For the first time, the ILO and ELA jointly organised a meeting which took place on 4 October, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. The meeting brought together labour inspectorates and law enforcement or corresponding state authorities of the EU and other European countries, being transit or destination for the persons fleeing the war in Ukraine. Among the attendants were also the Ministries of Economy and Social Policy from Ukraine the Ministry of Labour of Moldova, Europol, Eurojust, and European Commission.
Given the vulnerable status of those fleeing the war, participants discussed best practices and key recommendations on how to effectively tackle increased risk of undeclared work, labour exploitation, and trafficking in human beings in four thematic areas: prevention, protection, prosecution, and international cooperation. The participants also explored the feasibility of targeted awareness campaigns and thematic inspections in the most at risk sectors, and improved cooperation between the labour inspectorates, law enforcement, and the judiciary.
Since the Russian Federation started its war against Ukraine at the end of February, more than 7.5 million individual refugees were recorded across Europe. Approximately 85% of the Ukrainian refugees are women and children, traveling without the men in the family, who are drafted or stay at home. They might be tempted to accept work without contract, or their documents are taken away, and wind up exploited or in extreme cases as victims of forced labour or child labour.
The ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe provides advisory services to 18 member countries to develop policies and programmes that promote more and better jobs for all women and men. The ILO has been providing assistance to Ukrainian refugees in humanitarian aid, income support, and devised an information campaign on the dangers of human trafficking and forced labour since the start of the war, which has reached out to 1.2 million internally displaced and refugee Ukrainians to date.
ELA's activities related to displaced persons coming from Ukraine seek to support the Member States in protecting them from the risk of undeclared work or exploitation at the workplace. ELA seeks to facilitate access to relevant information, prevent labour exploitation and tackling undeclared work. The activities include creation of awareness raising videos targeting Ukrainian refugees or encouraging, the organisation of cross-border inspections between EU countries.
The European Labour Authority (ELA) was created to help Member States and the European Commission to ensure fair and effective labour mobility within the EU, including by supporting organisation of cross-border inspections. The Authority is also mandated to facilitate cooperation in tackling undeclared work. ELA was established on 31 July 2019 and since September 2021 has its permanent seat in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the UN agency for the world of work. Since 1919, the ILO brings together governments, employers, and workers of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies, and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men. The ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe was established in 1993 and is located in Budapest, Hungary, with additional offices in the region.
