The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has sent its congratulations to Vietnam after the 14th National Assembly (NA) adopted a resolution ratifying the country’s membership of the Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour (Convention 105), with 94.82% of delegates voting in favour at the ongoing ninth session on June 8.

Legislators press buttons to vote on Convention 105 on June 8
(Photo: VNA)

The move brings the number of ILO conventions Vietnam has adopted to seven out of eight.

Director of the ILO’s International Labour Standards Department Corinne Vargha said “Through this ratification, Vietnam is demonstrating its firm commitment to combating forced labour in all its forms. This ratification is all the more important since the ILO’s global estimates show the urgency of adopting immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour.”

Moreover, by ratifying the Convention 105, Vietnam is moving ahead towards the achievement of decent work and the delivering at the country-level of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG target 8.7, Vargha said.

Country Director of the ILO in Vietnam Chang-hee Lee said the Vietnamese Government and social partners have been exerting consistent efforts in bettering its legal framework to pave the way for Vietnam to move towards an upper-middle income nation in a sustainable manner.

Estimates from the ILO show that out of the 24.9 million people trapped in forced labour, 16 million are exploited in the private sector, such as domestic work, construction, and agriculture; 4.8 million are in forced sexual exploitation; and 4 million are in forced labour imposed by state authorities.

Forced labour in the private economy generates US$150 billion in illegal profits each year.

The Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour was adopted by the ILO in Geneva on June 25, 1957. It is one of the two ILO conventions against forced labour, along with Convention 29, to which Vietnam joined in 2007