• To issue its own report next week on segment-wise issues

The Plantation Ministry is currently reviewing the report issued by Amnesty International on forced labour at tea estates in Sri Lanka, paying attention segment-wise to each of the issues raised.

When contacted by The Daily Morning  yesterday (28), a Ministry official said that according to what they have observed so far, the report largely carries the issues of the smallholder tea sector and lesser-known areas that grow tea in the Southern Province, and not State-owned estates.

“The report is still under review. We are understanding each of the issues raised one by one and we are planning to issue our own report on 1 June,” he said.

The concerns came to light as Amnesty International launched a report on Wednesday (27) stating that Malaiyaha Tamils working on private tea estates and smallholdings in Galle and Matara Districts are being subjected to abuses that meet many of the International Labour Organisation’s indicators of forced labour. It was mentioned that they are also being denied access to the country’s strict labour protections. 

The report mentioned that the community suffered multiple and widespread forms of abuse including intimidation and threats, physical violence and harassment, debt bondage, restrictions on movement, and poor working and living conditions at the estates. However, some of the issues raised were already raised by some of the local collectives that speak for Malaiyaha rights, which are barely acknowledged by the authorities upon the queries of the media.