Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Malaysia (Ratification: 1957)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Malaysia (Ratification: 2022)

The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous comments: 1. The Committee notes with regret that no comprehensive report has been received from the Government since 1993 and that the report in 1998 consists simply of a statement that the Prison Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia, has reaffirmed that the department does not practise forced labour, which is totally inadequate. Further to its General Report in 1998 (Report III, Part 1A, paragraphs 112 to 125), regarding especially Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention, the Committee again asks the Government to provide detailed information on the work of prisoners, particularly work performed for private employers, whether in the prison premises or outside. Please send any laws, by-laws or regulations governing the matter, as well as detailed information on the practical application. The Committee asks the Government to send detailed information on the application in law and practice of Article 1(1), Article 2(2)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) as well as Article 25 of the Convention. 2. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that t is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.