"EU Passes Forced Labor Ban But Leaves Out Migrant Worker Protections," Forbes

The European Union has adopted a regulation banning the sale of products made with forced labor. The FLR provides for various mechanisms for oversight and enforcement to stop products made with forced labor being sold within the EU. The... Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) has said that while the law is admirable in its aims, it neglects the lived realities of people forced to work in exploitative conditions, particularly undocumented migrants...

An undocumented person working in a factory with exploitative or coercive conditions, for instance, will have a well-founded fear of going to authorities to report forced labor practices... Even if their complaint against employers is taken seriously, and authorities take action to end the forced labor, absent explicit laws protecting them undocumented workers could still end up facing deportation. Reprisals from employers is another clear worry...

PICUM recommends the EU add various provisions to the FLR to strengthen protections for migrant workers. These include putting up firewalls between forced labor investigations and immigration enforcement, consulting with workers and their representatives before and during investigations, and offering undocumented people greater support and the chance to regularize their status.

The EU was approached for comment about these issues but did not respond...