ILSI Launches to Protect Migrant Workers Across the Home-to-Home Journey

The International Legal Support & Investment institution (ILSI) today announced its official launch, introducing a new model of continuous protection for migrant workers that follows individuals across the entire arc of their migration journey — from the moment they consider working abroad, through their time overseas, to their return and reintegration at home.

Why ILSI exists

Labour migration remains one of the most consequential decisions a person can make, yet protection for workers has historically been fragmented: a pre-departure briefing here, an embassy hotline there, with little continuity of support once a worker is between systems. ILSI's founding Chief Executive, Elizabeth Marsh-Kandel, said the organisation was built specifically to close that gap. "Workers do not experience migration as a series of disconnected stages," she said. "They experience it as one journey, and their protection should be just as continuous."

ILSI's work is organised around four pillars: Legal Protection, Safe Labour Mobility, Responsible Investment, and National Development. Each pillar is designed to reinforce the others — legal casework generates evidence that shapes policy advisory work, which in turn informs the design of pre-departure orientation and reintegration programmes.

Starting in Nepal

ILSI's founding pilot is based in Nepal, chosen for its scale of labour out-migration and the maturity of its existing government systems for managing foreign employment. The organisation will initially focus on four labour corridors of particular significance to Nepali workers: Nepal to the GCC states, Nepal to Malaysia, Nepal to the Republic of Korea under the EPS scheme, and Nepal to the United Kingdom.

The organisation has established a headquarters in London and a country office in Kathmandu, with representative presence in Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul supporting members in three of its four pilot corridors directly. A verified legal panel spanning each destination jurisdiction, alongside a network of implementing and donor partners, will support the rollout of member services over the coming months.