Migrant recruitment costs

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Most low-skilled labour migrants pay fees to obtain contracts and complete recruitment formalities. This is against international conventions and many countries’ national laws that require employers to pay all of the costs associated with the recruitment of foreign workers. 

As recruitment costs are often high and lack transparency, the international community is striving to reduce them by introducing increased regulation and monitoring practices, educating migrants about their rights, and increasing cooperation between origin and destination countries. Reducing recruitment costs has the potential to benefit employers, migrants and migrants’ families alike, while also encouraging more regular migration (Ratha, 2014).

Data on recruitment costs have only started to be collected in recent years and a global database does not yet exist.