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Comments adopted by the CEACR: Madagascar

Adopted by the CEACR in 2022

C029 - Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

The Committee notes that the Government’s first report on the application of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, ratified in 2019, contains very little information and does not reply to the questions in the report form. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide a detailed report on the application of the Protocol of 2014, at the same time as its next report on the application of the Convention, both due in 2025.
Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. National plan of action and institutional framework. In reply to the Committee’s request regarding the activities of the National Bureau to Combat Human Trafficking (BNLTEH), including the protection of victims, the Government indicates in its report that the BNLTEH, in addition to coordinating action against trafficking, is tasked with preventing trafficking, drawing up a national anti-trafficking policy, and monitoring the implementation of the “National Plan to combat trafficking”, which was adopted in 2019, with a new “National Plan to combat trafficking” to be drawn up by January 2023. In addition, the BNLTEH participates in activities for the repatriation of domestic workers in situations of distress and coordinates action for the care of repatriated victims. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the activities of the BNLTEH, indicating the specific measures taken to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. It requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved by the implementation of the 2019 “National Plan to combat trafficking”, the challenges encountered, and the measures contemplated to overcome them in the context of the adoption of the new“National Plan to combat trafficking”.
2. Imposition of effective penalties. The Committee previously asked the Government to provide information on the investigations conducted, prosecutions initiated, and penalties imposed on the basis of the Act No. 2014-040 of 20 January 2015 on combating the trafficking of persons, which criminalizes all forms of trafficking. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that one trafficker was identified in 2019 and in 2020, and 20 traffickers in 2021. It also indicates that a national system of data on trafficking was established in 2020. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Government explains, in the annual report of Madagascar for May 2020–April 2021 as an Alliance 8.7 pathfinder country, that this national database, managed by the BNLTEH, will constitute a dashboard on victim assistance, victim profiles, and investigations and prosecutions relating to traffickers. The Committee also notes that, according to the 2020 global report on trafficking in persons of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the national Ministry of Justice indicated that 69 cases of trafficking in persons had been brought before the courts in 2017 and 2018. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to enable the competent authorities to conduct investigations and initiate prosecutions in human trafficking cases, and requests it to provide information in this regard. It also requests the Government to indicate the number of convictions and the penalties imposed on the perpetrators of trafficking in persons, pursuant to Act No. 2014-040 of 20 January 2015 on combating the trafficking of persons.
3. Protection of victims. With regard to the protection of trafficking victims, the Government reports on a number of measures, including: (i) the establishment of the Mitsinjo victim reception centre in Antananarivo in 2018; (ii) the preparation of a manual of judicial procedure and a manual for the identification and care of victims in 2017; (iii) the implementation of a project to give autonomy to women victims of trafficking in Madagascar, comprising emergency assistance (accommodation, and medical and psychological support) and long-term assistance (training); (iv) training between 2017 and 2019 for 121 social workers and assistants in the identification of victims of human trafficking; and (v) the establishment of a helpline.
The Government indicates that in 2019, a total of 130 trafficking victims were identified, of whom 33 received assistance; in 2020, 120 were identified and two benefited from assistance; and in 2021, 34 were identified, though none were the recipients of assistance. Moreover, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates, in a press release of 30 July 2019, that during the first six months of 2019 more than 200 women victims of trafficking were assisted with repatriation to Madagascar. However, the IOM emphasizes that trafficking remains a considerable challenge in the country and that women are particularly vulnerable and exposed to forced labour in the domestic sector nationally and abroad. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to ensure the identification of trafficking victims and to guarantee them effective protection and appropriate care, giving particular attention to women. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the number of victims identified, the assistance measures put in place and the number of persons who have benefited from these measures.
Article 2(2)(a). National service.As regards the need for the Government to take the necessary steps to amend Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978 establishing the general principles of national service, so as to limit work or services exacted as part of compulsory national service to work of a purely military character, the Committee refers to its observation on the application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105).

C105 - Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Imposition of forced labour as a method of mobilizing and using labour for the purposes of economic development. The Committee recalls that Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978 setting forth the general principles of national service, is incompatible with the Convention inasmuch as, under the Ordinance, all Malagasies are bound by the duty of national service, which is defined as compulsory participation in national defence and in the economic and social development of the country. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that a draft text amending Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978 is being prepared at the Ministry of National Defence. The Government also explains that the recruitment of Malagasies who have opted for national service is undertaken on the basis of requests for recruitment received by the Ministry and only interested persons who have the requisite qualities are accepted. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication in its report on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), that participation in national service is voluntary and requires a written request from the interested person.
The Committee observes that the obligations of national service, as defined in the above-mentioned Ordinance No. 78-002, include registration, review and activity for a period of two years. The latter can be performed either in or outside the armed forces, in particular in the context of “development action military service” (SMAD). The Committee recalls that programmes involving the compulsory participation of young persons in activities for the development of their country as part of military service or replacing it are incompatible not only with Article 1(b) of the Convention, which prohibits the use of labour for purposes of economic development, but also with Article 2(2)(a) of Convention No. 29, which provides that any work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws must be of a purely military character.
In view of the Government’s indication that in practice participation in national service is voluntary and that a draft text amending Ordinance No. 78-002 is being prepared, the Committee expresses the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary steps to bring the legislation concerning national service into conformity with Conventions Nos 29 and 105, either by making national service voluntary or by limiting the work done as part of national service obligations to work of a purely military nature.
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