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Report series №109: "From rights on paper to rights in action"— Exploited migrant workers' access to remedy in the Baltic Sea Region

Published in 2024
Authors
Saara Haapasaari, Tina Davis, Anni Lietonen, Natalia Ollus, Anniina Jokinen, Anna-Greta Pekkarinen, Mia Risberg

This report addresses grievance mechanisms and access to remedy for migrant workers who experience labour exploitation in Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as in the Baltic Sea region at large. In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the report presents a mapping of existing state-based and non-state-based grievance mechanisms in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In addition, it presents a set of examples of migrant workers’ access to remedy in the larger Baltic Sea region.

The report aims to increase awareness of the existing grievance mechanisms as well as the remedy ecosystems in the three focus countries. The research demonstrates the many barriers that migrant workers face when they attempt to access remedies for labour violations, either through the criminal justice process, civil litigation, negotiations by trade unions, or corporate grievance mechanisms, and gives recommendations to improve exploited migrant workers’ access to remedy. This publication has been funded by the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Project Support Facility (PSF), as well as by the CBSS Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings (TF-THB) and its CAPE III project, focusing on labour exploitation and implemented in cooperation with the Swedish Gender Equality Agency (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten). The CBSS does not make any warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the information in this publication. The views, findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in the publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CBSS.

 

 
Labour exploitation Victim assistance Victims of crime