Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1960)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of Act No. 029-2008/AN of 15 May 2008 on combating trafficking in persons and similar practices (Anti-Trafficking Act), and to indicate whether the national action plan to combat trafficking and sexual violence against children had been adopted and whether its measures were also intended to prevent trafficking in adults.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it has not been possible to draw up the national action plan, but that the subjects concerned are covered by other programmes, such as the national programme to combat trafficking in children in small-scale mines and quarries. The Government also indicates that, according to the 2015 national report on trafficking in children, 1,099 children were victims of trafficking and that the partial figures from the 2016 draft report refer to 1,416 child victims. Moreover, 42 persons have been identified as suspects under the terms of the Anti-Trafficking Act of 2008. Out of these 42 suspects, ten have been found guilty and sentenced by the courts.

The Committee notes that most of the information provided by the Government refers to the measures taken to combat trafficking in children and that no information is provided on the trafficking of adults. In this regard, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 17 October 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Committee stated that it remained concerned about human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labour (CCPR/C/BFA/CO/1, paragraph 35). The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to combat trafficking in persons (adults), in particular through the adoption of an appropriate national action plan that would enable the application in practice of the Anti-Trafficking Act (No. 029-2008/AN of 15 May 2008). It also requests the Government to take the necessary steps to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement bodies, including the labour inspectorate, to combat trafficking in persons. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to protect victims of trafficking and to provide them with appropriate assistance. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of prosecutions initiated, convictions handed down and specific penalties applied under the Anti-Trafficking Act.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.