R035 - Forced Labour (Indirect Compulsion) Recommendation, 1930

 Adoption: Geneva, 14th ILC session (28 Jun 1930)

Preamble

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Fourteenth Session on 10 June 1930, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to indirect compulsion to labour, which is included in the first item on the agenda of the Session, and

Having determined that these proposals should take the form of a Recommendation,

adopts this twenty-eighth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred thirty, the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the Forced Labour (Indirect Compulsion) Recommendation, 1930, to be submitted to the Members of the International Labour Organisation for consideration with a view to effect being given to it by national legislation or otherwise, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation:

Having adopted a Convention concerning forced or compulsory labour, and

Desiring to supplement this Convention by a statement of the principles which appear best fitted to guide the policy of the Members in endeavouring to avoid any indirect compulsion to labour which would lay too heavy a burden upon the populations of territories to which the Convention may apply,

The Conference recommends that each Member should take the following principles into consideration:

I

The amount of labour available, the capacities for labour of the population, and the evil effects which too sudden changes in the habits of life and labour may have on the social conditions of the population, are factors which should be taken into consideration in deciding questions connected with the economic development of territories in a primitive stage of development, and, in particular, when deciding upon:

• (a) increases in the number and extent of industrial, mining and agricultural undertakings in such territories;
• (b) the non-indigenous settlement, if any, which is to be permitted;
• (c) the granting of forest or other concessions, with or without the character of monopolies.

II

The desirability of avoiding indirect means of artificially increasing the economic pressure upon populations to seek wage-earning employment, and particularly such means as:

• (a) imposing such taxation upon populations as would have the effect of compelling them to seek wage-earning employment with private undertakings;
• (b) imposing such restrictions on the possession, occupation, or use of land as would have the effect of rendering difficult the gaining of a living by independent cultivation;
• (c) extending abusively the generally accepted meaning of vagrancy;
• (d) adopting such pass laws as would have the effect of placing workers in the service of others in a position of advantage as compared with that of other workers.

III

The desirability of avoiding any restrictions on the voluntary flow of labour from one form of employment to another or from one district to another which might have the indirect effect of compelling workers to take employment in particular industries or districts, except where such restrictions are considered necessary in the interest of the population or of the workers concerned.