Forced labour is both an historical and a contemporary problem in Ireland today. In February 2013, the Government issued a State apology to survivors of Ireland’s Magdalen Laundries, where well over 10,000 girls and women1 were forced into unpaid labour between 1922 and 1996. The apology was preceded by an Inter-departmental Committee report detailing widespread State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries’ operations.2 The Irish Human Rights Commission in its 2013 follow-up report on the Laundries determined that the State’s culpability in terms of ‘forced or compulsory labour and/or servitude in the Laundries’ appeared to extend to a failure
‘to outlaw and police against such practices, […] the State or its agents placed girls and women in the Laundries knowing that such girls and women would be obliged to provide their labour in those institutions, and […] the State further supported these practices by benefitting from commercial contracts with the Laundries’.3
In June 2013, the Government promised to implement in full all recommendations by Mr Justice John Quirke for an ex gratia restorative justice scheme,4 but women are still waiting to be recompensed for the work that they carried out.
The current situation of migrants being forced to work under severe exploitative conditions in Ireland remains unquantified. This is due to the lack of formal identification procedures that result in victims of forced labour being unable to escape from exploitative situations. The Government has taken some measures to address the issue of forced labour including the enactment of legislation5 and the establishment of an anti-human trafficking unit.6 In 2013, 44 potential trafficking victims were identified of which eight were subjected to forced labour of whom the majority were victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.7 Sixteen of these victims were children, including 11 Irish national children who were trafficked for sexual exploitation.8 However, this is considered to be a significant underestimate of the actual problem.9 Thirty-nine people were also identified as victims of sex trafficking; 23 of those were children.10 The US Department of State has described Ireland as a ‘destination, source, and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor’.11 This US e-report noted cases of potential forced labour of domestic workers employed by foreign diplomats who enjoy diplomatic immunity and the prosecution of people involved in cannabis production living in slave-like conditions that have not been investigated as potential victims of trafficking.12 Changes to the law in 2013 included a definition of forced labour in line with the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) definition.13
The Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) conducted an official visit to Ireland in November 2012. It highlighted positive measures taken by the Irish Government to combat trafficking, but recommended that the protection of the rights of victims of trafficking should be placed on a statutory footing and expanded to replace the present administrative arrangements which only extend to non-EEA migrants without permission to remain in Ireland.14 EU citizens, asylum seekers and other people who are considered to be ‘documented’ in the State are precluded from being formally identified by the authorities as victims of trafficking and are not dealt with under existing administrative arrangements.15
Access to remedies such as compensation for victims of trafficking are not considered to be effective, accessible or adequate.16 Existing avenues, provided through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal and through a Court Order, remain irrelevant in many cases. The Tribunal is confined to out-of-pocket expenses and does not extend to pain and suffering suffered by victims of trafficking. GRETA noted that there have been no cases of compensation from offenders awarded to victims of trafficking in criminal trials17 and recommended that the authorities put in place measures to ensure victims of trafficking can easily access adequate compensation.18
GRETA was concerned that victims of trafficking, including victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, are also accommodated by the State in mixed-gender Direct Provision centres where they risk retaliation, grooming, further sexual exploitation and trauma.19
FLAC urges the Committee to recommend that the State:
Ensure that women who worked in Magdalen Laundries are paid for the work they undertook and have access to the appropriate pensions, healthcare and other services they require.
Put in place legislation to protect all victims of trafficking and forced labour.
Implement the recommendations of GRETA in the forthcoming National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings to ensure that the rights of victims of forced labour are upheld and that they can obtain adequate legal and financial redress.
Accommodate victims of trafficking in appropriate single gender facilities with access to a range of necessary support services.
1 See Executive Summary of the Report of the Interdepartmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries, http://bit.ly/MagdalenExecSummary [accessed 29 September 2014].
2 Department of Justice and Equality (2013) The Magdalen Commission Report: Report of Mr Justice John Quirke, Dublin: Department of Justice and Equality.
3 Irish Human Rights Commission (2013) IHRC Follow-up Report on State Involvement with Magdalen Laundries, Dublin: IHRC, p.90.
4 Department of Justice and Equality, ‘Restorative Justice Scheme for former Magdalen Residents announced - Government accepts all recommendations of Quirke Report’, [press release], 26 June 2013.
5 The Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008.
6 For information see: http://www.blueblindfold.gov.ie/ [accessed 8 July 2014].
7 US Department of State (2014) Trafficking in Persons Report 2014, Washington DC: US Department of State, p.213.
8 US Department of State (2014) Trafficking in Persons Report 2014, Washington DC: US Department of State, p.213.
9 Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (2014) MRCI’s Submission to the Shadow Report to the Irish State’s obligation under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Dublin: Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, p.4.
10 Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (2013) Annual Report of Trafficking in Human Beings in Ireland for 2012, Dublin: Department of Justice and Equality, p.11.
11 US Department of State (2014) Trafficking in Persons Report 2014, Washington DC: US Department of State, p.213.
12 US Department of State (2014) Trafficking in Persons Report 2014, Washington DC: US Department of State, p.213.
13 Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (2014) Submission to the Shadow Report to the Irish State’s obligation under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Dublin: MRCI, p.3.
14 GRETA (2013) Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by Ireland: First Evaluation Round, Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
15 Immigrant Council of Ireland (2013) Human Trafficking Shadow Report Co-ordinated by the Immigrant Council Gets International Endorsement, Dublin: ICI, p.3.
16 GRETA (2013) Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by Ireland: First Evaluation Round, Strasbourg: Council of Europe, pp.52-53.
17 Immigrant Council of Ireland (2013) Human Trafficking Shadow Report Co-ordinated by the Immigrant Council Gets International Endorsement, Dublin: ICI, p.8.
18 GRETA (2013) Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by Ireland: First Evaluation Round, Strasbourg: Council of Europe, p.53.
19 GRETA (2013) Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by Ireland: First Evaluation Round, Strasbourg: Council of Europe, p.46.
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