Dr. Rakesh Ranjan

Programme Manager, South Asia at Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)

Speaker

Dr Rakesh Ranjan is a labour migration specialist with over a decade of experience addressing worker welfare across South Asia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Southeast Asia. He currently serves as Programme Manager for IHRB’s Shipping and Migrant Workers Programme, leading regional strategic engagement with shipping companies, crewing agencies, governments and civil society to advance responsible recruitment and protect seafarers’ rights.

His work focuses on recruitment fees and costs, debt bondage and forced labour risks in global supply chains. He works to advance the Employer Pays Principle and support businesses in translating responsible recruitment commitments into practice. He has authored articles, reports and policy briefs on labour migration and worker protection, contributing evidence and recommendations to industry and policy discussions. His expertise also covers seafarer welfare, internal migration and the relationship between labour mobility, business and human rights.

Dr Ranjan holds a PhD in Sociology and has undertaken advanced research training at the European University Institute in Italy and the National University of Singapore. He is the author of Indian Diaspora Homeland Engagement: Education and Healthcare Sector, published by Oxford University Press. He also serves as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism and the International Institute for Migration and Development.