The final TF-THB meeting under the German Presidency addressed fair recruitment

Hosted by the German Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), the meeting focused on the significance of fair recruitment in preventing human trafficking, forced labour, and labour exploitation. During the meeting, the representatives had the opportunity to engage with several expert presentations on fair recruitment and shared their best practices and challenges related to the subject.

Due to the ageing population, there is an increasing need for foreign labour in the countries of the CBSS region. In parallel, the countries struggle to find a balance between facilitating recruitment and regulating it to reduce the risks of exploitation in the labour markets. Informal recruitment channels via social media and private recruitment companies, that are either unregulated or do not abide by the regulations, pose challenges in ensuring fair employment for foreign workers. On the other hand, bilateral agreements with countries of origin for targeted employment through public employment agencies actors have been a risk-reducing factor for instance in Germany, when combined with measures and practices from NGOs which address potential issues of labour exploitation, such as training and information to labour migrants about their rights and the risks they may face in the labour market.

Apart from discussing the information on fair recruitment, the representatives of the CBSS Member States examined the evaluation of the Baltic Sea Region Transnational Referral Mechanism (TRM). The aim of the evaluation was to assess the functionality of the TRM in order to make evidence-based decisions on its further development.

The evaluation results indicated a consensus on the necessity and added value of the mechanism in anti-THB work. At the same time, there is a recognised need to develop the mechanism to be more relevant and accessible for practitioners in the region. This development should be accompanied by the advancement of National Referral Mechanisms, which serve as the foundation for the TRM.

During the meeting, the CBSS Secretariat presented the ongoing TF-THB projects, such as:

• CAPE III project in cooperation with the Swedish Gender Equality Agency (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten) focusing on labour exploitation.
• Planning out an online diplomatic training module based on the CBSS Handbook for Embassies and Diplomatic Missions on How to Assist and Protect Victims of Human Trafficking
• Initiating a new project FRAUD, which concentrates on tackling financial and benefit fraud in the Baltic Sea Region.
• Organising a regional simulation-based training for anti-trafficking together with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The next chair of the TF-THB expert group will be Finland. The Finnish CBSS Presidency will focus on practices against child trafficking and violence against children in the CBSS Member States.

More information about the CBSS Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings is available here.