Team

Neill Wilkins

Neill Wilkins

Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Expertise 

Neill specialises in the human rights challenges faced by migrant workers and the companies who recruit and employ them. He has undertaken a number of initiatives with the apparel, construction and hospitality sectors and the international employment industry to promote responsible recruitment. Neill also helped oversee the development of the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity, a key framework for responsible business practice relating to migrant workers.

Current work

Neill is responsible for the strategy and day to day management of the IHRB migrant workers programme along with matters relating to forced labour, trafficking and other abuses of workers rights. Currently much of his focus is on promoting responsible recruitment and the prohibition of recruitment fees being paid by migrant workers.

Before IHRB 

Neill worked for 15 years as a forestry contractor before returning to education as a mature student. After university he joined the Campaigns Team at The Body Shop International working on a number of environmental and human rights campaigns. Neill also owns and manages a popular website providing fundraising ideas to charity groups, schools and sports teams.

I’m increasingly interested in how behavioural insights “nudge theory” might be used to promote respect for workers' rights.

Commentary: Slavery is ever present - the UK must step up

Last week saw the much-delayed appointment of the 3rd UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner, a position that has been  vacant since April 2022. The appointment of Eleanor Lyons, a former Government Advisor, is timely. 

On Anti-Slavery Day, the UK and many...

18 October 2023

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: From London 2012 to Qatar 2022 - The Hotel Industry and the Protection of Workers

 

The hotel industry is still not making needed reforms to protect workers

 

The 2012 London Olympics brought to greater public awareness often hidden issues linked to major events and the responsibilities of their hosts. How could global games...

28 November 2022

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

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Commentary: Does Mo Farah’s Trafficking Story Reflect the Reality of Modern Slavery?

On July 16 2022, Olympic athlete Mo Farah revealed that he had been a child victim of modern slavery – brought to England from Somaliland and made to work for the family who trafficked him. In a revealing documentary, Mo explained that after some...

26 July 2022

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Improving Development Outcomes Through the Responsible Recruitment of Migrant Workers

This Monday, governments meet at the United Nations in New York for the first International Migration Review Forum - an intergovernmental platform to discuss and share progress on the implementation of The Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular...

16 May 2022

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: P&O Ferries in Deep Water: Labour Outsourcing is Not an Escape from Human Rights Responsibilities

The decision by UK shipping company P&O Ferries to fire 800 staff without notice and to replace them with agency workers is the latest example of how outsourcing is increasingly used as a business strategy to reduce labour costs and secure the...

23 March 2022

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB, Julia Batho, Deputy Chief Executive, IHRB

Commentary: The Dhaka Principles at 10 - Reflecting on Lessons Learned and Challenges Ahead in Ensuring Migration with Dignity


Throughout 2022, IHRB is marking ten years of the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity with guest commentaries from representatives of business, trade unions, civil society organisations, and the UN system that reflect on the continuing...

12 January 2022

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Sorry… I Dozed Off Reading Your Modern Slavery Statement

International Anti-Slavery Day on 18 October is a good chance to reflect on that most totemic part of the UK’s, and now Australias, modern slavery legislation – the corporate modern slavery statement.

It is nearly 5 years now since the...

15 October 2020

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Boohoo or Crocodile Tears? Worker Exploitation in a UK Apparel Factory

Online clothing retailer Boohoo is the latest company to find itself on the receiving end of press reports alleging modern slavery, exploitation and abuse of factory workers in supply chains. The UK based company is contending with how to respond to...

10 July 2020

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Who is an “Essential Worker” in Times of Crisis?

There is a scene in Johan Renck’s highly acclaimed historical drama series, Chernobyl, when the Soviet authorities have to persuade 400 Russian and Ukrainian miners to risk their lives to prevent radioactive waste seeping into the water table and...

23 March 2020

By John Morrison, Chief Executive, IHRB, Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Migrant Worker Updates from the Gulf and South East Asia

IHRB's Migrant Workers Programme staff members provide updates from Qatar, Thailand and Myanmar on sector-wide progress. For more information on the work and upcoming events of IHRB and the Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, visit our...

14 March 2019

Commentary: New Construction Sector Agreement on Protecting Vulnerable Workers

Worker exploitation and ongoing rights abuses in the construction sector are being tackled through a range of initiatives, including guidance from CIOB on tackling modern slavery in construction, the BRE Ethical Labour Standard, and the Stronger...

11 October 2017

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB, William Rook, Senior Advisor, Middle East, IHRB

Commentary: Recruitment Practices Must be Part of Sustainable Development Strategies

One in every 17 workers is a migrant worker. Their efforts are a ubiquitous feature of all global supply chains. There is little that we eat, wear or use that has not seen the involvement of migrant workers at some stage of its production.

Migrant...

13 December 2016

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

International construction firms are increasingly being forced to face up to the consequences of business practices which fail to prevent forced labour and trafficking.

Commentary: Can the Construction Industry Build Itself a Slavery-Free Future?

In recent years the issues of forced labour and human trafficking have risen higher on the political agenda than ever before. As awareness has grown, the world has come to learn such exploitation is far more common than was previously known and...

30 July 2015

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

The International Labour Conference has voted 437 to 8 to adopt a new protocol on forced labour. Delegates have hailed the move as a tipping point in the fight against contemporary forms of forced labour.

Commentary: Tipping Point? Could the new ILO protocol on forced labour and human trafficking make a lasting difference?

Last week the US State Department produced its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The TIP report, as it is known, ranks 188 countries according to the prevalence of forced labour and trafficking and their efforts to curb it.

The global nature of...

25 June 2014

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Respecting the rights of migrant workers

"All companies need to reduce the distance between themselves, their operations and negative impacts on the rights of migrant workers, consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Business cannot contract out the...

17 December 2013

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Commentary: Business Must do More to Protect the World’s Most Vulnerable Workers

This op-Ed was originally published on TheGuardian.com.

IHRB, together with the Anti-Slavery International, has called for greater protection for workers in this sector through the Staff Wanted Initiative and for hotels to undertake greater due...

05 October 2012

By John Morrison, Chief Executive, IHRB, Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

Over the summer, London’s annual influx of tourists will swell still further by visitors coming for the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Commentary: The Staff Wanted Initiative - The Hospitality Industry will only earn respect by respecting those who work within it

Over the summer, London’s annual influx of tourists will swell still further by visitors coming for the Olympic and Paralympic games. The city’s instantly recognisable, traditional yet energetically global image continues to be a major selling point...

21 May 2012

By Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB

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