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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Mozambique (Ratification: 2003)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Mozambique (Ratification: 2018)

The Committee welcomes the ratification by Mozambique of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. Noting that the first report of the Government has not been received, the Committee hopes that the Government will provide detailed information on the application of the Protocol in accordance with the report form adopted by the Governing Body.

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously requested the Government to strengthen its efforts to combat trafficking and to implement a coordinated strategy in this regard, including through the adoption of a national action plan and the implementing regulations of Act No. 6/2008 of 9 July establishing the legal framework applicable for preventing and combating trafficking in persons. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that several awareness-raising activities were undertaken, including 1,299 presentations which were attended by 76,197 individuals throughout the country, and 55 radio and TV broadcasts, in 2022. The Government adds that the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) also carried out preventive actions through its National Reference Group (GRN) for Trafficking in Persons, Illegal Immigration and Child Protection, including in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Furthermore, several training activities were carried out in order to strengthen the capacities of front-line officials, including from the Government, border control police and customs and migration services, with a view to ensuring better identification, referral and assistance for victims of trafficking in persons.

In this regard, the Committee notes that, in its 2021 annual report to the Assembly of the Republic, the Prosecutor-General highlights the specific difficulties faced in detecting cases of trafficking in persons and identifying victims, as well as the need for concerted and increased efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons. The Prosecutor-General of the Republic indicates that only two cases of trafficking were investigated in 2020. The Committee further notes that in, July 2022, two Mozambican citizens were convicted by a South African Court for trafficking in persons for purposes of labour involving 39 persons from Mozambique. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to data from the IOM and UNDOC Regional Office for Southern Africa, Mozambique remains a country of origin, transit and destination for trafficking in persons, with most victims being trafficked into forced labour, particularly in the agricultural and mining sectors, especially in South Africa. It further notes that, in the context of the deteriorating security situation in the Cabo Delgado region in the north of the country that has so far generated over 800,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), specific concerns were expressed regarding the increasing vulnerability to trafficking of persons escaping the conflict (IOM, Displacement Tracking Matrix, June 2022).

While taking due note of the activities undertaken in order to raise public awareness and strengthen the capacity of public officials to identify cases of trafficking in persons, the Committee notes with concern the low number of cases of trafficking investigated and prosecuted; the absence of progress in the adoption of an action plan and implementing regulations of Act No. 6/2008; and the lack of information from the Government on cases identified, and protection and assistance provided to victims. The Committee urges the Government to step up its efforts in order to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and take the necessary measures to adopt the national plan to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and implementing regulations of Act No. 6/2008. It further requests the Government to provide information on the concrete and coordinated measures implemented with a view to: (i) preventing trafficking in persons and raising public awareness of the issue, in particular in the Cabo Delgado region; (ii) reinforcing the capacities and training of the authorities responsible for the detection and prosecution of cases of trafficking; and (iii) ensuring the effective protection and reintegration of victims. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of cases of trafficking in persons identified, and the investigations and judicial proceedings initiated, convictions handed down and specific penalties imposed on perpetrators under Act No. 6/2008.

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