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Article

13 Sep 2007

Author:
International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation

Labour Brokers Fuelling ‘Modern-Day Slavery’

Neil Kearney...blamed labour brokers for enslaving hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in the global textile, garment and footwear industries. Such brokers, he said, charge impoverished job seekers huge fees, inflate handling and travel costs and then impose repayment modes and schedules which effectively enslave the workers involved, often for years...[I]ncreasingly, migrant labour goes hand in hand with forced and trafficked labour...In the process they are abused and beaten...Often their identity documents are held by either the labour broker or factory owner to prevent their escape.