Samsung Electronics and IOM Hold Training Day in Malaysia to Help Eradicate Modern Slavery

Samsung Electronics is collaborating with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to provide training on ethical recruitment and fair labor practice to its staff, local suppliers and other business partners in Malaysia.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), around 40 million people worldwide are unfortunately the victims of modern slavery which today takes many different forms. Of these 40 million, 25 million people find themselves the victim of forced labor, often hidden in plain sight yet working across all kinds of industries and geographies. One-fourth of this number are migrant workers, meaning they are working in a country other than that in which they were born. Achieving safe labor migration requires the involvement of various actors across countries of origin, transit and destination.

This training for the Malaysian corporation and supply partners on forced labor and ethical recruitment was held at the Setia City Convention Center in Setia Alam, Malaysia, and gathered around 80 managers working in Samsung’s supply chain.

Participants learnt about the key characteristics and risks of modern slavery, as well as best practices to counter it. This included ethical recruitment, due diligence, and strategies to identify and tackle unethical employment practices. The discussions also highlighted to the attendees the various policies and regulations currently in force in Malaysia to prevent modern-day slavery.

This training is part Samsung Electronics’ ongoing efforts towards building the business capacity to address modern slavery. A key focus point of these efforts is to raise awareness within the company and its business partners of the protection of the labor rights of migrant workers active in its supply chains; Samsung’s commitment to prevent, identify and mitigate unethical recruitment practices is laid out in its Migrant Worker Guidelines.

Despite their key role in today’s globalized economy, migrant workers remain a vulnerable group. IOM and Samsung Electronics are collaborating to raise awareness and inspire action among all its employees, sub-contractors and stakeholders to help eradicate forced labor.