Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 1950)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 2019)

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. 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 direct request:

1. The Committee has noted the Children's Charter supplied by the Government with its report. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply copies of any laws or regulations already adopted thereunder which have a bearing on the Convention as well as information on the constitution of, and activities carried out by, the monitoring committee under article 40 of the Charter.

The Committee also requests the Government to provide a copy of recent reports and surveys made by the Women and Children's Bureau of the Police Department as well as by the Department of Probation and Child-Care Services and by the Women and Children's Bureau of the Department of Labour, which have a bearing on the application of the Convention.

2. The Committee has noted the Government's indication in its report that two incidents of trafficking of Sri Lankan children for camel riding in the Middle East were made known to the Government and a tightened passport control was introduced to prevent recruiters from forging passports and trafficking children abroad.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on its effort to suppress the trafficking of children.

3. The Committee has noted the texts of the Airforce Act, No. 41 of 1949; the Royal Ceylon Airforce (Regular and Regular Reserve) Regulations, 1951; the Navy Act, 1950; the Army Act, 1949, which the Government has supplied with its report.

The Committee has noted that an officer of the regular force or regular force reserve does not have the right to resign his commission, but may be allowed by the President to do so, under section 11 of the Airforce Act, the Navy Act and the Army Act. The Committee notes that, under section 10, every officer shall hold his appointment during the President's pleasure. The Committee would appreciate receiving information on the practical application of section 11 of the three Acts, including the numbers of officers whose application for resignation was accepted or not accepted by the President. The Committee would also request the Government to indicate the normal durations of appointments provided for under section 10 of the Acts.

The Committee has noted from section 168 of the Ceylon Airforce (Regular and Regular Reserve) Regulations, 1951, that any apprentice or airman, who has entered into a bond to serve for a fixed period as a condition precedent to any specialized training given to him, shall not be granted a discharge by purchase, provided that in the special circumstances of any particular case, the Permanent Secretary may authorize a discharge by purchase.

The Committee requests the Government to supply with its next report copies of regulations which cover the same subject-matter in the Navy and the Army and to indicate the practical application of the provision authorizing the Permanent Secretary to grant discharge in special circumstances.