILO supports countries like the Philippines in protecting the welfare of migrant workers through fair recruitment and rights-based migration. The Migrant Recruitment Advisor can help prospective Filipino migrant workers make informed decision or choice by going through online reviews,” Director Khalid Hassan of the ILO Country Office for the Philippines said in a statement.
Hussein Macarambon, Project Coordinator of the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative in the Philippines, said ITUC and its national affiliates have initiated the platform given the scale and extent of recruitment violations through a rights-based information.
Available in English and Filipino, and soon in other languages, the platform features licensed recruitment agencies of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Governments provided the list of licensed agencies and a network of trade unions and civil society organizations in all target countries ensures the sustainability of the platform by reaching out to workers and speaking to them about their rights.
Ultimately, ILO said the MRA will promote recruiters who follow a fair recruitment process based on ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and will provide useful feedback to governments regarding the practices of licensed recruitment agencies, which could be used to complement more traditional monitoring systems.
Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative aims to reduce cases of recruitment violations, to develop innovative models and to create fair recruitment options for migrant workers. The MRA offers peer-to-peer reviews of recruitment agencies as intervention.
“Through the MRA, workers interested to work abroad can get more information about recruitment agencies. We believe migrant workers who have been recruited and employed abroad are the best recruitment advisors, says Jillian Roque of PSLINK and MRA focal point in the Philippines.
“ILO and trade unions believe that ensuring decent work starts with fair recruitment. In a country where many find jobs abroad through private recruitment agencies, it is important to provide workers with reliable information about recruitment practices of licensed recruitment agencies,” explains Roque.
The MRA was officially launched in the Philippines on July 26, 2018, after a series of regional consultations and launches held in Davao and Cebu.
According to ILO, about 3,000 Filipino workers leave the country daily in search for a better life and decent work overseas.
MRA , similar to the TripAdvisor, allows migrant workers to comment on their experiences, rate the recruitment agencies and learn about their rights. In the Philippines, the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers is a top foreign policy concern under the administration of President Duterte .
“Through the MRA , workers interested to work abroad can get more information about recruitment agencies. We believe migrant workers who have been recruited and employed abroad are the best recruitment advisors, says Jillian Roque of PSLINK and MRA  focal point in the Philippines.
“ILO and trade unions believe that ensuring decent work starts with fair recruitment. In a country where many find jobs abroad through private recruitment agencies, it is important to provide workers with reliable information about recruitment practices of licensed recruitment agencies,” explained Roque.