The incidence of bonded labour in India is a matter of serious concern to the Government and to the international community.
Bonded labour has long been recognised as a contemporary form of slavery and is forbidden by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, by the 1956 Convention on practices similar to slavery and by the International Labour Organisation.
The question of bonded labour in India has been raised at a number of international organisations, in particular the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation. The working group on contemporary forms of slavery, a working group of the sub-commission on the promotion and protection of human rights, is the UN body which has responsibility for the study of bonded labour. At its session in Geneva in July 2000, the working group devoted priority attention to the question of bonded labour, in particular in India, and adopted a number of recommendations aimed at eliminating this practice.
The ILO has been addressing bonded labour, and in particular bonded child labour, in India since 1992, through a large series of action and other programmes. The programmes are designed to raise awareness of the problem and to provide education and rehabilitation.
The Government is committed to supporting efforts to eliminate this fundamental abuse of human rights and all other forms of slavery. Ireland fully supports the work under way in the UN and ILO to eliminate bonded labour and our concerns have been voiced on this matter in all relevant international fora.
Ireland has provided financial assistance to the UN voluntary trust fund on contemporary forms of slavery, which was established in 1991.
This trust fund assists NGOs to participate in the work of the working group on contemporary forms of slavery and to provide assistance to individual victims of contemporary forms of slavery, such as bonded labour.
The Government will continue to work for the elimination of this unacceptable practice.