Webinar: Connection Men, Dalals, Maid Agents – traffickers or not?

10.00-11.00 GMT, 29 March 2019

In this webinar, researchers from the University of Ghana, the University of Sussex and the National University of Singapore will present findings from their research on migration brokerage.

The research focuses on migration for domestic work and construction which are usually carried out by migrants from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Learn more about:

• Northern Ghana and the capital city of Accra which are important origin and destination points for women and girls recruited for domestic work;
• The Chapainawabganj area of Bangladesh where men are routed to Qatar for construction work; and
• Singapore, which has a highly developed network of brokers and agents for selecting, hiring and placing female domestic workers from Indonesia and other poorer countries in the region.

The speakers will provide an overview of the structure of brokerage networks and how they work with other individuals and organisations in government and civil society to facilitate migration. While brokers are clearly exploitative and involved in perpetuating forced labour they also create avenues for employment and provide opportunities for change that would otherwise not be available.

These studies have much to offer to ongoing debates about trafficking.

Speakers and presentations

Please, thank you and sorry – brokering migration and constructing identities for domestic work in Ghana - Mariama Awumbila

A game of chutes-and-ladders: How maid agents and domestic workers navigate the migration industry in Singapore - Kellynn Wee

The recruitment of Bangladeshi migrants for construction work in Qatar -

Priya Deshingkar

To register for the webinar please click on this link and follow the instructions: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/9535f041ebf35ef0d746f627e8486654 

You can read more about our work on migration brokers in our recent Special Issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.