Hundreds of companies including Meta, Uber, Carrefour, Deliveroo, Aramco and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), were linked to cases of alleged abuse against migrant workers in 2024

665 cases of alleged abuses against migrant workers linked to 489 named companies were tracked last year by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a rate of almost two per day.

The annual analysis of trends comes from our Migrant Workers Allegations Database, the most comprehensive database of alleged human and labour rights abuses against migrant workers worldwide.

Full findings can be explored here.

Key headline findings from our new research include:

1. The companies most frequently linked to cases were the PIF (10 cases), Meta (8 cases), Uber including Uber Eats (6), Carrefour (5), and Deliveroo, Giorgio Armani, John Lewis Partnership, Marks & Spencer, Toyota, Samsung, and Aramco (4).
2. The top three sectors most frequently linked to migrant worker abuse were agri-food supply chains (32% of cases); construction and engineering (20%); manufacturing (12%).
3. The most lethal sector in 2024 was manufacturing, with 44 deaths across 15 cases, including seven factory explosions; over 200 deaths were tracked globally and across all sectors.
4. Violations of employment standards were most frequently reported (in 61% cases), followed by health and safety breaches (39%), unfair recruitment practices (36%), verbal or physical abuse at work or in accommodation (28%), barriers to access remedy (26%), and precarious or poor living standards (24%).
5. The gig economy is a major – and growing - concern with companies repeatedly associated with allegations of abuse using gig workers, notably Uber and Deliveroo, both in the top five.
6. Mega-events and giga-projects, from the 2024 Paris Olympics to opaque Saudi projects like NEOM, presented particularly intense risks to migrants and migrant construction workers, ranging from campaigns of “social cleansing” to gruelling 16-hour workdays in punishing conditions.
7. Nine of the top 10 destination countries – USA, UK, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia, Italy, Canada, New Zealand and Taiwan - are classified by the World Bank as high income, while all ten of the top origin countries are lower or middle income. This underscores a trend whereby profits from global supply chains are siphoned off by the largest multinationals headquartered in the wealthiest nations at the expense of workers typically from the Global South.

Isobel Archer, Senior Researcher in Labour & Migrant Worker Rights, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre:

“Our new research is an alarm call to the world on the scale of abuses being perpetrated against migrant workers in every sector, globally, every single day. The reported cases we have tracked are almost certainly only the tip of the iceberg.

“What’s more, with the triple threat of ever-worsening climate change, a new administration in the USA threatening the status and livelihoods of migrant workers, and essential human rights legislation like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive in Europe in danger, many migrant workers around the world will face enormous challenge in 2025.

“We continue to see resilience among migrant workers fighting for and demanding their rights in the most egregious conditions, and the onus is on companies to right these wrongs. Some of the world’s biggest brands are also the world’s worst offenders. These companies must safeguard the rights of the migrant workers who are being exploited in service of profit and, at the least, remedy those harms that have already occurred.”

After years of inadequately assessing and addressing risks to migrant workers in their supply chains, our report demonstrates both the moral imperative and a strong business case for companies to change course.

Action by more responsible governments and investors around the world will increasingly make this non-negotiable. Companies must commit to full and public supply chain transparency and establish comprehensive, migrant worker-specific human rights due diligence.

Notes to editors

• BHRRC has previously published articles about links between M&S and garment factories in Jordan to which it has responded. To read them click here and here
• In response to allegations in today’s report: Marks & Spencer's said "While Columbia is a third-party Brand selling on our website, none of the products currently available on M&S.com have a Jordan certificate of origin, however we will continue to monitor the situation.”
• JD Sports said “JD Sports does not directly source any direct product from Jordan.”
• Running since 2022 and tracking headline numbers and overall trends alongside specific cases and sector deep dives, the Migrant Workers Allegations Database covers all sectors and all abuses across supply chains right across the world. All entries are based on publicly available sources from news outlets and civil society globally, the full methodology can be read here.
• The 2024 analysis demonstrates the threats facing migrants’ access to labour rights every day, including the categories of abuse being perpetrated, destination countries, origin countries and migration corridors that feature most frequently in the data, as well as the countries where companies most frequently benefitting from abuse are headquartered.
• This press release includes a summary of the latest allegations. BHRRC can provide more examples of allegations, including deeper dives into specific sectors, regions or countries, upon further request.
• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an international NGO that tracks the human rights impacts of companies across the globe.

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/

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