Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Maldives (Ratification: 2013)

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Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Government indicates in its report that the National Anti-Human Trafficking Steering Committee (NAHTSC) adopted the National Anti-Human Trafficking Action Plan (Action Plan) for 2020-2022, in consultation with relevant national and international stakeholders. The Action Plan provides for measures to improve legislation and policies on combating trafficking in persons; to conduct sensitization and awareness-raising activities; and to strengthen monitoring, enforcement, and training of law enforcement officials. In 2020, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Office (ATO) was established within the Ministry of Defence to coordinate NAHTSC’s activities.

The Government also indicates that the Maldives Police Service (MPS) carried out several trainings on trafficking in persons and with the Maldives Immigration (MI) conducted joint inspections to identify victims of trafficking. Two victims from Bangladesh identified in 2020 and three victims from Thailand identified in 2021 were provided with accommodation, food, medical assistance, counselling, and air tickets to return to their country of origin. In 2019, five persons were suspected of committing trafficking in persons offences and two persons were convicted and sentenced to 15 and 7 years’ imprisonment. In 2020, three persons were suspected, and one was prosecuted; in 2021, 10 persons were suspected, and four were prosecuted.

The Committee takes note of the setting-up of a temporary victim shelter in Kaafu Atoll (the 2022 Government’s report on the application of the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (UN ICERD)). The Committee further notes that in its 2021 concluding observations, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern that procedures for early victim identification, case management and victim protection remain weak (CEDAW/C/MDV/CO/6). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on:

• any assessment undertaken by the ATO of the results achieved in the implementation of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Action Plan for 2020–22, the difficulties encountered, as well as on any steps taken for the adoption of a new Action Plan;
• the measures taken to ensure that victims of trafficking in persons, for both sexual and labour exploitation, are properly identified and that they are provided with suitable protection, assistance and compensation, as provided for under part III of the Act No. 12/2013 on Prevention of Human Trafficking Act; and
• the strengthening of the capacities of law enforcement bodies to carry out prompt investigations in all cases of trafficking in persons to allow for effective prosecutions and the imposition of sufficiently dissuasive penalties on perpetrators. Please continue to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied in relation to trafficking in persons.

Article 2(1). Freedom of career members of the armed forces to leave the service. With respect to its previous comments on the need to ensure that members of the armed forced are entitled to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Regulations governing the resignation of members of armed forces are strictly confidential. The Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the number of applications to resign submitted to the Minister, the number of refusals and the grounds for refusal.