National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2021 G. ‌Recommendation for public involvement in recruitment of migrant fishers and institutional improvements to prohibit forced labor On July 26, the Commission recommended that the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries make a series of institutional improvements to promote the human rights of migrant fishers, including revisiting relevant laws and regulations to ensure that rest periods and reasonable labor conditions can be guaranteed by law; legally specifying the principle of non-discrimination and equal treatment for migrant workers through revision of the Seafarers’ Act; and reinforcing oversight of labor conditions to prevent unpaid salary or delays in payments, confiscation of passport or other IDs, surveillance of quarters and confinement, and other forms of infringement of human rights. An on-site monitoring conducted by the Commission in 2020 showed that migrant workers who are hired as fishers are asked to pay heavy agency fees that include security money, and that a large majority of migrants get aboard Korean vessels heavily indebted. It was also found that migrant fishers work shifts running 14 hours or more without rest and without weekends, the wage they get paid is substantially lower than what Korean fishers earn, workers don’t get paid their wage regularly and sometimes face delays in payments, and, even though they suffer discrimination in accessing clean water and are subject to poor accommodation, workers cannot leave the vessel and have no choice but to stay because of the measures put in place by brokers to prevent escape attempts. The international community and NGOs have continuously condemned this situation as ‘forced labor’ or ‘forced debt bondage.’ From the perspective of international human rights standards, the Commission examined how migrants get recruited on Korean fishing vessels of 20 tons or more, their human rights conditions, and issues caused by escape prevention measures, and made the above recommendations based on the findings. H. ‌Recommendation for institutional improvement for police officer human rights education On August 19, the Commission recommended the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency to make the necessary institutional improvement for more systematic and effective human rights education and training of its force to enhance human rights protection by the police. 46