SAFE Seas

Safeguarding against and Addressing Fishers’ Exploitation at Sea

Region/Country:

East Asia & the Pacific Indonesia Philippines

Project Duration:

December 2017

November 2023

Funding and Year:

2017

: USD

5,000,000

The SAFE Seas project works to counter forced labor and human trafficking on fishing vessels in Indonesia and the Philippines. Activities support strengthening government enforcement capacity and deepening engagement among fishers, the private sector and civil society. As a result, SAFE Seas works to promote supply chains free of exploitative labor and a fair playing field for workers in the U.S. and around the world.

The Problem

Egregious labor abuses on fishing vessels in Southeast Asia are well-documented: trafficked workers trapped at sea and forced to work 20 hour days for little or no pay; employers subjecting them in many cases to severe physical abuse and putting them in chains or cells. But the isolated nature of work on waters and the complexities related to jurisdiction over vessels and fishers present a number of challenges to ending these abusive practices. Labor trafficking is not always included among the criminal activities law enforcement officials look for when they search fishing vessels. Coordination presents a further challenge as multiple agencies and offices with differing regulatory mandates, as well as differing levels of expertise and resource, all seek to address this problem. Many fishers also lack awareness about labor rights and acceptable conditions of work, shutting them out of conversations about how best to protect them.

Our Strategy

SAFE Seas will build off of nearly twenty years of ILAB experience fighting trafficking and child labor in the fisheries sector by helping the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines strengthen regulations and policies to address labor exploitation on fishing vessels.

Working with relevant government ministries and agencies, including labor, maritime/agriculture, anti-trafficking police and coast guard/defense, SAFE Seas will improve coordination and raise the profile of labor issues within government interagency structures. It will also encourage the use of multi-disciplinary inspection models that integrate checks for forced labor, human trafficking and other exploitative practices into searches for illegal activity on fishing vessels.

And by engaging fishers themselves, the project will help ensure reporting and remedy mechanisms are relevant, accessible and responsive to their unique circumstances and needs.

Results

As of April 2023, key achievements of the SAFE Seas project include:

In Indonesia:

Helped develop and is currently supporting the adoption of a National Action Plan (NAP) for the Protection of Seafarers and Fishery Vessel Personnel (2023-2024) led by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment.
Established a multi-agency Safe Fishing Alliance (SFA) at the national level and two at the provincial level – in North Sulawesi and Central Java. The SFAs bring together key government, private sector representatives, workers’ representatives, and civil society institutions, to guide improvements across a range of project interventions.
Endorsed an SFA at the provincial level in North Sulawesi. The SFA also facilitated a multi-agency inspection on fishing vessels in North Sulawesi led by the Ministry of Manpower Office.
Supported the establishment and current operations of two local fisher centers (in Bitung and Central Java) serving information and reporting needs of fishers and their family members, as well as capacity building for private sector recruitment agencies to ensure the fair recruitment of fishers from Indonesia. The fisher centers operate helpdesks and telephone hotline services.

In the Philippines:

Established a multi-agency SFA at the national level, as well as three related sub-working groups on seafarers and fishers affiliated with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), led by the Department of Justice in the Philippines.
Facilitated partnerships between the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), MARINA, and DOJ-IACAT to pursue the harmonization of policies and regulations governing fishers working conditions.
Established SFAs in Puerto Princesa and Tay Tay. In Puerto Princesa, an amendment has been proposed for an existing city ordinance on forced labor and human trafficking to address the roles of government stakeholders during fishing vessel inspections, as well as penalties associated with infractions and a protocol for rescue operations.
Conducted a multi-agency inspection of a fishing vessel in Tay Tay to pre-test a multi-agency inspection checklist that will inform future fishing vessel inspections.
Published a research study on the “Effects of Forced Labor and Trafficking in Persons on Female Relatives of Male Fishers” which takes a closer look at women’s awareness of forced labor and trafficking in persons on fishing vessels, how this affects women and their families, how women cope with these effects, and their potential as key advocates for fair working conditions at sea.

Grantee: Plan International USA

Contact Information:

(202) 693-4843

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)

Tags: Child Labor Capacity Building environment Fishing Seafood