MALAWI: NON-CONCURRENCE ON THE DEPARTMENT OF

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000477 SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR MARK MITTELHAUSER LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB BRANDIE SASSER AND CHARITA CASTRO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI MI SUBJECT: MALAWI: NON-CONCURRENCE ON THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S UPDATE OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 13126 LIST REF: A. STATE 80911 ¶B. LILONGWE 19 ¶C. 08 LILONGWE 304 ¶1. (U) Ref. A requested Post concurrence on the Department of Labor's draft list of products that have been "mined, produced or manufactured using forced or indentured child labor," pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 12126. Post does not/not concur with the inclusion of Malawi for the production of tobacco on this list. ¶2. (U) Ref. C noted that the Ministry of Labor in Malawi has no reported cases of forced labor. As noted in Ref. B and C, child labor is illegal in Malawi and the GOM continues to make good faith efforts to comply with its legal code and ILO standards. Investigations are routinely conducted and prosecutions are brought. There is no evidence or reason to suspect that the Ministry of Labor would conceal or not act on any reported cases of forced labor. ¶3. (U) Ref. B did note that anecdotal evidence from NGOs suggests that practices such as debt bondage and forced labor exist, but statistics are unavailable. Post has not been able to corroborate these reports from additional sources. ¶4. (U) COMMENT: Given the paucity of evidence of the existence of forced labor in Malawi, the demonstrated progress made by the GOM in reducing the incidence of child labor on commercial farms, Post feels that Malawi tobacco should not be included on the DOL list of products produced with forced or indentured labor. END COMMENT. BODDE