In: Rayp, G., Ruyssen, I., Marchand, K. Regional Integration and Migration Governance in the Global South. United Nations University Series on Regionalism. Springer International Publishing. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Switzerland.
Migration within and between countries in the Global South is an increasingly significant factor in the social and economic development of developing countries. While this strategy has benefited millions of internal and international migrants, it has also given rise to exploitative working conditions, as booming markets and rapid urbanization have led to a constant demand for cheap labor. These exploitative working conditions, when left unchecked, can range from payment under minimum wage and discrimination, to more severe kinds of exploitation, resulting in situations of forced labor, through a process of human trafficking. This chapter introduces Apprise, a system we have developed and are currently piloting in Thailand to support a sentinel surveillance approach to identify patterns of exploitation. It describes the design and evaluation of Apprise to support frontline responders to consistently and proactively screen for and identify victims of exploitation among vulnerable populations, including migrant workers. The chapter argues that by storing screening responses, these records can become a critical resource to inform migration policy, by providing a nuanced understanding of trends and patterns of exploitation. This data can be used by policymakers to formulate responses in order to prevent new cases of exploitation, protect victims, and to prosecute exploiters.
The chapter and book are available at Springer.