3.6. Trafficking and Forced Labour - Sri Lanka

sponsored services (Wilson & Dalton, 2008, p. 312). Furthermore, training, education, and outreach can help improve awareness of and responses to human trafficking.

Many human trafficking cases were discovered by a community member who saw something that “didn’t look right” and intervened in some way such as helping a victim or calling the police. Making the public more aware of this crime may lead to the discovery of more cases (Wilson & Dalton, 2008, p. 310).

But in order for such actions to bear fruit, a national action plan is considered critical whereby, all relevant stakeholders can collaborate towards addressing the issue of trafficking and forced labour. (International Trade Union Confederation, 2009, p. 34; Wilson & Dalton, 2008, p. 312).

3.6. Trafficking and Forced Labour - Sri Lanka

Although there are many reports and academic literature focusing on labour migration in Sri Lanka, specific reports examining forced labour and human trafficking is comparatively sparse. Sri Lanka has been identified as a source country for human trafficking by several organisations (US Dept. of State, 2018; 2017; Thomas, 2011, Ali, 2005), mainly for sending women to the Middle East as domestic workers. In addition to women and men being trafficked out of Sri Lanka, there is also a minute number of women from other Asian and Central Asian countries who have been forced into sex work in Sri Lanka (US Dept of State, 2017).

The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report in particular, placed Sri Lanka within its Tier Two watchlist for four consecutive years and was lifted to Tier Two status only last year (US Dept. of State, 2018). But in doing so, the US State Department still cited local regulations, such as the FBR as contributory factors raising the risk of trafficking among women specifically. This concern was also raised by a study conducted by CEPA (2018, unpublished) for the ILO that focused on the effects of the FBR on different stakeholders in Sri Lanka. While much work has been done in order to minimise and/or address trafficking and forced labour conditions in Sri Lanka, the low numbers of prosecutions continue to be a matter of major concern (US Dept. of State, , 2018). With regard to forced labour, data from Sri Lanka verifies the presence of some of the ILO indicators. In 2009, 12,061 complaints were lodged with the Conciliation Division of the SLFBE, of which 78 per cent of the complaints were by females. The complaints lodged were regarding physical and sexual harassment, not being allowed to leave employment after the completion of the contract, non-payment of agreed wages and breach of employment contract (Amirthalingam, Jayatilaka, Lakshman, & Liyanage, 2011, p. 2). By 2016, the number of complaints had halved and totalled 6,438, constituting 2.6 per cent of the total number of migrant workers who left Sri Lanka in the same year. But as the SLBFE notes, these complaints were received from or on behalf of migrant workers who had migrated for work in the preceding years as well. Unfortunately, the existing data does not provide a breakdown of the nature of the complaints received (SLBFE, 2017).

One of the few studies examining the presence of forced labour and trafficking in the Sri Lankan context (Amirthalingam et al., 2011), found that prior to migrating, migrant workers had monthly incomes in the range of SLR4,500 to SLR10,000. Prospective workers relied on friends, family, and members of the community to go abroad for work. Most migrant workers make hasty decisions as migration is usually the final option for many of the workers.

With regard to the legal framework of Sri Lanka, research shows that although the Police would deal with lodged complaints, the tendency is to treat them as civil cases occasionally using arbitration (Amirthalingam et al., p. 7). But as noted in the global literature, prosecution of cases of trafficking is very challenging as all three categories defined by the Palermo Protocol need to be ‘fulfilled’ for it to be classified as trafficking. Secondly, trafficking is a culmination of different crimes and therefore, may be dealt with separately (i.e. as forgery, under age recruitment). Thirdly, many victims refuse to retell their experiences partly due to fear and partly because of the associated emotional trauma. In Sri

Lanka, the legal procedure can be long, leading to frustration among the victims and the involvement of political figures can derail the investigation and prosecution of criminals (Amirthalingam et al., 2011, pp. 7-8).

Some of the features noted in the global litearture cited here, are useful in understanding the particularities of the Sri Lankan context. Sri Lankan men and women continue to migrate overseas as a means out of poverty and thus, are vulnerable to falling into debt and being deceived prior to leaving the country for work. In terms of sectors, domestic work (for females) and the construction sector (for males) which are considered highly vulnerable to forced labour conditions, continue to be popular among Sri Lankans, thus raising concerns about their working and living conditions. Addressing these concerns are, however, also limited because of the way in which the legal framework situates trafficking: establishing coercion is imperative in order to proceed with such cases and chances of trafficking being dealt with, through other means, are high.

According to ILO estimates, forced labour appears to be more common than generally thought of, by the public. It is estimated that globally, over 24 million people were experiencing forced labour conditions in 2016.