Costa Rica – An IOM study to be presented in Costa Rica today has been looking at the vulnerabilities of people trafficked for labour exploitation.

The study found that Costa Rica is a country of destination for human trafficking for labour exploitation, notably in the fishing industry and for domestic servitude. It also noted that labour conditions in the agricultural and construction sectors are at times exploitative and, if not controlled, can lead to situations of human trafficking.

In spite of the difficulties to access victims of trafficking for labour exploitation, due to the invisibility and lack of identification, the study records the experience of 46 Asian men that were identified and rescued in Costa Rica while being exploited in the fishing industry.  

Other victims mentioned to in the study include a Costa Rican man who was smuggled and trafficked to Mexico and then on to the United States, as well as Nicaraguan women in Costa Rica exploited as domestic servants.

“All of these economic activities employ significant number of migrant labour, and often these jobs are irregular and therefore invisible and not regulated.  Workers are not protected and this allows for abuses and violations to take place, including human trafficking when the person is forced to work against their will, is threatened by their employer or is simply not free to just walk away,” explains IOM Costa Rica programme manager Ana Hidalgo.
 
A recent ILO study places Latin America behind Asia worldwide in terms of human trafficking for labour exploitation.

“IOM believes that the emphasis that has been placed on human trafficking for sexual exploitation may have diverted attention from cases of human trafficking for labour exploitation in our region,” adds Hidalgo.

The study is part of regional initiative examining the same issue in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It is estimated that some 20.9 million people worldwide are victims of forced labour.
 
The full report, in Spanish, is available at: http://www.iom.int/files/live/sites/iom/files/pbn/docs/INFORME_OIM.pdf

For more information, please contact  

Carolina Urcuyo
IOM San José
Tel: + 506 22.12.53.04
Email: curcuyo@iom.int