Review of policy and practice: Compulsory military service and conscript labour in Mongolia

This report presents the results of a study carried out by the National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia (NHRCM) with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Forced Labour Action in the Asian Region (FLARE) project. The study reviews Mongolia’s legal and policy framework and practices on compulsory military service and conscripts’ labour. Field research for the study was carried out in construction-engineering Units Nos 339 and 340 between June and November 2013 with a total of 159 persons participating in the survey. The ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) permits compulsory military service, but allows mobilization of military conscripts only for work of a purely military character. Furthermore, the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) prohibits mobilizing and using forced or compulsory labour, including labour of military conscripts, for purposes of economic development. The study found that the involvement of military conscripts in economic development is an explicit goal in Mongolia’s national policy on defense. The survey results suggest that, in practice, military conscripts are engaged in non-military work performed in the context of development projects. These findings raise questions regarding Mongolia’s compliance with Conventions Nos 29 and 105, which Mongolia ratified in 2005. In 2014, the International Labour Conference adopted a new legally binding Protocol designed to strengthen global efforts to eliminate forced labour. The Protocol is a renewed call to action to prevent forced labour, to protect victims and to provide access to remedies, such as compensation for material and physical harm.