Forced labour is defined in ILO Convention No.29 as “all work or service that is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily” (Art. 2.1.).
Forced labour occurs when people are subjected to psychological or physical coercion in order to perform some work, which they would otherwise not have freely chosen. Some people are more at risk of becoming victims of forced labour, because their vulnerability and/or poverty is being exploited by perpetrators. Indigenous and tribal peoples, because they often suffer from poverty, illiteracy, discrimination and geographical isolation, may potentially get trapped into forced labour. In some cases, the persistence of forced labour today is the result of very longstanding patterns of discrimination against certain ethnic and caste minorities.
Throughout the world, indigenous peoples are indeed in forced labour situations, such as the Guaraní in Bolivia. The ILO Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL) supports activities such as field studies in order to improve the understanding of the forced labour situation; tripartite validation meetings; training and awareness raising activities towards employers and workers;, technical assistance on national action plans and policy measures and; the fostering of national ownership through the creation of national commissions.
As far as indigenous peoples are concerned, SAP-FL field action has been focused until now on Latin America, especially Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay. A series of studies have confirmed the existence of forced labour among indigenous peoples in Latin America. In Latin America, today as centuries ago, the main victims of forced labour are indigenous peoples, living in isolated regions, where comparatively recent settlement has encouraged a demand for cheap labour, and where there is virtually no state presence to provide protection against forced labour.” SAP-FL has contributed to the national political commitments in these countries. As a consequence, the Government of Bolivia has launched a National Plan of Action in 2005, followed by Peru in 2007.