Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Egypt (Ratification: 1958)

Article 1(c) of the Convention. Sanctions involving compulsory labour as a means of labour discipline. Seafarers. The Committee recalls that sections 13(5) and 14 of Act No. 167 of 1960 on Maintenance of Security, Order and Discipline (Merchant Navy) Act, 1960, impose penalties of imprisonment involving compulsory prison labour on seafarers who together commit repeated acts of insubordination. The Committee notes the Government’s reiterated indication in its report that Act No. 167 of 1960 is in the process of undergoing amendments to harmonize its provisions with the Convention. In this regard, a proposal for a unified maritime draft law on maritime safety was prepared and submitted to the Supreme Council for Ports at its session held on 5/12/2023

Article 1(d). Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for participation in strikes. The Committee recalls that under sections 124, 124A and B, and 374 of the Penal Code, strikes by any public employee may be punished with imprisonment for up to one year. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the penalty of imprisonment contained in section 124A of the Penal Code is less than one year and therefore falls under the concept of simple imprisonment under which the accused may not be forced to work (pursuant to section 24 of Law No. 396 of 1956 on Prison Regulations). Consequently, the Government considers that there is no forced labour exacted as a penalty for participating in strikes in accordance with this provision. The Government adds that, with respect to section 124B, the legislator has doubled the period of imprisonment and the fine if the abandonment or abstaining from work is likely to endanger people’s lives, health or security, or if it is likely to cause disturbance or strife among the people or if it harms the public interest. Thus, the Government considers that the matter goes beyond the strike intended in the Convention.

The Committee takes due note of this information. It also notes that following the Penal Code amendments No. 21 of 2018, section 124 provides for penalties of imprisonment ranging from three months and one year on public employees in the context of strike actions. The penalty is doubled in case the action causes a danger to people’s lives or harm public health/interest. Moreover, section 124B doubles the penalty of imprisonment (six months to two years) for whoever incites to commit such actions. Similarly, any infringement to section 374 is punishable with the same penalty.

Observing that sections 124B and 374 allow for the imposition of sanctions on imprisonment of more than one year (which involve compulsory prison labour) when strikes are is likely to cause disturbance or strife among the people or if it harms the public interest, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of the above provisions in practice in order to assess their scope, indicating the facts that led to any convictions under these sections, the nature of the conduct sanctioned, and the penalties actually imposed.