Myanmar Penal Code

Unlawful forced labour has been criminalized under Section 374 of the Myanmar Penal Code, enacted on May 1, 1861. The Section states that “whoever unlawfully compels any person to labour against the will of that person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.”^[1]

Almost a century later—on March 4, 1955—the government of Myanmar ratified the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). Article 25 of the Convention No. 29 requires the illegal extraction of forced or compulsory labour to be punishable as a penal offence and that penalties be “adequate” and “strictly enforced.”^[2]

Regarding implementation and effectiveness, in 2023, the Commission of Inquiry concerning non-observance by Myanmar of Convention No. 29 concluded that six violations existed, including the “lack of adequate and dissuasive criminal sanctions of the extraction of compulsory under Section 374 of Myanmar’s Penal Code.”^[3] Another violation was the deteriorating enforcement of the legal prohibition of forced labour, including victims forced by the military fearing retaliation for reporting complaints.

The Commission of Inquiry urged the military authorities to end the exaction of all forms of forced or compulsory labour by the army and its associated armed forces and groups—including forced labour exacted from ethnic, religious or other minorities—and to end any forced recruitment into the military.^[4]

^[1]National Assembly, The Myanmar Penal Code, May 1, 1861, https://www.burmalibrary.org/docs17/1861-Penal_Code-ocr-en+bu.pdf.

^[2] International Labour Organization, Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29),  June 28, 1930, https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/forced-labour-convention-1930-no-29.

^[3] Committee on the Application of Standards, Follow-up to the Recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry (Complaint Made Under Article 26 of the Constitution of the ILO): Myanmar, report presented at the 112th Session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva, June 3–14, 2024, https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4379878,103159.

^[4] Committee on the Application of Standards, Follow-up to the Recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry (Complaint Made Under Article 26 of the Constitution of the ILO): Myanmar, report presented at the 112th Session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva, June 3–14, 2024, https://normlex.ilo.org/dyn/nrmlx_en/f?p=1000:13100:0::NO:13100:P13100_COMMENT_ID,P13100_COUNTRY_ID:4379878,103159.