Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Niger (Ratification: 1961)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - Niger (Ratification: 2015)

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Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Effective measures to combat trafficking in persons. Systematic and coordinated action. With regard to the implementation of the National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons 2014–18, the Government indicates in its report that the National Agency for Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (ANLTP/TIM) has carried out a number of activities, with outcomes including: the adoption of regulatory texts; the implementation of prevention activities; the development of measures to identify, assist and provide care for trafficking victims; holding capacity-building workshops for the actors concerned; and strengthening national and international cooperation. The Government also indicates that the National Commission for the Coordination of Action against Trafficking in Persons (CNCLTP) has started the process for the adoption of the new National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons.

The Government also indicates that, faced with migration flows in multiple forms, it has drawn up a National Migration Policy and a corresponding Plan of Action for the 2020–35 period. The Committee notes that the expected outcomes of the National Migration Policy 2020–35, whose overall goal is to make a sustainable contribution to improving the living conditions of migrants and host communities, include action against trafficking in persons. The Committee hopes that the draft National Plan of Action to combat trafficking in persons will be adopted in the near future and requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of this new Plan, indicating in particular the objectives of the Plan, the measures envisaged for achieving them, and also any difficulties encountered and the steps taken to overcome them. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out by the CNCLTP and the ANLTP/TIM to ensure systematic and coordinated action by the competent authorities. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken in the context of the National Migration Policy 2020–35 to prevent trafficking in persons.

Article 2(a) and (b) of the Protocol. Prevention. Awareness-raising, education and information. The Committee notes the information on the activities for the prevention of trafficking in persons, including the organization of televised debates on forced labour, the dissemination of information online, and the organization of “awareness-raising caravans” on trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The Government explains that, in order to raise the awareness of vulnerable categories of people, the ANLTP/TIM has developed and disseminated awareness-raising visuals and brochures on trafficking in persons and the risks connected with irregular migration. The Government adds that as part of strengthening cooperation with Nigeria to combat trafficking in persons, it is planned to erect awareness-raising billboards along the borders of both countries. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to information on the ANLTP/TIM website, the project to strengthen cooperation between Niger and Nigeria on combating human trafficking, developed in 2021, has raised awareness of trafficking in persons, migration, and the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders for some 2,000 persons, and the “awareness-raising caravans” have reached over 1,600 individuals. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take measures to raise public awareness of trafficking in persons, and particularly to continue activities designed to inform potential national migrants and migrants in transit through Niger on the risks involved in trafficking in persons.

Article 2(d) of the Protocol. Protection of migrants during the recruitment process. The Committee previously requested the Government to indicate whether new bilateral agreements had been concluded with respect to migrant workers from Niger and whether there were national recruitment agencies which placed workers from Niger abroad. The Government indicates that six recruitment agencies from Niger had been approved for placing workers from Niger in Saudi Arabia but that the implementation of the bilateral agreement with this country has been suspended and these agencies are no longer operational. The Government indicates that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation with respect to the exchange of workers with Libya on 30 November 2021. This MoU provides, inter alia, as follows: both countries must take all necessary legal measures to prevent abuses which might be committed by the services concerned; fees related to the recruitment of workers must be covered in full by the employer in the host country; the employment contract must be drawn up in both French and Arabic according to a model approved by both countries; and the regulations on social security must be respected. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any difficulties encountered in connection with the implementation of the memorandum of understanding with Libya, including as regards any complaints relating to cases of trafficking in persons or abusive practices, and also on any other agreement concluded with countries which receive migrant workers from Niger. The Committee also refers to its 2022 comments on the application of the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181).

Article 3 of the Protocol. Identification and protection of victims. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the ANLTP/TIM has developed a national mechanism for the referral of trafficking victims. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication in its report of 30 March 2023 to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that the ANLTP/TIM regularly offers capacity-building sessions for the different actors who play a role in combating trafficking in persons, in order to strengthen the prompt identification of trafficking victims. It also indicates that the national victim referral mechanism and a map of counter-trafficking actors were developed in September 2020, and several awareness-raising sessions have already been held to increase the visibility of these documents (CEDAW/C/NER/5). The Committee further notes that a 2022 study of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the profile of trafficking victims in Niger states that 56 per cent of victims come from Nigeria and 23 per cent come from Niger. Women and girls constitute 69 per cent of trafficking victims in Niger and adults account for 62 per cent. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take steps to make the relevant stakeholders aware of the national victim referral mechanism and requests it to send information on the manner in which this referral mechanism operates. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the number of trafficking victims who have been identified.

As regards providing care for trafficking victims, the Government indicates that the High Court of Zinder coordinates the activities of the welcome centre established in the city. The centre has pluridisciplinary professionals to receive and listen to trafficking victims and direct them towards the appropriate care mechanisms. The Government adds that the ANLTP/TIM signed a protocol of agreement with an NGO regarding the provision of mental and psychosocial care for trafficking victims, and that it established a programme for the social and occupational rehabilitation of victims. The Committee also notes that, according to the above-mentioned IOM study on the profile of trafficking victims in Niger, a total of 168 trafficking victims received assistance at the Zinder centre between January 2017 and July 2021, and another 397 trafficking victims were received at welcome centres managed by the IOM. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to ensure the welcome and protection of victims with a view to their recovery and rehabilitation, including in cooperation with civil society. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the number of victims welcomed and cared for at the Zinder centre, and also the type of protection and assistance measures from which they have benefited.

Article 4 of the Protocol. 1. Access to remedies and compensation. The Committee previously asked the Government to take the necessary steps to adopt the draft decree establishing procedures for the operation and management of the special compensation fund for trafficking victims. In this regard, the Government indicates that the ANLTP/TIM is working to secure the adoption of this decree. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report of 30 March 2023 to the United Nations CEDAW that the process of developing the draft decree could not be completed, and that the CNCLTP, the ANLTP/TIM and technical and financial partners are in talks aimed at resuming and completing the process of setting up the fund (CEDAW/C/NER/5). The Committee trusts that the special compensation fund for trafficking victims will be established in the near future to facilitate access to remedies for victims. The Committee also once again requests the Government to indicate the number of victims to whom the courts have awarded compensation, the measures taken to enforce the execution of these rulings, and the manner in which legal assistance is actually provided to victims.

2. Non-prosecution of victims. Further to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that the provisions of section 41 of the Penal Code, which provide that “there shall be no crime, offence or violation in cases where the accused […] was under constraint from force that could not be resisted”, could be used in order not to prosecute trafficking victims who were compelled to perform illicit activities, wherever the conditions regarding constraint are met. The Government adds that the detection services or the prosecutors may have the positive obligation to seek to determine whether the person suspected of an offence is a victim, where there is evidence in this regard and if the alleged offence stems from this situation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether, in practice, section 41 of the Penal Code has already been used not to prosecute and not to punish any trafficking victims who were compelled to perform illicit activities and whether any instructions have been issued in this regard.

Article 25 of the Convention and Article 1(1) of the Protocol. Prosecution and imposition of penalties. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the ANLTP/TIM has organized a number of capacity-building activities for actors in the penal system (magistrates, police, gendarmes and guards) regarding trafficking in persons, addressing various topics relating to investigations, prosecutions and rulings in trafficking cases. The ANLTP/TIM also envisages training labour inspectors in the detection of trafficking cases, as provided for in the draft National Plan of Action against trafficking. The Committee notes that, according to the 2020 edition of the compendium of statistics of the Ministry of Justice, six new human trafficking offences were recorded by the court prosecution services in 2018–19, all of which have been prosecuted. Noting the low number of cases of trafficking in persons which have been prosecuted and the lack of information on any convictions, the Committee requests the Government to continue to develop capacity-building activities for all actors in the penal system and the labour inspectorate, so that they are fully able to identify cases of trafficking in persons and prosecute the perpetrators of such acts. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of investigations conducted, prosecutions initiated and convictions handed down pursuant to the provisions of Ordinance No. 2010-86 of 16 December 2010 against trafficking in persons.

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Indirect compulsion to work in the event of vagrancy. For many years the Committee has been asking the Government to bring the provisions of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code, which penalize vagrancy, into conformity with the Convention, so that persons considered to be vagrants who do not disrupt public order are not liable to penalties. Under these provisions, vagrants, who are defined as persons with no fixed abode or means of subsistence and who habitually have no trade or occupation, are liable to imprisonment of three to six months. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Justice has undertaken a reform of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and that the Committee’s requests will be taken into account. The Committee hopes that the Government will bring the provisions of sections 177 and 178 of the Penal Code into conformity with the Convention as part of its penal reform, so as to clearly exclude any possibility of indirect compulsion to work in cases of vagrancy.