Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Madagascar (Ratification: 2007)

The Committee notes the observations made by the General Confederation of Workers’ Unions of Madagascar (CGSTM) received on 4 September 2012, as well as the Government’s reply to those observations.

Article 1(b) of the Convention. Imposition of forced labour as a method of mobilizing and using labour for the purposes of economic development. In its previous comments, the Committee emphasized that national service, as established in Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978 setting forth general principles of national service, is incompatible with the Convention. Under the terms of section 2 of the Ordinance, all Malagasies are bound by the duty of national service defined as compulsory participation in national defence and in the economic and social development of the country. This compulsory service, which requires citizens to be engaged in defence or development services, concerns citizens of both sexes for a maximum period of two years and may be carried out up to the age of 35. The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes the observations made by the CGSTM that the Government has not adopted any measure to bring Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978 on the general principles of national service into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s explanations according to which there are two types of national service: national service in the armed forces and national service outside the armed forces. Ordinance No. 73-004 of 9 February 1973 established voluntary national service outside the armed forces, which is reserved for young women, mostly employed in public establishments. Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978 confirms the voluntary nature of this service. National service in the armed forces only concerns young men who are called up according to the specific needs of the two forces: the army and the national gendarmerie (for example, as secretaries, gardeners, builders, metalworkers, mechanics, etc.). The Government adds that, given the political and social climate experienced by the country (unemployment, poverty, idleness), volunteering in the armed forces is extended to minors (17 years old) under certain conditions.

The Committee notes, however, that the Government makes no further reference to the plan to review Ordinance No. 78-002 of 16 February 1978, as mentioned in its previous report. The Committee once again recalls that programmes involving the compulsory participation of young persons in the context of military service or, instead of such service, in activities for the development of their country, are incompatible with Article 1(b) of the Convention, which prohibits the use of compulsory labour as a method of mobilizing labour for the purposes of economic development.

The Committee once again hopes that the Government will take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into conformity with the Convention, by ensuring that compulsory national service is not used as a method of mobilizing labour for the purposes of economic development. The Committee also refers to the comments that it is making under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).