Mind the Protection (Policy) Gap: Trafficking and Labor Exploitation in Migrant Domestic Work in Belgium

ABSTRACT

Belgian Anti-Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) policy has taken a broad definition of the crime of trafficking for labor exploitation, increasing law enforcement's possibilities. However, the framework of THB and labor exploitation in domestic work is not only defined by the anti-THB policy implementation but also by migration, labor, and care regimes applying to domestic work. The aim of this article is therefore to explore how these regimes interact with the anti-trafficking policy mechanism. The article will show using the Belgian case that the structural factors of workers’ vulnerability to exploitation and THB cannot be tackled with anti-THB measures alone.

KEYWORDS:

• Trafficking
• labor exploitation
• domestic work
• migrants
• THB
• policy
• Belgium

Interviews

(May 2015) Assia (fictive name), recognized THB victim.

(July 2015). Representative CSC at the Commission for Good Offices.

(May 2015). Official CSC Women Brussels.

(March 2015). Ecosoc Coordinator Brussels region.

(May 2015). Deputy general prosecutor at the Labour Court of Liège, Frédéric Kurz, and Lawyer at the general prosecutor's office in Liège, Vincienne Masson.

(March 2015). OR.C.A. vzw (Organisation for Undocumented Workers).

(March 2015). PAG-ASA, specialized center for victims of THB in Brussels.

(July 2011). SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation Sociale.

(May 2015). Sürya, specialized center for THB victims at Liège.

Notes

1. Law of April 29, 2013, to modify Article 433 quinquies of the Criminal Code in order to clarify and extend the definition of trafficking in human beings, Belgian Official Gazette, July 23, 2013: www.ejustice.just.fgov.be.

2. Belgium has three specialized centers for victims (PAG-ASA in Brussels, Sürya in Liège, and Payoke in Antwerp) that offer shelter and support for victims of THB from the moment they are identified by frontline actors and are granted a 45-day-“thinking period” to decide if they are willing to file a complaint, or at least make a clear statement against the employer (showing their distance from the employer and the exploitative situation), and to collaborate with the investigation process.

3. The word “employer/exploiter” was chosen to name the category of perpetrators of THB in domestic work. They may also be called “employers” when interviewees referred to them in these terms.

4. Domestic work refers to paid and outsourced domestic work in this article and includes care work, although the latter might also be mentioned separately.

5. As for 2014, 115 cases of THB for labor exploitation were brought before the public prosecution service and 86 recognized victims were issued a first residence permit according to the Immigration Office: 74 men and 12 women (not necessarily part of the first total as permits can refer to the previous year) (Myria 2016, pp. 144, 147). Nevertheless, a minority of nationals and EU victims should receive more attention from Belgium authorities according to the independent national rapporteur Myria Federal Migration Centre (2016, p. 91).

6. Social Inspectorate refers to labor inspection.

7. The totality of employees of the joint committee n.323 may not be of domestic employees, as it also stands for managers of an apartment building (concierges).

8. Source: www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi_loi/change_lg.pl?language = fr&la = F&cn = 1965041204&table_name = loi

9. In 2014, Belgium made legislative modifications to adapt its legal framework to the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers (C189), banning laws that exclude domestic workers from general workers’ rights.

10. For more on the formalization of the domestic work sector and the voucher service, see Camargo (2016).

11. € 10, as for 2014 in Brussels (Camargo, 2016).

12. Since January 2015, the system is no longer federal but managed regionally (Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia). Wallonia and Brussels have then diminished the previous 30% tax deduction ceiling to 10% and 15%, respectively.

13. According to global Belgian work permit system.

14. The protection procedure consists in taking potential victims away from their workplace to specialized centers and in giving them a regular migratory status during the investigating procedure.

15. In practice, and mainly from Brussels’ experience, social inspectors prioritize migrants’ rights above migration control and work to establish a trustful relationship with migrant workers (Interview, Ecosoc Brussels, 2015; Myria, 2016).

16. CSC stands for Christian Trade Unions Confederation (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens).

17. As explained above, the au pair system is not adequate for full-time, live-in domestic work, and work permits are hardly ever accepted for domestic workers.

18. Fictive name. Assia worked for a diplomatic employer who never gave her an S card. She fled the house in Brussels after 2 and a half years of working full time as live-in domestic worker, earning € 150 a month. She also bore psychological violence. She eventually received the status of THB victim (Interview, Assia, 2015; Interview, CSC Women Brussels, 2015).

19. Information on this case was given by the coordinator of ECOSOC in Brussels region and PAG-ASA.