SRI LANKA: Blatant disregard of estate owner’s illegal activities by the Yakkalamulla police 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has come to learn of a case in Sri Lanka involving the forced labour of three minors in lieu of their parent’s debt. When the parents of the three children were unable to repay a loan they had obtained from their tea estate employer, the employer unlawfully took possession of their children and forced them into work. The children worked long days, were not paid and had to provide their own food. When the mother of the children went to the Yakkalamulla police in an attempt to free her children, she was treated with contempt and initially told to go away. Eventually two of the children were returned to her, but the youngest – only eight-years-old – is still not in her custody. The employer himself has faced no legal action and it looks increasingly unlikely that he ever will.

D. Karunadasa is the proprietor and owner of about 30 acres of cinnamon and tea estates. Recently there have been several allegations against him of forcing men, women and children to work under slave-like conditions and without pay. It is said that this is done under the full cooperation and awareness of the Yakkalamulla police who are also turning a blind eye to the any complaints made against Mr. Karunadasa.

K Thaivani and her husband Muthukaruppan have been working at Mr. Karunadasa’s tea estate for the past two years. During this time Muthukaruppan has been severely assaulted by the proprietor, was hospitalised for one week at the Karapitiya hospital and is currently in hiding. The mother now claims that the owner and his son abducted her three children (who are 8, 16 and 17-years-old) and subjected them to harassment, ill-treatment and forced labour.

Accordingly Thaivani brought the matter to the attention of local human rights organisation, Janasansadaya. They then helped Thaivani in writing complaint letters to the relevant authorities, including the National Police Commission, the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General, the Human Rights Council and the National Child Protection Authority.

Subsequently Thaivani received a letter on 23 May 2006 (bearing ref no. C.1/220/06) from the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Galle stating that (a) her children were in the custody of Mr. Karunadasa, (b) ‘it has been revealed to the SSP’ that the children were in good health and happiness and (c) that she could at any time visit the Yakkalamulla police and obtain their help in securing her children. Therefore, the following day Thaivani visited the Yakkalamulla police and requested them to retrieve her children. However, they rudely told her to come back the following day. Hence she returned the next day at 8am but it was only after a further delay of several hours that Mr. Karunadasa finally brought her two eldest children to the station. She also says that the policemen recorded their statement and forced them to sign documents which were not read or explained to them. Furthermore these statements had been obtained in a language (Sinhala) which was unfamiliar to Thaivani who is a Tamil. After further abuse and insults by the police Thaivani was finally able to take her two sons home.

However when she inquired where her youngest son was she was shocked to discover that the police had already produced him before court and had sent him to a state-run children’s home. It is believed that the police had maliciously misrepresented facts regarding the boy to obtain the required court order. Thaivani is now at a loss as to why the SSP did not intervene to get her son back. She also wonders whether the SSP is working together with the Yakkalamulla police acting in collusion with the perpetrator Mr. Karunadasa and attempting to shield him despite the despicable and illegal acts committed by him against the three children.

Thaivani also says that earlier the police attempted to justify Mr. Karunadasa’s actions by saying that he had taken the children to work for him in lieu of certain debts incurred by Thaivani. However, Thaivani was furious that anyone would believe it legal to obtain the forced labour of three minors in lieu of a debt. Upon returning home the two boys complained that they were forced to work from morning to dusk and were then locked up in a room until the following morning. They also had to buy provisions and cook for themselves during their stay. Additionally, they were not paid a cent for services rendered. The younger boy also complained that he had been severely assaulted whilst in the custody of Mr. Karunadasa.

To date the Yakkalamulla police or any other police authority has failed to take any action against the illegal activities of Mr. Karunadasa. On the contrary the victims strongly feel that there is now an active attempt to safeguard him from possible legal repercussions.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Tea estate workers, despite being the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy (the export of tea is one of its most important foreign exchange earners), constitute the most marginalised section of the country’s labour force. The social stigma that was associated with the tea estate workers when they first came from the dry, southern districts of Tamil Nadu in the early part of the 19th century, still lingers.

Decades after the issue of the disenfranchisement of the estate Tamils was settled through the Sirima-Shastri pact, a large number of the estate workers are still trying to get Sri Lankan citizenship. Social indicators for the “Indian Tamil” ethnic community, under which category tea estate workers are classified, are among the poorest among all ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. The reason is that successive governments ignored aspects of infrastructure and human resource development in the region.

The living conditions of the plantation Tamils are appalling. Each family is given a small room in which to live in and hygiene standards are atrocious. The health and education facilities made available to this community have been deplorable. There are often dispensaries in the estates but no doctors. Unqualified dispensers attend to the sick. Schools are only up the 4th or 5th standard. The objective is to discourage Tamils from improving in education to make sure that they remain labourers.

Given only meager wages and unable to obtain official loans from the banks, owing to their non-citizenship status, the plantation Tamils are forced to take loans, often from their employers, and incur large rates of interest when doing this. As the level of interest is often unable to be paid back, the plantation workers then become indebted to their employers, leaving them vulnerable and open to exploitation. In return, employers sometimes take workers’ children and force them to work for them in lieu of the debts of their parents. Though this is highly illegal, with abduction, kidnapping and forced labour implications, the employers often work in collusion with the police so that they escape any legal action for their crimes.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities voicing your strong condemnation of this case. Without any further delay Thaivani’s youngest child should be returned to her. An investigation should also be launched into the conduct of both Mr. Karunadasa and the Yakkalamulla police and legal action taken against anyone who has violated the rights of the three minors. The actions of the SSP of Galle should also be investigated and legal action taken if so required.

 

 

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