Labour migrants experience a wide range of vulnerabilities that can make them more  susceptible to various forms of exploitation, from debt bondage to labour exploitation  to human trafficking. These vulnerabilities and the diverse ways in which they may  play out demonstrate the acute risks that labour migrants may face and the many  ways in which they may suffer exploitation. Indeed, the extent of vulnerabilities  across a labour migrant’s journey can be overwhelming. Addressing these to protect  migrants is part of a comprehensive response to diverse social inequities,  discrimination, institutional inefficiencies and failures, as well as abuses of power. 

These are all embedded within a global economic and trade regime that is geared  towards cost reduction, especially for downstream suppliers. This thematic brief  examines these issues by disaggregating some of the vulnerabilities which labour  migrants may experience at various stages of the migration cycle. It seeks to focus  attention on specific vulnerabilities during pre-departure, transit, destination and  eventual return across each stage of the labour migration cycle.

At the same time, labour migrants also have agency and some degree of capacity to  protect themselves. While this capacity may not be enough on its own to prevent  exploitation, it is nonetheless a valuable resource that governments, civil society, the  international community and the private sector should seek to support or amplify, in  order both to ensure some safety for labour migrants, as well as enabling them to  make their own decisions. The second part of this thematic brief, therefore, draws  attention to these protective capacities and agency at each stage of the labour  migration cycle, to identify opportunities for those working on safe labour migration  and counter-trafficking to protect labour migrants and prevent exploitation. 

The vulnerabilities and protective capacities of labour migrants at each stage of the  labour migration cycle are set out in Figures 1 and 2 respectively. The remainder of  this brief explores these in greater detail, demonstrating the exploitation to which  vulnerabilities can lead, and the safeguarding or safety nets that migrants’ own  protective capacities and agency can afford. 

This brief draws on research undertaken by ODI for the ASEAN-Australia Counter  Trafficking (ASEAN-ACT) Program, looking at the political economy of the  vulnerability of labour migrants to trafficking across the ASEAN region.1 Country  studies have been undertaken to date in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam,  with further studies planned for 2023. This thematic brief, one of four, synthesises  findings from the first four country studies to distil key messages for those working  on counter-trafficking. Phase 2 of this research will include country studies of  Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Philippines.