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ZNet
May 28, 2005
Forced Labour
by Girish Mishra
Ever since the beginning of human civilisation, forced labour has
been in existence. Almost all the ancient monuments, be it Taj Mahal
or Asokan Pillar or the pyramids of Egypt or the Great wall of China,
at which we marvel, were built on the basis of forced labour. During
pre-capitalist days it was to be indispensable for carrying on
production. With the abolition of slavery in America in the 1860s, it
has been regarded as anachronism in modern capitalism, more so after
it has entered the present phase of globalisation. Yet it persists,
according to a report by the Director-General of International Labour
Organisation (ILO), released on May 11. It is surprising that both
the print and the electronic media in India have, by and large,
ignored it.
At the very outset, the report making the shocking revelation:
"Forced labour is present in some form in almost all countries, and
in every kind of economy. There are persistent cases of what may be
termed "traditional" forms of forced labour. These include deeply
entrenched bonded labour systems in parts of South Asia, debt bondage
affecting mainly indigenous peoples in parts of Latin America, and
the residual slavery-related practices most evident today in West
Africa. There are also various forms of forced labour exacted by the
State for either economic or political purposes. Forced labour today
also affects sizeable number of migrant workers who are transported
away from their countries or communities of their origin."
The ILO report has taken great pains to define "forced labour".
According to it, forced labour consists of "all work or service which
is exacted from any person under the menace of penalty and for which
the said person has not offered himself voluntarily." Obviously,
there is a great deal of coercion involved. Remove this element of
coercion and the supply of forced labour vanishes. It must be
remembered that a worker cannot be put in the category of forced
labour simply because he or she receives low wages or working
conditions are miserable. Nor does forced labour imply the situation
where there are no better jobs available and a person is compelled to
continue in his existing position by his own economic compulsions. In
fact, an indispensable element in the definition of forced labour is
a severe violation of human rights and restrictions on human freedom.
In other words, the person falling in the category of forced labour
does not enjoy the freedom of choice of vocation or the place of
work. His freedom of movement is severely restricted by exercising
force against him. This may be political, economic or social force.
Obviously, a great element of coercion is involved. Remove this
coercion by doing away with the conditions that sustain it and labour
moves out of its present vocation or can remain there only on terms
and conditions acceptable by it.
The ILO report has found that in the present era of globalisation,
the older forms of coercion and compulsion are transmuting themselves
into newer ones. "The bonded labour systems of South Asia remain very
much in evidence today, and account for the greatest number of forced
labourers in the contemporary world. But these systems have changed
over the past three or four decades. They now pervade different
sectors of the informal economy, as well as the agricultural sector,
where the lion's share of bonded labour was formerly to be found.
Trafficking in human beings has also taken on new forms and
dimensions, linked to recent developments in technology,
transportation and transnational organised crime."
Over the centuries, the nature and characteristics of forced labour
have undergone far-reaching changes. In olden days, the state and
feudal lords by virtue of their ownership of land exacted much of the
forced labour. In India, zamindars, jagirdars, talukedars, etc. and
government officials were largest appropriators of forced labour. As
a result of land reforms and a specific stipulation in the law of the
land against forced labour, the situation has radicallychanged. At
present, the private persons and organisations are the biggest
perpetuators of the system of forced labour. In fact, "induced
indebtedness is a key instrument of coercion, backed by the threat of
violence or other sanctions against forced workers or their
families." Millions of men, women and children migrate from one
region of a country to another or go out to some other country in
search of livelihood. Most of the time people migrating to other
countries do not possess firm legal documents or work permits, This
makes them vulnerable to coercion and all sorts of exploitation by
agents and corrupt officials. In our own country, Bangladeshi workers
have been all the time living under the coercion of corrupt police
people and Hindu communal elements. The constant threat of
denunciation to authorities hangs on their heads. More or less this
is the situation of illegal immigrants into Western countries,
especially America. Thus they are forced to choose between highly
exploitative working conditions and deportation to the countries of
their origin. In side our own country, we have seen how regional and
communal biases are used to impose exploitative conditions of work.
In the present era of globalisation, trafficking in human beings has
assumed great proportions. Women and children are forced to entertain
their employers sexually and otherwise. Some years ago, it came to
light that agents took children from the Indian subcontinent to the
gulf countries where they were strapped on the backs of camels,
taking part in a race. The greater the cries of these children, the
greater was the entertainment of the rich witnessing the race. Quite
a number of children used to sustain fatal injuries.
At present, at least 12.3 million people all over the world are
victims of forced labour. Of these 9.8 million are exploited by
private agents, including more than 2.4 million in forced labour as a
result of human trafficking. State and rabid military groups account
for 2.5 million forced labourers. Most of the forced labour is
accounted for by Asia and Pacific region. Their share comes to 9.49
million. The share of Latin America and the Caribbean region is 1.32
million. Industrialised countries too are not free of forced labour.
They have 360,000 forced workers. sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and
North Africa and the transition countries have 660,000, 260,000, and
210, 000 respectively. Obviously no region or no economic system is
free from this evil.
State imposed forced labour is largely in the times of emergency and
used for military purposes. A major form has always been
conscription. Private sector uses forced labour broadly for
commercial sexual exploitation and for commercial economic
exploitation. Private agents recruit people by doling out false
promises and painting bright prospects. They arrange for travel
documents and work permits, which are, in many cases, forged. They
also provide transportation or smuggling into the countries of
destination. Sometimes, the rickety boats capsize or are seized by
coast guards and the recruits have to suffer extreme consequences.
The boat tragedies on the coast of Malta or in the territorial waters
of Italy and Australia have quite often made newspaper headlines.
For the first time, the ILO has come out with the estimate of the
profits from the exploitation of trafficked men, women and children.
It comes to $32 billion per annum or an average of $13,000 from every
single trafficked forced labour. In the words of Juan Somavia, the
Director-General of the ILO, "Forced labour represents the underside
of globalisation and denies people their basic rights and dignity. To
achieve a fair globalisation and decent work for all, it is
imperative to eradicate forced labour."
The Report is going to be discussed in June at the ILO's
International Labour Conference. In view of this, trade unions,
political parties and persons like Swami Agniwesh need to organise
discussions to think of ways and measures to eradicate the evil of
forced labour, which has great visible presence in our country.
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