Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. Penalties and law enforcement. The Committee previously noted the statement of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) that, while the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is pursuing action to eradicate trafficking in persons, the penalties imposed on traffickers were not severe enough to serve as a deterrent. The Committee also noted the Government’s statement that, since 2009, the Criminal Investigations Department had commenced 61 investigations related to suspected cases of trafficking, which were still ongoing. The Women and Children’s Bureau of the Sri Lankan Police also carried out 38 investigations between March 2012 and April 2013. Moreover, the Attorney General’s Department had received 191 files of suspected cases of human trafficking since 2009, following which 65 indictments had been filed in court.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that in October 2016, the police department established the “Anti-Human Trafficking Unit” with 13 police officers to investigate cases on human trafficking. A special unit has also been established under the SLBFE to investigate trafficking-related complaints reported to it. The Committee also notes that the Attorney General’s Department has forwarded a total number of 35 indictments to high courts in 2016, of which ten have been submitted to competent high courts for trafficking in persons under section 360C(1) of the Penal Code. Three of those were related to forced labour and seven were related to sexual exploitation. Additionally, the Attorney General has filed 25 indictments for procuration under section 360A of the Penal Code. The Government also indicates that 41 cases already filed are at different stages of trial in high courts across the country, of which at least 15 will be concluded by the end of 2017, as envisaged by the Attorney General’s Department. Approximately 61 suspects are being prosecuted during the reporting period. In 2016–17, the high courts have handed down six convictions of human trafficking, and the perpetrators have received penalties of imprisonment from six months to five years, along with fines of from 100,000 to 500,000 Sri Lankan rupees (LKR). The Government states that the main challenge to the suppress trafficking in persons is to obtain evidence from victims and to investigate cases where the credibility of the victim is in question. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that persons who traffic in persons are subject to robust prosecutions and thorough investigations and that the penalties imposed on perpetrators are sufficiently effective and dissuasive. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the application in practice of the relevant provisions of the Penal Code, including the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions, as well as the specific penalties applied.

2. Victim protection. The Committee previously noted that legal, medical and psychological assistance for trafficking victims was provided by the Government in collaboration with NGOs. The Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, under the direction of the task force functioning under the Ministry of Justice, had established a government-run shelter for victims of trafficking.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that it continues to provide legal, medical and psychological assistance for trafficking victims in the shelter maintained by the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs. Regarding the victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, the Government indicates that the Attorney General’s Department has in several instances concluded that the vulnerability of women engaged in the sex industry had been exploited by the recruiter or facilitator to lure them into prostitution, which is one of the “means” defined by section 360C(1) of the Penal Code and used as the basis to identify the person concerned as a victim rather than a criminal. The Committee also notes from the Government’s report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 2015 that the number of female victims of trafficking as reported by all police divisions was 29 out of 44 victims in total in 2011, two out of six in 2012, none in 2013 and four out of 12 in 2014 (CEDAW/C/LKA/8, paragraph 43). The Committee encourages the Government to continue taking measures to ensure that victims of trafficking are provided with appropriate protection and services, and to provide information on the number of persons benefiting from these services.

3. Programme of action. The Committee notes that the Government’s written replies to the list of issues of the CEDAW of 2017 that the National Strategy Plan to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking 2015-2019 has been adopted in February 2016. A high-level committee chaired by the Prime Minister and the National Anti-Trafficking Task Force monitor the implementation of the Strategic Plan (CEDAW/C/LKA/Q/8/Add.1, paragraphs 116–118). The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2015-2019, including the activities carried out and the results achieved.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1). Vulnerable situation of migrant workers with regard to the exaction of forced labour. The Committee previously noted that the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment managed a transit shelter which provided medical assistance and accommodation to migrant workers referred upon their return by the Bureau’s airport desk. It also noted that the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), in its concluding observations, noted the measures taken by the Government to safeguard the rights of migrant workers, including memoranda of understanding (MoU) and bilateral agreements with major labour-receiving countries, the compulsory registration scheme requiring registration prior to departure for foreign employment, the development of standard-approved contracts and minimum average salaries for migrant domestic workers, and the appointment of labour welfare officers abroad. However, the CMW also expressed concern at reports of abuse and ill-treatment of Sri Lankan migrant workers in host countries.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that various measures have been taken to raise the awareness of migrant workers on their rights and obligations, such as the implementation of Safe Migration awareness programmes and the Comprehensive Information and Orientation Programmes. The Government indicates that the Ministry of Foreign Employment has signed 22 MoUs with major labour host countries on the protection of rights of migrant workers, which are reviewed annually by the Joint Technical Committees consisting of high-level representatives of both parties. The Government has also actively participated in regional consultation processes, such as the Colombo process and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue. The Committee also notes that consular assistance is provided through diplomatic missions in 16 major destination countries and 11 temporary shelters for female migrant workers as victims of abuse or exploitation. However, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 2016, the CMW is concerned that Sri Lankan migrant workers continue to suffer numerous violations of their rights in host countries, including being deprived of the right to leave their place of work, non-payment of salaries, having their passports confiscated, harassment, violence, threats, inadequate living conditions, difficult access to health care and in some cases even torture (CMW/C/LKA/CO/2, paragraph 50). The Committee therefore requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that migrant workers are fully protected from abusive practices and conditions that amount to the exaction of forced labour. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on measures taken in this regard, including information on international cooperation efforts undertaken to support migrant workers in destination countries, and measures specifically tailored to the difficult circumstances faced by such workers to prevent and respond to cases of abuse.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.