Bearing in mind that one of the dominant trends in human trafficking, both globally and in our country, is the increase in the number of cases of human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation, ASTRA has developed a mobile application dedicated to providing correct and timely information to persons at risk Safe at Work. The aim is that potential victims are informed and protected in time before entering into a risky employment relationship, or if they were already in a situation of exploitation, that they would know who and where to seek help.
In order to understand that correct and timely information is crucial in such cases and something that saves health, time, dignity, and even life – it is enough to recall the recent significant cases of human trafficking for labor exploitation that have marked the past few years, such as are: the case of a large number of workers from India exploited on construction sites throughout Serbia (2020), the case of workers from Vietnam engaged in the construction of the Linglong factory (2021/2022), the recently disclosed case of labor exploitation in the household of a woman from the Philippines, exploited workers of domestic and foreign origin on agricultural farms in Vojvodina, and all individual cases of our fellow citizens who work in Serbia or abroad under terrifying conditions.
The app contains all relevant information for a person looking for a job in the country or abroad, such as general information and indicators of human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation, preventive information, such as advice, most common misconceptions, a legal framework regulating the residence and work status in our country or the destination country, if we are going to work abroad, information on what is a valid employment contract and what it should contain, as well as how to obtain health insurance in the destination country. In addition, there are also useful contacts, i.e., contacts of diplomatic residences and organizations that people can turn to for help if they are already in a situation of exploitation in the destination country. So far, nine countries have been represented in this way, mainly the top destinations for Serbian citizens in search of work: Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Slovenia. The list of destination countries will be further expanded in the coming period.
Considering that in recent years Serbia has been hit by economic migrations, as well as those caused by the wars, and the general economic crisis, the influx of foreign workers to Serbia is evident. That is why the application offers all this information and vice versa, i.e., to workers who come to Serbia to find a job. They can get information about the procedures for obtaining temporary residence, a work and residence permit, health insurance in Serbia… Also App offers contacts of Serbian diplomatic residences in their origin countries, organizations they can turn to for help, and emergency service telephone numbers .
The application is bilingual (Serbian and English) and adapted for Android and iPhone users. It can be downloaded from this link https://astra.rs/app/.