Submission to
Foreign Policy White Paper
Forced labour-servitude-slavery in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region:
Australia’s capacity to respond
by
Slavery Links Australia Inc
PO Box 1357
Camberwell VIC 3124
ABN 68 313 911 591
[email protected]
www.library.slaverylinks.org
March 2017
Contents
The Contents of this Submission follow the format set out in the Call for Public Submissions to be found at
http://dfat.gov.au/whitepaper/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/foreign-policy-white-paper-call-for-submissions.pdf
Page
INTRODUCTION: SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN
1
01
AUSTRALIA’S FOREIGN POLICY NEEDS TO BE GROUNDED IN A CLEAREYED ASSESSMENT OF OUR NATIONAL INTERESTS
2
02
AUSTRALIA HAS DIVERSE INTERESTS THAT SPAN THE GLOBE
3
03
AUSTRALIA IS AN INFLUENTIAL PLAYER
6
04
AUSTRALIA NEEDS TO BE AMBITIOUS IN GRASPING ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITIES
8
05
AUSTRALIA CONFRONTS A RANGE OF STRATEGIC, SECURITY AND
TRANSNATIONAL CHALLENGES
10
06
AUSTRALIA USES A RANGE OF ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES TO PURSUE
OUR INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS
11
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Forced labour-servitude-slavery in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region: Australia’s capacity to respond
INTRODUCTION: SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN
This submission refers to slavery. Slavery is different from the modern phenomenon of human
trafficking. In the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, slavery arises from ancient systems of forced labourservitude-slavery through practices such as child trading, debt bondage, forced marriage and
serfdom; phenomena which are defined in the Supplementary Convention, 1956. These systems are
embedded in social, cultural and economic arrangements. In a global economy, Australia is exposed.
The Supplementary Convention came into Australian jurisprudence in Tangs Case1 R v Tang (2008)
237 CLR 1. Cases of slavery have been found in Australia, where people (who came to this country as
free persons) were enslaved by Australians in full view of others who did not recognise what was
happening. There have been cases of slavery in supply chains and in our chains of labour migration.
Australia is potentially part of the solution as well as potentially part of the ongoing problem.

Action re the United Nations (UN)
The UN antislavery efforts have been focussed on Africa. Australia needs to encourage the
UN and its Slavery Rapporteur to focus on slave-making in the Indo-Asia-Pacific (Section 03).
Slave-making systems affect whole classes of the poorest and most vulnerable people from excluded
groups such as low caste and outcaste groups, to particular tribes or particular faiths and subordinate
or marginalised groups such as women or people with disabilities. Systems of slavery are enabled to
persist by four ‘engines’: poverty and powerlessness and crime/corruption and conflict (Section 06).

Action re foreign development assistance
We encourage Australia to recognise that generalist programs for building infrastructure or
education will not reach excluded groups. Specialist programs are needed to overcome slavemaking systems driven by poverty and powerlessness and crime/corruption and conflict.
Division 270 of Australia’s Criminal Code Act 1995 defines slavery offences and offers a model for
other countries in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Yet slavery is not on Australia’s list of ‘core’ human
rights treaties for the purpose of Parliamentary Scrutiny. Therefore:

Action re Parliamentary Scrutiny
As indicated in Section 06 below, we encourage the government to amend Section 3 of the
Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act, No 186 of 2011, by adding to the list of treaties:
(h) The Supplementary Convention, 1956 [ATS No. 3].
Forced labour has been found in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, in Australian supply chains and in
labour migration. As indicated in Section 02, Australia is at risk of systemic contamination. Therefore:

Action re forced labour
Australia needs to ratify the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (P029).
Australia needs to encourage our major trading partners to ratify the Forced Labour
Convention, 1957 (especially China, Japan and Korea and including Malaysia and Singapore).
1
Kolodizner, Irina (2009) R v Tang: Developing an Australian Anti-Slavery Jurisprudence, Sydney Law Review,
Case Note Vol 31, pp 487 - 497
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01 AUSTRALIA’S FOREIGN POLICY NEEDS TO BE GROUNDED IN A CLEAR-EYED
ASSESSMENT OF OUR NATIONAL INTERESTS
Rules-based order
It is in Australia’s national interest to uphold the ‘rules-based order’ including international
agreements and norms. Australia ratified the Supplementary Convention, 1956. Australia’s foreign
policy needs to affirm the Convention in our foreign policy and our overseas development aid.
Encouraging action
Australia is entitled to encourage other countries to take action against child trading, debt bondage,
forced marriage, serfdom and other expressions of slave-making. The prohibition against slavery is a
norm that cannot be derogated.
Australia’s behaviour
It is in Australia’s national interest to set an example through our behaviour. Australia cannot afford
to contribute to world slavery through business supply chains, through trade or through labour
migration.
Australia’s positive example
It is in Australia’s national interest to promote Division 270 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 as a model
to be adopted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region for treatment of forced labour-servitude-slavery
offences.
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02 AUSTRALIA HAS DIVERSE INTERESTS THAT SPAN THE GLOBE
02-1 Which countries will matter most (with respect to forms of slavery)?
Many countries in the region appear to be associated with slavery and slave-making in some way.

Bonded labour in South Asia
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the principal source countries for debt
bondage. With 18-22 million debt bonded workers in the region,2 the Supplementary
Convention, 1956 obliges these countries to take action, which Australia could encourage.
Kara3 found evidence of bonded labour in domestic supply chains in South Asia; and he also
found evidence of bonded labour in supply chains feeding exports to other countries in the
region. It is essential that Australia’s supply chains do not become contaminated.

Child soldiers
In the Indo-Asia-Pacific, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka are the principal source
countries for (former) child soldiers from recent conflicts. It is in Australia’s interests to
encourage recovery, rehabilitation and re-integration of these former young fighters.

Child trading in South Asia
Under the Supplementary Convention, 1956 child trading happens when a parent or
guardian places a child for exploitation. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are
the principal source countries in the Indo-Asia-Pacific (and see Solomon Is below).

Domestic work and Australian business
Australian businesses operating in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Gulf States (for example)
are at risk of exposing expatriate workers to domestic service contracts that do not comply
with the ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, 2011 (No 189).

Serfdom in The Philippines
The Philippine Islands are the principal source country for serfdom, in a relic of the Spanish
colonial ‘hacienda’ system. Apparent examples can also be found in Cambodia.

The Solomon Islands: sham domestic work
In the Solomon Islands, Herbert (2007) reported that expatriate workers have exploited and
abused local girls under the pretence of hiring them for domestic service:
‘The engagement of children as ‘house girls’ also increased the opportunity for
commercial sexual exploitation of children, where loggers could claim they were
taking girls to work for them, when they were actually employing girls for sex.’4
2
Bales, Kevin (2005) Understanding Global Slavery (University of California Press). See Appendix 2, pp 183 ff
3
Kara, Siddharth (2012) Bonded Labour: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia (Columbia University
Press, New York)
4
Tania Herbert (2007) Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Solomon Islands, Christian Care
Centre, Church of Melanesia, July
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Thompson et al5 argued that changes in the post-colonial period have weakened women's
intra-household bargaining power in the Solomon Islands. These changes, they argued, have
reinforced the vulnerability of girls and women to exploitation; such that child labour,
transactional sex and informal child marriage practices have become closely interconnected.

Systems of forced marriage can be found in countries that supply migrants to Australia
According to Council of Europe Resolution 1468,6 forced marriage persists in named
countries of central Europe and the Former Soviet Union (whence Australia draws migrants).
An Islamified stereotype of forced marriage is insufficient. Australia’s programs with respect
to forced marriage need to embrace a range of cultures, histories, faiths and economic-andpolitical regimes.7
These examples illustrate that aspects of forced labour-servitude-slavery take different forms in
different parts of the region, but the different forms arise from an underlying condition where
excluded groups are subjected to extreme forms of over-control.
5
Thompson, Lester, David Wadley, Jennifer Corrin, Cathrine Napier and Karen Flanagan (2016) The emergence
of Child Trafficking (CT) and commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) Issues in the Solomon Islands: A
summarised issue analysis', in New Community Vol 14 Pp 18-23
6
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (2005) Resolution 1468, Forced marriages and child marriages,
Assembly debate on 5 October 2005 (29th Sitting) (see Doc. 10590, report of the Committee on Equal
Opportunities for Women and Men, rapporteur: Mrs Zapfl-Helbling; and Doc. 10678, opinion of the Social,
Health and Family Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mrs Bargholtz). Text adopted by the Assembly on 5 October
2005 (29th Sitting). For the Explanatory Memorandum Go to: http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-XrefViewHTML.asp?FileID=10969
7
See for example:
 CARE Nepal (2011) ‘Strategies and Interventions on Preventing Child Marriage’, CARE Nepal,
Kathmandu, Reported in Governance and Social Development Research Centre (2010) Help Desk
Research Report: Child Marriage, GSD-RC, Page 9. Page 10-11
 Pathfinder International (2006) Raising the Age of Marriage for Young Girls in Bangladesh, (Pathfinder
International, Bangladesh). Go
to:http://www.pathfind.org/site/DocServer/PF_Bangladesh_FINAL.pdf?docID=6601
 Plan (2011) Breaking vows: Early and forced marriage and girls’ education, Plan International, UK,
June. Web site: www.becauseiamagirl.org. For the report, Go to:
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full_Report_1483.pdf
 Population Council (2004) Forced sexual relations among married young women in developing
countries, (Population Council, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; and World Health organisation), June
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02-2 Which countries will matter most (as regards exposure to slavery through trade)?
Australia’s major trading partners (China, Japan and South Korea) have not ratified the Forced
Labour Convention, 1957. Malaysia and Singapore ratified and then repudiated.8
This means that Australia’s imports run the risk of being systematically contaminated by forced
labour and the dividends from our exports are also at risk of contamination. The trade arm of DFAT
needs to act congruently with Australia’s international obligations, and encourage businesses to do
so too. It is in Australia’s best interests:


To encourage all countries in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to ratify the Forced Labour
Convention, 1957.
To ratify the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 P029 (Go to:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:3174672)
02-3 What trends are likely and how should Australia respond?
There has been a resurgence of interest in antislavery among world bodies and NGOs, and
indications of a greater determination to expose slave-making and deal with it in an evidence-based
way. Australia should be on the front foot in terms of domestic programs and by encouraging
antislavery through our foreign relations, trade agreements and overseas development assistance.
8
Ratifications of Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105). Go to:
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:11300:0::NO:11300:P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:312250
The following ILO members have not ratified: Brunei Darussalam, China, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Lao
People's Democratic Republic, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Palau, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Viet Nam. Malaysia
ratified but denounced on 10 January, 1990. Singapore ratified but denounced on 19 April, 1979
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03 AUSTRALIA IS AN INFLUENTIAL PLAYER
With respect to antislavery, Australia’s standing derives from our positive engagement with the
Supplementary Convention, 1956 and our implementation of antislavery through Division 270 of the
Criminal Code Act, 1995. However Australia needs to do more to position antislavery as a prominent
feature of:



our diplomacy
our trade policy and
our overseas development assistance
in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
03-1 Which regional and global organisations matter most to us (re antislavery)?
The International Co-ordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) has not
yet taken a lead role in antislavery. Likewise the Asia Pacific Forum (APF). The Bali Process has
engaged with the topic of human trafficking but not (yet) the problem of slavery or the ancient
slave-making systems that operate in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. More needs to be done.
Evidence (from the countries of South Asia and the example of Burma-Myanmar) shows that action
against forced labour-servitude-slavery works best when it is implemented at all levels. Slavery
Links9 has discussed some academic work10 which refers to a spiral of mutually reinforcing actions,
for example:

Through local village councils (village-tracts in Myanmar and Adalaats in parts of South Asia);

Regional and ‘communal’-cultural organisations;

State or provincial instrumentalities for health, education and policing;

National systems for income distribution and poverty relief;

National systems for access to justice and redress;

National systems for governance / anticorruption;

International processes for standard setting (such as the ILO report on Burma which was
undertaken through the enforcement provision of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930)11

International processes for antislavery standard development, such as:
9
Roscoe Howell (2011) Australians and modern slavery (Melbourne: Slavery Links) pp 134, 143-145
For example Vaishali Zararia (2009) Translating women's human rights in a globalizing world: the spiral
process in reducing gender injustice in Baroda, India. Global Networks, Vol 9, No 4, 462–484
10
11
International Labour Organisation (1996) Report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed under article 26 of
the Constitution of the International Labour Organization to examine the observance by Myanmar of the
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). Go to:
file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Linda/LOCALS~1/Temp/Commission%20on%20Inquiry%20into%20Forced%20Labour%2
0in%20Myanmar%20Article%2024%2026%20cases.htm
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o
The Dutch-funded Program for Elimination of Bonded Labour in South Asia
(PEBLISA), now expired
o
Resourcing implementation of the Supplementary Convention, 1956 in the IndoAsia-Pacific and encouraging adoption of Division 270 of the Criminal Code Act, 1995
as a model for the region and, potentially,
o
The UN Human Rights Council and a yet-to-be-developed meaningful role in the
Indo-Asia-Pacific for the antislavery Rapporteur.
03-2 How should we support and shape them?
Slavery is not a matter of ‘us’ and ‘them’.
In a global economy, we are all complicit. Each of us is and all of us are obliged to act.
Australia should consider how to develop ownership of change through a ‘spiral’ process of mutually
reinforcing actions at local, provincial, national, regional and world-body levels (Point 3-1 above).
03-3 How can we maximise our influence?
Australians can maximise our influence by developing ‘ownership’ of antislavery; and by encouraging
the resourcing of action at all levels to ensure that none of the excluded groups in the region are left
behind.
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04 AUSTRALIA NEEDS TO BE AMBITIOUS IN GRASPING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
The wording in this heading is taken from the ‘Call for Public Submissions’. In this Submission, a
strikethrough type has been applied to the terms ‘ambition’ and ‘grasping’. Why? The term
‘ambition’ is not appropriate in an antislavery context. It carries


Connotations of ‘ruthless’, ‘striving’ and ‘pushy’ in terms of ethics or mode; and
Connotations of ‘grand’ or ‘elaborate’ in terms of scale.
Those values became outmoded with the passing of colonial rule. Rather than ‘ambitious’, Australia
needs to be judicious in building long term antislavery relations.
Moreover, the term ‘grasping’ would indicate a preference for a one-way value chain intended to
operate primarily in Australia’s advantage. Progress requires the sort of long term engagement and
encouragement of mutual benefits that would affirm Australia’s place as a valued partner in the
Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
04-1 How can we ensure Australia is positioned to take advantage of opportunities ...?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) provide an agreed framework for proceeding. How?
Ancient systems of slave-making in the Indo-Asia-Pacific are embedded in the social, cultural and
politico-economic arrangements of the region. Change can create tension, as elites find that they are
less able to capture benefits for themselves at the expense of formerly excluded groups.

Antislavery needs to reach for excluded groups
Australia needs to be judicious in discerning where to engage with those opportunities
which can be sustained over the long term with the sort of social, cultural, economic and
political advantages that are sought by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). In
terms of antislavery, the SDG are quite clear in inviting consideration of the excluded groups
that are exposed to the ancient slave-making systems that operate in the Indo-Asia-Pacific:
‘The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intended to be universal in the
sense of embodying a universally shared common global vision of progress towards
a safe, just and sustainable space for all human beings to thrive on the planet. They
reflect the moral principles that no-one and no country should be left behind ...’12
Why do the SDGs emphasise that no group is to be left behind? Under the former
Millennium Development Goals, average measures of ‘progress’ were found to conceal a
failure to bring benefits to excluded groups – people of low caste, people of particular tribes
or religions or disabilities, women, and others in groups who are at risk of being harvested
by ancient slave-making systems.
To promote effective antislavery action, Australia needs to ensure that development
programs and other policies include people and groups who would otherwise be excluded in
their countries.
12
This quote comes from the Executive Summary, Universal Sustainable Development Goals: Understanding
the Transformational Challenge for Developed Countries. Report of a Study by Stakeholder Forum, May 2015.
Authors: Derek Osborn, Amy Cutter and Farooq Ullah
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04-2 What are the key risks to Australia’s future prosperity and how should we respond?
At present, trade agreements are silent on labour rights and standards. That needs to change.

Trade agreements and Labour rights
The ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of labour standards is a risk to Australia’s future
prosperity. It is in Australia’s best interests to ensure that, over time, every trade agreement
will include a Chapter on labour rights and standards as set by Conventions of the
International Labour Organisation (ILO).
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05 AUSTRALIA CONFRONTS A RANGE OF STRATEGIC, SECURITY AND TRANSNATIONAL
CHALLENGES
05-1 How can Australia best deal with instability beyond our borders?
Where antislavery is concerned there may be two examples that are helpful in context of strategic,
security and transnational challenges that may emerge to confront Australia and the region.

In India, perhaps up to half of the local government areas in eastern parts of the country are
supposed to be under the control of landless peasants who are identified with so-called
Naxalite interests. Regrettably the several levels of government have failed to promote land
reform generally or to affirm the rights of Dalits in particular.13
It would be in Australia’s best interests to encourage India to deal with land reform, to
address corruption and to affirm the interests of Dalits and such excluded groups who may
otherwise come to believe that their only possible means of feeding their families is to ally
with so-called Naxalite interests or more extreme Maoist insurgents.

In the Philippines, landless peasants were displaced by the Spanish in a colonial process
which created ‘friar lands’ and which the American colonists were unable to rectify in a
failed attempt at land reform. The Spanish ‘hacienda’ system created a class of landless
peasants who, in order to survive, were forced to enter agreements for personal service that
amounted to states of serfdom. The Supplementary Convention, 1956 recognised serfdom
as a form of servitude in the modern world.
Following their invasion from 1901, the Americans sought to take control of parts of the
southern Philippines that the Spanish had not colonised. From the points of view of the preexisting inhabitants, Muslim families and clans were displaced from their land by Filipino
Christian settlers.
It would be in Australia’s best interests to encourage the Philippines to deal with land
reform, to address corruption and to affirm the interests of Muslims and such excluded
groups in the Southern Philippines who may otherwise come to believe that their only
possible means of feeding their families is to ally with extreme Muslim insurgents.
05-2 How can our foreign policy, including our overseas development assistance program,
support a more prosperous, peaceful and stable region?
It would be in Australia’s best interests to encourage governments to deal with land reform, to
address corruption and to affirm the interests of groups who are landless and or excluded.
05-3 How should our international engagement work to protect Australia against
transnational security threats, such as terrorism?
Again, it would be in Australia’s best interests to encourage governments to deal with land reform,
to address corruption and to affirm the interests of groups who are landless and or excluded.
13
Donner, Henrike (2009) Radical masculinity: morality, sociality and relationships through recollections of
Naxalite activists, Dialectical Anthropology, Vol 33, Pp 327–343
Mukherji, Partrha (1987) ‘Study of social conflicts: case of Naxalbari peasant movement’, Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol 22, No 38, Pp 1607 – 1617
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06 AUSTRALIA USES A RANGE OF ASSETS AND CAPABILITIES TO PURSUE OUR
INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS
06-1 What assets will we need to advance our foreign policy interests in future years?
How can we best use our people and our assets to advance Australia’s economic,
security and other interests and respond to external events?
Insofar as antislavery is concerned, Australia has two essential ‘assets’ already in place and available
to be applied in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region:

The Supplementary Convention, 1956, which refers to forced labour-servitude-slavery and
establishes a non-derogable responsibility on all countries to eliminate slavery.

Division 270 of the Criminal Code Act, 1995, which establishes a hierarchy of forced labourservitude-slavery offences and provides a model for other countries in the region to address
criminal aspects of the ancient slave-making systems that persist here.
Antislavery ‘models’ to be offered by Australia
It is in the best interests of Australia for these ‘assets’ to be promulgated, explained and promoted in
the region. Australia has a value to offer in this role: Australia has demonstrated a capacity to work
cooperatively with other countries to address difficult problems for mutual benefit in a framework
of the rules-based order such as that provided by the Supplementary Convention, 1956.
Actions required in Australia in support of these models
Three actions would strengthen the coherence and congruence of Australia’s actions and thereby
assist Australia’s credibility in offering these models in the region:
1. Status of the Supplementary Convention 1956
We encourage the government to amend Section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary
Scrutiny) Act, No 186 of 2011, by adding to the list of treaties: (h) The Supplementary
Convention, 1956 [ATS No. 3]
Why make the change?14 Because the League of Nations’ Slavery Convention, 1926 - which
remains operative - is augmented, expanded and intensified by the recognised categories
touching upon slavery and slavery-like offences found within the Supplementary
Convention. The mention of slavery in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can only
be understood by reference to the Supplementary Convention. The addition of the
Supplementary Convention to the process of Parliamentary Scrutiny would better explain
and align the developments found in s 270 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
14
The case has been made in detail by Slavery Links. See: Roscoe Howell (2015) ‘Adding slavery to the list of
treaties to be considered by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’, Briefing Papers on Slavery
(© Slavery Links Australia Inc., Melbourne). Go to: http://library.slaverylinks.org/wpcontent/uploads/sites/2/2015/08/Adding-Slavery-to-Treaties.pdf
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2. Congruence between trade and human rights
In promulgating these assets, it will be essential to align the human rights and trade
elements of DFAT more closely, in order congruently to express the values of antislavery in
all our decisions, programs and initiatives. Why? Because the Indo-Asia-Pacific features
ancient systems of slavery that are embedded in social, cultural and politico-economic
aspects of countries in the region.
3. Action re foreign development assistance
Slave-making systems affect whole classes of the poorest and most vulnerable people from
excluded groups such as low caste and outcaste groups, particular tribes or particular faiths
and subordinate or marginalised groups such as women or people with disabilities. Systems
of slavery are enabled to persist by four ‘engines’: poverty and powerlessness and
crime/corruption and conflict.
We encourage Australia to recognise that generalist programs for building infrastructure or
education will not reach excluded groups. Specialist programs are needed to overcome slavemaking systems driven by poverty and powerlessness and crime/corruption and conflict.
06-2 How can Government work more effectively with non-government sectors, including
business, universities and NGOs, to advance Australia’s interests?
Slavery Links Australia has contributed to NGO consultations in the past and stands ready to do so in
the future.
However current funding arrangements do not appear to enable DFAT to fund projects which would
draw on Slavery Links’ antislavery expertise and evidence base. We encourage DFAT to draw on our
expertise more fully, going forward.