Transnational Culture of Corruption in Migrant Labour Recruitment

Why are prospective low-skill, low-income migrant workers, particularly from Asian and African countries, required to pay private recruitment agencies (PRAs) in labour origin countries for being recruited, while most higher-skilled workers and professionals do not pay? The general assumption by some labour economists is that it is exploitative, but, because low-skilled labour supply far outstrips labour demand, the labour market works in alleviating unemployment in countries of origin and filling jobs in labour destination countries. It is merely a fact of migrant labour recruitment where low-skilled workers must pay, and are willing to go into debt to pay in order to procure employment – and where the labour indebtedness serves employers as a guarantee of labour retention or, indeed, forced labour.