UN migration agency, Hong Kong firm launch blockchain tool to prevent exploitation of domestic workers
- The tool is designed to promote the ethical recruitment of migrant workers around the globe, and allow agencies to assess their hiring practices
- The UN has identified 84 human trafficking victims – most of them female domestic workers – in Hong Kong over the past two years
The United Nations migration agency – or International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – and Hong Kong-based tech company Diginex are launching a tool using blockchain technology that will allow employment agencies to evaluate whether their hiring practices for domestic migrant workers meet ethical standards.
The tool, which is available for free online, will require employment agencies to volunteer information about how they recruit and place workers. It is part of the IOM’s bid to prevent the exploitation of thousands of migrant domestic workers.
The more agencies that use this tool ... the more workers that are recruited by these agencies will be protected
“We see ethical recruitment not only being a practice that can greatly reduce the number of migrant domestic workers who experience worst forms of exploitation, trafficking and modern slavery, but also benefit workers across the board who are vulnerable to exploitation,” said Tara Dermott, head of the IOM’s Hong Kong office.
“In that way, the more agencies that use this tool and learn how to improve their practices, the more workers that are recruited by these agencies will be protected.”
According to Diginex, the use of blockchain technology – essentially a set of immutable, secure, data records – will strengthen data management and enforce data integrity, which allows for a higher level of transparency and visibility.