9
Question
What measures does the Government prepare in order to resolve discrimination
against non-regular workers, improve their employment stability, and ensure better
treatment at workplace?
5. Forced Submission of ID, i.e., Passports and Alien Registration Certificates
The Government states that the Immigration Control Act prohibits holding or
demanding passports or alien registration certificates as security to an employment
contract or liability, which is punishable by law (para. 45).
However, according to the survey of 1,300 migrant workers by the IOM Migration
Research and Training Center in 2013, 3.7% of the respondents are made to give in
their passports to employers. The practice becomes more rampant in sectors with dire
working conditions and high employee turnover: a series of surveys by the NHRCK
show that 16% in agricultural and dairy industries (Survey Report for Human Rights
of Migrant Workers in Agricultural and Dairy Industries in 2013), 46% in arts and
entertainment industries in 2014, and 79% in fishing industry (Survey Report for
Human Rights of Migrant Workers in Fishing Industry in 2012) are forced to hand
over their identification cards to employers.
Question
What countermeasures does the Government have to ban the confiscation of
identification cards such as passports of migrant workers?