https://www.scmp.com/rss/123634/feed The International Labour Organization is responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. It is the only ‘tripartite’ United Nations agency bringing together representatives of governments, employers and workers to shape policies and programmes. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Carol Yang Carol Yang The threat to employment posed by artificial intelligence was not a “robot apocalypse” that would steal jobs, but “algorithmic collusion” that could quietly erode wages and workplace safety, Ekkehard Ernst, the International Labour Organization’s chief macroeconomist, warned in Beijing on Tuesday. While public anxiety frequently centred on the potential for AI to trigger a mass wave of unemployment, Ernst said its disruptive potential had been overestimated. “I don’t think that we are anywhere... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3348124/ai-collusion-forcing-down-wages-bigger-threat-job-stealing-robots-ilo-economist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3348124/ai-collusion-forcing-down-wages-bigger-threat-job-stealing-robots-ilo-economist?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 11:00:10 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow A state-sponsored forced labour programme that has escalated in recent years generates up to US$500 million annually for North Korea, according to a report by a global rights group. The report also warns that workers are trapped in “brutal” conditions where they are subjected to “control, abuse and coercion”. Published on Wednesday by Global Rights Compliance – an international human rights foundation – the report contains first-hand testimonies from North Koreans exploited in the programme and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347778/rights-group-exposes-north-koreas-forced-labour-scheme-reaps-us500-million-annually?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3347778/rights-group-exposes-north-koreas-forced-labour-scheme-reaps-us500-million-annually?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:03:29 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell I would like to explore some rather interesting data buried deep in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Economic and Social Trends 2026 report: an estimated 15.3 per cent of jobs worldwide depended on foreign demand in 2024. In other words, they depend on international trade. The ILO report, based on data from 80 economies that account for 85 per cent of global employment, says this amounts to 465 million jobs. Of these, 278 million are in Asia and the Pacific and 96 million are in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344016/despite-trumps-trade-wars-globalisation-eurasias-win-or-lose?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344016/despite-trumps-trade-wars-globalisation-eurasias-win-or-lose?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Abandoned for months on their fishing boat off West Africa, Indonesian sailor Surono and his shipmates face a dilemma: return home without almost a year’s wages or stay on the docked vessel. He is among a growing number of migrant workers abandoned by shipowners, who flout their obligations and desert crews without paying the salaries owed. “My family cries because I can’t get any money. My children and wife need money to eat,” Surono, 47, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said from... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3342881/bitter-choice-indonesian-sailors-abandoned-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3342881/bitter-choice-indonesian-sailors-abandoned-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 05:03:21 +0000 The Star The Star A new insurance scheme will be created for Malaysians working in Singapore to ensure they remain covered even during their daily cross-border commute, says Human Resources Minister R. Ramanan. The new scheme will ensure that the nearly 400,000 Malaysians who cross the border daily from Johor are not left out of social security protection after working hours. “What happens when you are travelling from your workplace back to your home? Where is the coverage during this period? That coverage is not... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3342438/malaysia-plans-new-insurance-scheme-singapore-cross-border-workers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3342438/malaysia-plans-new-insurance-scheme-singapore-cross-border-workers?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 01:14:33 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organisations, including the UN’s population agency and the UN treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the US further retreats from global cooperation. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending US support for 66 organisations, agencies and commissions following his instructions for his administration to review participation in and funding for all international... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339107/trump-pulls-us-out-dozens-international-organisations-including-un-linked-agencies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3339107/trump-pulls-us-out-dozens-international-organisations-including-un-linked-agencies?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 23:25:05 +0000 Nirbhay Rana Nirbhay Rana In 2025, familiar fashion brands around the world shut stores, restructured operations or disappeared. Meanwhile, Shein, the fast-fashion platform long criticised for its environmental and labour footprint, remained highly profitable. Last year, Shein told investors it was expecting a US$2 billion profit in 2025. At first glance, the conclusion appears straightforward: speed and scale are winning, while slower traditional fashion models are losing. However, this reading is dangerously... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3338910/why-shein-doesnt-have-be-model-fashion-industry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3338910/why-shein-doesnt-have-be-model-fashion-industry?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:30:07 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele In March last year, Erica Cheong and her husband, Harris Zainol, welcomed their firstborn son, Isaac. Like many new Malaysian parents living and working in Kuala Lumpur, the couple found the transition to parenthood overwhelming. “We needed someone to help care for the baby, given that my parents are elderly and my in-laws work full time,” Cheong told This Week in Asia. After speaking to friends who have employed domestic helpers, the couple, both 35, decided that doing the same was their best... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3338555/ageing-asia-needs-domestic-helpers-can-it-keep-them-safe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3338555/ageing-asia-needs-domestic-helpers-can-it-keep-them-safe?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2026 04:00:15 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji India’s parliament is debating a draft law that would give employees the right to ignore work calls, emails and messages outside official hours, weeks after a tycoon’s call for a 72-hour work week sparked a furore on social media. The Right to Disconnect Bill 2025, introduced on December 5 by MP Supriya Sule, would empower authorities to impose penalties on non-compliant firms. Supporters argue the proposal recognises workers’ rights in an era of always-on corporate culture. Critics, however,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3336242/india-tycoons-call-adopt-996-work-culture-china-spurs-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3336242/india-tycoons-call-adopt-996-work-culture-china-spurs-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:55:14 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele As the clock strikes 8am in Penang, Syamil Azizi slips into his daily grind: picking up passengers across the island in his little Perodua runabout. At noon, he pauses just long enough to pick up his two daughters from school before returning to the road, often until well past sundown. Weekends offer no reprieve. Then, the 33-year-old swaps his helmet for a chef’s hat, working weddings and school functions as part of a seven-day grind that keeps his family afloat but offers little security... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3334557/malaysias-millions-gig-workers-promised-safety-net-critics-see-holes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3334557/malaysias-millions-gig-workers-promised-safety-net-critics-see-holes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters South Korean Kim Yong-ho thought he would die within seconds after a 200kg (441lbs) industrial press at a Hyundai Steel plant sprang to life during maintenance and crushed his legs and back. It was 2019, and Kim said he thought the heavy machinery around him had been switched off as he made repairs. “I was flattened like a squashed frog in a roadkill,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.” A quick-thinking colleague saved his life by alerting the machine’s operator, said Kim, now... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3333020/south-korean-presidents-past-child-labourer-fuels-crackdown-workplaces-death?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3333020/south-korean-presidents-past-child-labourer-fuels-crackdown-workplaces-death?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:45:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse From the age of 10, Amina has been scrubbing, sweeping and cooking in a middle-class home in Pakistan’s megacity of Karachi. Like millions of Pakistani children, she is a household helper, an illegal but common practice that brings grief to families often too poor to seek justice. “Alongside my mother, I cut vegetables, wash dishes, sweep the floor and mop. I hate working for this family,” said the 13-year-old, who leaves her slum neighbourhood in Karachi at 7am and often returns after... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3328772/child-workers-pakistan-abused-killed-poor-us-have-no-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3328772/child-workers-pakistan-abused-killed-poor-us-have-no-power?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 06:27:46 +0000 A landmark human-trafficking lawsuit filed by four Indonesian fishermen against US canned seafood giant Bumble Bee Seafoods could pave the way for more victims of forced labour at sea to seek compensation, rights groups have said. In the lawsuit, filed on March 12 in California, the plaintiffs alleged forced labour and abuse on board Chinese-owned longline vessels in Bumble Bee’s supply chain. The complaint detailed abuses such as withheld wages, physical mistreatment, long working hours, debt... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3304158/indonesian-fishermen-sue-us-food-giant-bumble-bee-seafoods-landmark-forced-labour-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3304158/indonesian-fishermen-sue-us-food-giant-bumble-bee-seafoods-landmark-forced-labour-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Mar 2025 11:33:12 +0000 In a workshop overlooking paddy fields on the eastern edge of Java, Dimas Firmansyah is tinkering away on a large truck engine. A lanky 18-year-old in a hard hat and work shirt, he hopes to find a job repairing coal machinery when he graduates in a few months. Thanks to his school’s revamped curriculum and corporate partnerships, he almost certainly will. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto – who has advertised ambitious, industry-heavy growth goals for the coming years – needs many more... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3301861/over-1-5-young-indonesians-are-out-work-fixing-wont-be-easy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3301861/over-1-5-young-indonesians-are-out-work-fixing-wont-be-easy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Mar 2025 01:49:00 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s choice of labour secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has been called one of his most surprising political appointments, but also one of his most liked, especially by Democrats. That’s because the 56-year-old is “pro-union”, working hard to promote the agenda of the workforce in the US. Chavez-DeRemer was the first Republican woman to represent Oregon in the House and one of the first two Hispanic women to be elected to Congress from Oregon, in 2022. Here’s how this mum... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3299620/meet-lori-chavez-deremer-trumps-pick-labour-secretary-who-democrats-growing-farming-community?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3299620/meet-lori-chavez-deremer-trumps-pick-labour-secretary-who-democrats-growing-farming-community?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Feb 2025 22:00:09 +0000 Indian corporate titan S.N. Subrahmanyan has provoked outrage by championing a seven-day work week and holding up Chinese professionals’ gruelling schedules as a benchmark, reigniting fierce debates about India’s culture of overwork and the future of productivity. Subrahmanyan, chairman of the conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, was filmed in an undated video that surfaced on January 10 asking employees, “How long can you stare at your wife?” as part of a call for professionals to spend less time at... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3294753/more-dangerous-covid-outrage-over-indian-corporate-leaders-call-7-day-work-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3294753/more-dangerous-covid-outrage-over-indian-corporate-leaders-call-7-day-work-week?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 14:05:14 +0000 China should strive to improve its unemployment statistics, as these are key to better capturing the country’s economic reality and would go a long way toward better implementing leadership’s job-priority strategy in 2025, a scholar has urged. The suggestion by Zhu Changzheng, co-founder of the privately run Changping Economic Forum, came amid lingering controversy surrounding China’s urban-unemployment metrics, particularly the jobless rate among the youngest class of workers. “The current... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3293766/chinas-controversial-jobless-rate-needs-be-reformed-scholar-urges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3293766/chinas-controversial-jobless-rate-needs-be-reformed-scholar-urges?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jan 2025 22:00:08 +0000 Canberra, Australia’s capital, is home to powerful diplomats and government officials, but shocking instances of modern slavery have emerged within its borders. Sri Lankan domestic worker Priyanka Danaratna was held against her will for three years without a passport in the five-bedroom house of her employer Himalee Arunatilaka, the then-deputy high commissioner of Sri Lanka, just a stone’s throw away from Australia’s parliament. From 2015 to 2018, Arunatilaka paid Danaratna less than 65... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3277535/modern-slavery-australias-diplomatic-heart-envoys-abuse-domestic-workers-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3277535/modern-slavery-australias-diplomatic-heart-envoys-abuse-domestic-workers-exposed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Sep 2024 00:00:12 +0000 South Korea’s pilot project to recruit foreign domestic workers is off to a shaky start, with critics warning that guaranteed minimum wages could make them unaffordable for ordinary households. Experts are sceptical that the initiative will truly tackle the underlying labour shortages plaguing the country’s care sector, which is already grappling with the world’s lowest birth rate. There are also concerns that carers and domestic helpers might abandon their designated roles in search of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3276210/why-will-south-koreas-filipino-helpers-earn-so-much-more-hong-kong-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3276210/why-will-south-koreas-filipino-helpers-earn-so-much-more-hong-kong-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:00:13 +0000 Sri Lanka’s government has defended a top diplomat ordered by an Australian court to pay more than US$360,000 in back wages to her former housekeeper held in Canberra under “slavery-type conditions”. Colombo’s foreign ministry in Colombo said Himalee Arunatilaka, currently Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, including the International Labour Organization, had followed government-approved rates in paying low wages. Arunatilaka had previously been Colombo’s Deputy High... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3275029/sri-lanka-defends-diplomat-australia-who-held-maid-under-slavery-type-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3275029/sri-lanka-defends-diplomat-australia-who-held-maid-under-slavery-type-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Aug 2024 08:30:38 +0000 As economies in Asia and the Pacific slow and grow older, countries need to do more to ensure that workers get the education, training and social safety nets needed to raise incomes and ensure social equity, a United Nations report said on Tuesday. The report by the International Labour Organization said that growth in productivity has slowed, hurting incomes and undermining the purchasing power of the region’s 2 billion workers. By improving productivity, governments can boost incomes and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3264414/asia-grow-rich-cope-ageing-education-social-welfare-are-essential-un-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3264414/asia-grow-rich-cope-ageing-education-social-welfare-are-essential-un-report-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2024 10:00:22 +0000 Illegal profits from forced labour worldwide have risen to the “obscene” amount of US$236 billion per year, the UN labour agency reported on Tuesday, with sexual exploitation to blame for three-quarters of the take from a business that deprives migrants of money they can send home, swipes jobs from legal workers, and allows the criminals behind it to dodge taxes. The International Labour Organization said the tally for 2021, the most recent year covered in the painstaking international study,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3255958/sex-trade-slavery-criminals-reap-us236-billion-yearly-profits-forced-labour-un-agency-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3255958/sex-trade-slavery-criminals-reap-us236-billion-yearly-profits-forced-labour-un-agency-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Mar 2024 09:23:12 +0000 South Korea’s trainee doctors have asked the International Labor Organization to intervene in their stand-off with the government, claiming the back-to-work orders imposed on them constitute a breach of international norms against forced labour. The move comes as the protracted government-physicians confrontation intensifies, with medical professors threatening to resign en masse in a show of support for junior doctors and medical students receiving notices of failure amid widening class... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3255362/south-korea-doctors-ask-ilo-intervene-dispute-yoon-uses-issue-win-votes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3255362/south-korea-doctors-ask-ilo-intervene-dispute-yoon-uses-issue-win-votes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Mar 2024 07:37:04 +0000 The European Union reached a provisional agreement on Tuesday to ban goods made using forced labour, advancing legislation that was broadly written with China in mind. The ban, which still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council – made up of EU member states – will target specific economic sectors in places where state-imposed forced labour exists, based on a database drawn up by the European Commission. China is not named in the documentation, given the need to comply... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254253/eu-reaches-deal-forced-labour-ban-chinas-xinjiang-its-sights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3254253/eu-reaches-deal-forced-labour-ban-chinas-xinjiang-its-sights?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Mar 2024 10:02:26 +0000 In a small, windowless room in a slum in the southern Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro, 26-year-old Delmar sits bent over a computer screen. He is placing coloured lines on an image of a road. Purple marks the left edge of the road, orange the first lane after that, and so on. Adjusting the lines, he bumps the computer mouse into a cigarette butt and sends it dancing over the mouse pad. Once Delmar is done, he presses an arrow on the screen and another image appears. Number 100 out of 179.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3247902/how-ai-development-fostered-digital-sweatshop-and-why-it-matters-technologys-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3247902/how-ai-development-fostered-digital-sweatshop-and-why-it-matters-technologys-future?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Jan 2024 23:15:17 +0000 More than half of Hongkongers work over 45 hours a week and some longer than 70 hours, far exceeding recommendations by the International Labour Organization, a survey has revealed. The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions on Saturday released the results of its poll, calling for better legal protections for employees and a standardised work week. The survey covered 748 full- and part-time workers aged above 18, mostly employed in tourism, hotels, catering, retail and wholesale, and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3224456/how-overworked-are-hongkongers-more-half-employees-log-minimum-45-hour-weeks-some-longer-70-hours?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3224456/how-overworked-are-hongkongers-more-half-employees-log-minimum-45-hour-weeks-some-longer-70-hours?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Jun 2023 12:55:38 +0000 Greenpeace USA and other overseas advocacy groups say that migrants working for the Taiwanese fishing fleet, the world’s second-largest, are pushed into “forced” labour – striking a blow to Taiwan’s image as it recruits from abroad to offset a declining domestic workforce. The environmental group, along with the Global Labour Justice-International Labour Rights Forum and the Seafood Working Group, said in a statement on Monday that they had also found “labour rights violations” and “human rights... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3223153/taiwans-labour-reputation-hit-greenpeace-urges-downgrade-over-migrant-worker-violations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3223153/taiwans-labour-reputation-hit-greenpeace-urges-downgrade-over-migrant-worker-violations?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jun 2023 21:00:16 +0000 The United States lifted a 17-month import ban on products from Malaysian rubber glove maker Smart Glove, saying the company has addressed exploitative labour practices. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in November 2021 sanctioned imports from Smart Glove and its group of companies over the alleged use of forced labour at its production facilities. Smart Glove, which makes gloves used in the medical and food industries, had then said it was opposed to forced labour and committed to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3218752/us-lifts-import-ban-malaysias-smart-glove-after-company-improves-labour-practices?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3218752/us-lifts-import-ban-malaysias-smart-glove-after-company-improves-labour-practices?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Apr 2023 09:21:45 +0000 Malaysia has launched an investigation to uncover how hundreds of migrant workers arrived from South Asia without jobs, despite having paid steep fees to get employment, officials and rights groups said. The issue revives concerns over labour abuses in Malaysia, a key manufacturing hub at the heart of the global supply chain that has faced several accusations in recent years over exploitation of workers. Hundreds of workers from Bangladesh and Nepal have arrived since December after paying up to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3217749/malaysia-probes-cases-migrant-workers-left-jobless-without-passports?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3217749/malaysia-probes-cases-migrant-workers-left-jobless-without-passports?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Apr 2023 10:10:55 +0000 Asian consumer goods suppliers to global brands should start strengthening their environment, social and governance (ESG) assessment and disclosure capabilities to stay competitive, according to an industry body. Impending regulations in the European Union, which is at the forefront on ESG legislation, will soon require tens of thousands of suppliers across the supply chain in Asia to report their ESG performance, said Amfori president Linda Kromjong. Brussels-based Amfori provides digital tools... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3210126/climate-and-sustainability-how-impending-eu-laws-esg-disclosures-will-be-matter-survival-asian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3210126/climate-and-sustainability-how-impending-eu-laws-esg-disclosures-will-be-matter-survival-asian?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Feb 2023 04:30:51 +0000 China is letting the world’s trade and financial leaders know that it is already embarking on a steady economic recovery, and that it will embrace more international exchanges, days after recalibrating its zero-Covid strategy. The world’s second-largest economy will also be able to safeguard global supply chains and continue to be investor-friendly, Premier Li Keqiang vowed on Friday at the 1+6 Roundtable, an annual dialogue between China and six major international organisations. “We’ll further... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3202773/premier-li-tells-worlds-trade-finance-leaders-chinas-doors-will-be-opened-wider?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3202773/premier-li-tells-worlds-trade-finance-leaders-chinas-doors-will-be-opened-wider?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Dec 2022 12:55:58 +0000 China’s economic growth will recover steadily along with Beijing’s relaxation of its coronavirus policy, Premier Li Keqiang told the visiting heads of international organisations on Thursday. The outgoing premier also pledged cooperation to address debt and climate change challenges to the heads of the World Bank, World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Huangshan, Anhui province. Li’s optimistic expectations came as the world’s second-largest economy has pivoted its... https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3202594/china-premier-li-keqiang-promises-imf-wto-world-bank-heads-steady-economic-growth-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3202594/china-premier-li-keqiang-promises-imf-wto-world-bank-heads-steady-economic-growth-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Dec 2022 13:00:44 +0000 A top Qatari official involved in the country’s World Cup organisation has put the number of worker deaths for the tournament “between 400 and 500” for the first time, a drastically higher number than any other previously offered by Doha. The comment by Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary general of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, appeared to come off the cuff during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan. It also threatened to reinvigorate criticism by human rights... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3201450/top-qatari-world-cup-official-puts-worker-deaths-between-400-and-500-higher-all-dohas-past-estimates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3201450/top-qatari-world-cup-official-puts-worker-deaths-between-400-and-500-higher-all-dohas-past-estimates?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Nov 2022 13:11:49 +0000 Far from Doha’s luxury hotels and sprawling new World Cup stadiums, scores of South Asian workers poured into a cricket ground in the city’s sandy outskirts to enjoy the tournament they helped create. Unlike the official Fifa fan zone near Doha’s pristine corniche, this one has no US$14 beer or foreign tourists. There are few food options beyond deep-fried Indian snacks, scant soccer jerseys in the crowd and even fewer women. Instead, the grassy pitch in Asian Town, a neighbourhood of labour... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3201124/fifa-world-cup-2022-south-asian-labourers-watch-tournament-they-helped-create-outskirts-doha?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3201124/fifa-world-cup-2022-south-asian-labourers-watch-tournament-they-helped-create-outskirts-doha?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Nov 2022 16:03:02 +0000 Qatar has rejected calls for a compensation fund for migrant workers killed or injured during World Cup preparations, with the country’s labour minister calling it a “publicity stunt”. Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri said Qatar is already handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages, and accused the Gulf state’s critics of “racism”. Marri said Qatar already has a fund to deal with worker deaths and injuries. “This call for a duplicative Fifa-led compensation campaign is a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3198194/qatar-rejects-compensation-fund-world-cup-migrant-workers-publicity-stunt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3198194/qatar-rejects-compensation-fund-world-cup-migrant-workers-publicity-stunt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:25:59 +0000 One of the worst but least discussed side-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is the global surge in forced labour and forced marriage. A new report by the UN says there were around 49.6 million people worldwide trapped in one or the other in 2021 – up by more than 9 million since its last global study in 2016 and accounting for one in every 150 people worldwide. The United Nations calls these the two main forms of “modern slavery”. I struggle to work out what is “modern” about them, but it is easy... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3195331/modern-slavery-can-best-be-prevented-focusing-economic-growth-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3195331/modern-slavery-can-best-be-prevented-focusing-economic-growth-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Oct 2022 21:15:12 +0000 Fifty million people around the world are trapped in forced labour or forced marriage, the UN said on Monday, warning that their ranks had swollen dramatically in recent years. The United Nations had set a goal to eradicate all forms of modern slavery by 2030, but instead the number of people caught up in forced labour or forced marriage ballooned by 10 million between 2016 and 2021, according to a new report. The study, by the UN’s agencies for labour and migration along with the Walk Free... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3192214/un-says-50-million-people-stuck-modern-slavery-highlights-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3192214/un-says-50-million-people-stuck-modern-slavery-highlights-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Sep 2022 08:54:21 +0000 In the past few decades, gender equality has gained significant traction at global and national levels. The United Nations convened the first world conference on women back in 1975, in Mexico City, with the most recent meeting, the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, and followed by a series of five-year reviews. That marked a significant turning point for the global agenda on gender equality. However, the truth is that no country has achieved or is even close to achieving... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191634/dont-leave-women-and-girls-behind-pandemic-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191634/dont-leave-women-and-girls-behind-pandemic-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Sep 2022 01:15:20 +0000 A high school dropout, David Tong was sent to the US by his parents and learned to play freestyle football. He returned to Beijing before the coronavirus pandemic erupted at the end of 2019. At the age of 21, after failing to find a job in China in the niche field of doing tricks with a football, he joined a gym as a fitness coach. Three years later, he lost that job. “The business was on and off under Covid control measures,” Tong said. “I was not surprised to be sacked after the manager hinted... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3190569/young-and-out-job-china-how-covid-19-creating-unemployment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3190569/young-and-out-job-china-how-covid-19-creating-unemployment?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Aug 2022 04:00:19 +0000 After America’s civil war, the need for labour unions to protect workers’ rights grew rapidly and thousands unionised in the 1880s, most notably with the Knights of Labour. The riot in Chicago’s Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886, came a day after a clash between union workers and police in which one person was killed and several were injured during national protests that began on May 1 to demand a shift from 60-hour working weeks to eight-hour working days. What started out as a peaceful meeting... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3175878/labour-rights-more-important-ever-digital-economy-and-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3175878/labour-rights-more-important-ever-digital-economy-and-new?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 May 2022 01:15:12 +0000 When Chinese vice foreign minister Le Yucheng met Russian ambassador Andrey Denisov last week, he hailed the Sino-Russian partnership with words that sounded positively eerie to those in Europe: “No matter how the international landscape may change, China will continue to strengthen strategic coordination with Russia for win-win cooperation.” Beijing’s ambiguity towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its repeated threats about Taiwan are breaking apart the consensus China has worked hard to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3175707/how-beijings-stance-russia-and-its-taiwan-threats-are-hurting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3175707/how-beijings-stance-russia-and-its-taiwan-threats-are-hurting?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Apr 2022 17:30:19 +0000 A United Nations team has landed in China to prepare the groundwork for the long-awaited visit of its human rights chief, slated for next month. The five-member team, which is visiting “at the invitation of the government”, set off on Sunday for Guangzhou where they will “quarantine in line with Covid-19 travel requirements”, UN human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell confirmed to the Post. Once out of quarantine, they are “due to visit the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region”, Throssell said. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3175478/un-team-china-prepare-likely-xinjiang-visit-human-rights-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3175478/un-team-china-prepare-likely-xinjiang-visit-human-rights-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Apr 2022 14:00:25 +0000 China’s top legislature has ratified two International Labour Organization (ILO) treaties on forced labour, amid accusations of mistreatment against mostly Uygur workers in its far-western Xinjiang region. Announcing the decision on its website on Wednesday, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee said it had approved the ratification of the ILO’s Forced Labour Convention, and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention. The two conventions, No 29 and 105, are among eight fundamental ILO... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3174945/china-ratifies-forced-labour-conventions-ahead-visit-un-rights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3174945/china-ratifies-forced-labour-conventions-ahead-visit-un-rights?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:19:44 +0000 Beijing is expected to ratify two United Nations conventions on forced labour next week during a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. This will address an obstacle to a landmark economic deal agreed in principle, after eight years of negotiations, between China and the European Union, and tit-for-tat sanctions over alleged rights abuses in Xinjiang province. Earlier this year, ratification of the conventions could have cleared the way for progress towards sealing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3174337/better-china-eu-ties-far-done-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3174337/better-china-eu-ties-far-done-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Apr 2022 23:30:23 +0000 China’s plan to ratify two international labour conventions is an attempt to resuscitate an investment deal with the EU and take some heat out of allegations of worker abuses ahead of the visit by the UN’s human rights chief, observers said. But some analysts expressed concern that ratification of the conventions would do little to improve conditions for workers in the region. State media reported on Monday that Chinese lawmakers were ready to take the final step to ratify the Forced Labour... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3174031/why-china-choosing-now-ratify-forced-labour-conventions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3174031/why-china-choosing-now-ratify-forced-labour-conventions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Apr 2022 15:00:20 +0000 Singapore plans to introduce a points-based visa system for some of its highest-paid foreign workers, including scores for how the applicant’s nationality contributes to the diversity of their firm, in addition to education, skills and pay. The programme unveiled Friday in parliament by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng is among the biggest visa changes ever for a nation that relies heavily on overseas labour across all sectors. It’s similar to moves by other developed economies like the UK in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3169326/singapores-new-rules-expat-visas-nationality-among?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3169326/singapores-new-rules-expat-visas-nationality-among?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Mar 2022 15:06:20 +0000 An International Labour Organization committee has expressed “deep concern” about China’s policies in its far western region of Xinjiang, calling them discriminatory and asking Beijing to bring its employment practices into line with global standards. The report on the region, home to China’s minority Muslim Uygurs, risks stoking geopolitical tensions between China and the United States at a sensitive time for Beijing as it hosts the Winter Olympics. The United States accuses China of genocide,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3166778/labour-practices-chinas-xinjiang-deep-concern-says-un-agency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3166778/labour-practices-chinas-xinjiang-deep-concern-says-un-agency?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Feb 2022 17:45:32 +0000 The US customs agency has banned imports from Malaysian disposable glove maker YTY Group over suspected forced labour practices, the seventh such ban on a Malaysian company in two years. The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Friday it took the action “based on information that reasonably indicates the use of forced labour in YTY Group’s manufacturing operations”. YTY Group did not immediately respond on Saturday to an emailed request for comment. Malaysia’s labour rights record... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3165245/us-bans-imports-malaysian-glove-maker-yty-over-forced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3165245/us-bans-imports-malaysian-glove-maker-yty-over-forced?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jan 2022 09:58:58 +0000 Malaysia’s government and companies must address mounting allegations of workplace abuse of migrant labourers who fuel the country’s economy, or face risks to its export-reliant growth model, experts warn. Malaysia has for decades banked on migrant workers to power mainstay manufacturing and agriculture, becoming an integral part of the global supply chain for products as diverse as semiconductors, iPhone components, medical gloves and palm oil. But as the reliance on foreign labour has... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3160508/how-rising-labour-abuse-charges-threaten-derail-malaysias?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3160508/how-rising-labour-abuse-charges-threaten-derail-malaysias?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Dec 2021 05:15:15 +0000 While bringing ample benefits, China’s growing contributions and influence in global organisations like the World Bank and the United Nations should be reconsidered, a new report on China’s international engagement has concluded. The country is now second in terms of voting power in multilateral development banks, behind only the United States. This is mostly due to the growth in China’s contributions. Between 2010 and 2020, the country’s total subscribed capital to the system grew to US$67... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156783/time-fresh-look-chinas-unique-global-donor-borrower-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156783/time-fresh-look-chinas-unique-global-donor-borrower-role?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Nov 2021 05:12:59 +0000