Business and Human Rights

UK: Worker Interest Group scrutinises government’s responses to parliamentary committee

FairSquare and other members of the Worker Interest Group have provided a parliamentary committee with detailed analysis of the British government’s response to questions on the seasonal agricultural worker scheme relating to migrant worker rights.

Respecting the Rights of Women Migrant Workers: New Report and Guidance

In a new collaboration, FairSquare has worked with the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) to develop a new report and guidance for businesses, detailing how they can ensure respect for the human rights of women migrant workers during recruitment.

New UK coalition on migrant agricultural worker rights

FairSquare joins Seasonal Worker Interest Group as an associate member.

Today, key civil society organisations and trade unions actively supporting and engaging with migrant seasonal workers in agriculture on the UK’s Seasonal Worker visa are launching a new coalition, the Seasonal Worker Interest Group.

UK Home Office criticised for decision on migrant agriculture worker review

The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration in the UK has criticised the government’s failure to publish a review of the “seasonal workers route”, the scheme in which multiple media investigations and NGO reports have identified labour exploitation and abuse of migrant workers.

The Home Office’s decision not to publish a promised review of the scheme came in a 20 September letter to NGOs – including FairSquare – and other experts from the UK and countries of migrant workers’ origin, who had originally written to the minister in May calling for stronger controls on recruitment processes and other areas to protect migrant workers.

New briefing: COP28 site workers at critical risk of serious heat injury

A new FairSquare investigation, This Weather isn’t for Humans has found that in September 2023, migrant construction workers on Dubai’s COP28 site were put to work outdoors in extreme heat that posed very serious threats to their health and could be fatal, and in clear violation of the United Arab Emirates’ laws designed to protect outdoor workers from its harsh climate.

UK’s seasonal agriculture visa scheme exposes migrant workers to serious risk of abuse, say rights experts

Migrant agricultural workers in the UK could face comparable risks to migrant labourers in the Gulf, advocacy groups and experts from the UK, Nepal and Bangladesh warned today.

New report on Dutch government, business and human rights in authoritarian states

A new Amnesty International report, produced with the assistance of FairSquare, has found that the Dutch government has incentivized Dutch companies to do business in China, Saudi Arabia and Russia without ensuring human rights due diligence responsibilities are met.

NGOs call on Boeing to urge Saudi Arabia to lift travel bans on peaceful activists

FairSquare has joined Saudi Arabian and international civil society organisations in calling on Boeing to take a principled stand on the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and specifically to urge the Saudi authorities to lift the travel bans they have imposed on numerous peaceful dissidents, rights advocates and their family members.

Talabat Food Delivery Riders in Qatar Unpaid for 8 Months then Deported

One rider died after road accident while “working for tips”

A group of 160 migrant workers in Qatar, scores of whom have been working exclusively for the food delivery service Talabat, have been subjected to wage theft, in some cases going unpaid for as long as 8 months, FairSquare has found. The parent company of Talabat is the German company Delivery Hero.

FIFA World Cup: All Sponsors Should Back Remedies for Workers

Global Survey Shows Major Support for Sponsors Backing Migrant Worker Compensation Call

FIFA’s corporate partners and sponsors of the 2022 World Cup should all press the global football association and the Qatari government to provide compensation and other remedies to migrant workers and their families who suffered death or injury, wage theft or debt from illegal recruitment fees while preparing the tournament, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and FairSquare said today.