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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ramarajan" data-source="post: 1603400" data-attributes="member: 86701">National/Racial/Ethnic MinoritiesThere were approximately one million Tamils of Indian origin, the so‑called Hill, Tea Estate, or Indian Tamils, whose ancestors originally were brought to the country in the 19th century to work on plantations. In the past approximately 300,000 of these persons did not qualify for citizenship in any country and faced discrimination, especially in the allocation of government funds for education. In 2003 parliament passed a bill granting full citizenship to more than 460,000 Tea Estate Tamils. In 2004 UNHCR began awareness campaigns to alert Tamils to the new legislation. At year's end approximately 70,000 registrations remained unconfirmed.Both Sri Lankan and Indian origin Tamils maintained that they suffered longstanding systematic discrimination in university education, government employment, and in other matters controlled by the government. According to the SLHRC, Tamils also experienced discrimination in housing.Tamils throughout the country, but especially in the conflict-affected north and east, reported frequent harassment of young and middle aged Tamil men by security forces and paramilitary groups.Indigenous PeopleThe country's indigenous people, known as Veddas, numbered fewer than 1,000. Some preferred to maintain their traditional way of life and are protected by the law. There are no legal restrictions on their participation in political or economic life. Vedda communities complained that they were pushed off their lands, and the creation of protected forest areas deprived them of traditional livelihoods.Other Societal Abuses and DiscriminationThe law criminalizes homosexual activity but was not enforced. Some NGOs working on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues did not register with the government. As in recent years, human rights organizations reported that police harassed, extorted money or sexual favors from, and assaulted gay men in Colombo and other areas.There was no official discrimination against those who provided HIV prevention services or against high‑risk groups likely to spread HIV/AIDS, although there was societal discrimination against these groups.Section 6 Worker Rightsa. The Right of AssociationThe laws allow workers to form and join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and the country has a strong trade union tradition. Any seven workers may form a union, adopt a charter, elect leaders, and publicize their views, but in practice such rights were subject to resistance by the management of individual factories and administrative delays by the government in registering the unions. Nonetheless, approximately 20 percent of the seven‑million‑person work force nationwide and more than 70 percent of the plantation work force was unionized. In total, there were more than one million union members. Approximately 15 to 20 percent of the nonagricultural work force in the private sector was unionized. Unions represented most workers in large private firms, but workers in small‑scale agriculture and small businesses usually did not belong to unions. Public sector employees were unionized at very high rates.Under the law, workers in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) have the same rights to join unions as other workers. Although some unions were able to organize EPZ workers, forming trade unions was still difficult in the zones, however, and some employers were still trying to undermine the formation of unions there. As a consequence, while the unionization rate in the rest of the country was approximately 20 percent, the rate within the EPZs was under 10 percent. Fewer than 10 trade unions were active in EPZs, partially because of restrictions on access by union organizers to the zones. According to the Board of Investment, unions were attempting to operate in 33 out of 264 factories in the EPZs; however they were formally recognized in only 12 of these factories.Most large unions were affiliated with political parties and played a prominent role in the political process, although major unions in the public sector were politically independent. The Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower is authorized by law to cancel the registration of any union that does not submit an annual report, the only grounds for the cancellation of registration.Employers found guilty of discrimination must reinstate workers fired for union activities but may transfer them to different locations. Anti‑union discrimination is a punishable offense liable for a fine of $176 (20,000 rupees). b. The Right to Organize and Bargain CollectivelyThe law allows unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the government generally protected this right. The law provides for the right to collective bargaining; however, very few companies practiced it. Approximately 44 companies belonging to the Employers' Federation of Ceylon (EFC), the leading employers' organization, had collective agreements with workers. All collective agreements must be registered at the Department of Labor. Data on the number of registered collective agreements were not available. About half of EFC's 500-strong membership had a unionized workforce.All workers, other than police, armed forces, prison service, and those in essential services, have the right to strike. By law, workers may lodge complaints with the commissioner of labor, a labor tribunal, or the Supreme Court to protect their rights. The president retains the power to designate any industry as an essential service.The law prohibits retribution against strikers in nonessential sectors; however, in practice employees were sometimes fired for striking.The Supreme Court recently intervened to stop public sector trade union actions when they threatened business or government operations. In July 2006 the Supreme Court issued a restraining order preventing unions attached to the Colombo Port from striking. In this case, the Joint Apparel Associations Forum, representing private sector associations in the apparel industry, had complained that a port slowdown over a wage demand was threatening exports and imports. The Supreme Court decision came after unions ignored a lower court directive to return to work. The affected trade unions filed a complaint with the ILO Committee of Freedom of Association on this matter. In another case, in September, the Supreme Court ordered five teachers' unions to refrain from staging a nationwide one‑day strike demanding higher wages. The strike was to be in defiance of a previous Supreme Court order on the unions not to disrupt the work of examiners correcting test papers in an important nation‑wide high school examination.In most EPZ enterprises, worker councils composed of employees engage in labor and management negotiations. Worker councils were in operation in 110 factories. The ILO approved the right of both trade unions and worker councils to engage in collective bargaining, provided worker councils are not used to undermine the position of unions.There were only three operating collective agreements in the EPZs during the year. Labor representatives alleged that the government's Board of Investment (BOI) and Labor Department discouraged union activity within EPZ factories and favored worker councils. The short‑term nature of employment and the relatively young workforce in the EPZs made it difficult to organize.Labor representatives alleged that the labor commissioner, under BOI pressure, failed to prosecute employers who refused to recognize or enter into collective bargaining with trade unions.c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory LaborThe law prohibits forced or bonded labor; however, there were reports that such practices occurred. The law does not specifically prohibit forced or compulsory labor by children. Although the law states that anyone below 18 years of age is considered to be a child, government officials interpreted it as applying to persons of all ages.In the Batticaloa area, the army reportedly forced recently returned IDPs to perform hard labor, such as road clearance, for no pay.d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for EmploymentThe minimum age for employment is 14, although the law permits the employment of younger children by their parents or guardians in limited family agriculture work or to engage in technical training. An amendment to the Employment of Women and Youth Act prohibits all other forms of family employment of children below 14. There were no recent surveys on child labor in the country. The Department of the Census and Statistics has reportedly conducted a partial survey, but no results were released. The ILO plans to conduct a new nationwide Child Labor Survey in the future.Persons under age 18 may not be employed in any public enterprise in which life or limb is endangered. There were no reports that children were employed in the EPZs, the garment industry, or any other export industry, although children sometimes were employed during harvest periods in the plantation sectors and in non‑plantation agriculture. Sources indicated that many thousands of children were employed in domestic service in urban households, although this situation was not regulated or documented. Some child domestics reportedly were subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Employment of children commonly occurred in family enterprises such as family farms, crafts, small trade establishments, restaurants, and repair shops.The NCPA is the central agency for coordinating and monitoring action on the protection of children. The Department of Labor, the Department of Probation and Child Care Services, and the police are responsible for the enforcement of child labor laws. The Bureau of Child Protection of the Sri Lanka Police reported 106 complaints of child employment during the year, a fourfold increase over 2006. Information on litigation was not available. Penalties for employing minors were increased from approximately $9 (1,000 rupees) and/or six months' imprisonment to $93 (10,000 rupees) and/or 12 months' imprisonment.As required by ILO Convention 182, the government identified a list of 49 occupations considered to be hazardous. Of these occupations, 40 were to be unconditionally prohibited for children under 18 years, with limited exceptions for the remaining nine occupations. However, there was no implementing legislation passed by year's end.e. Acceptable Conditions of WorkWhile there is no national minimum wage, 43 wage boards established by the Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower set minimum wages and working conditions by sector and industry. The wage boards began to increase and harmonize minimum wages in the industries under their supervision. Consequently, the minimum wage in 31 trades increased to $44 (5,000 rupees) per month in May. In sectors where there is a daily wage, the minimum wage is set at $1.80 (200 rupees). These minimum wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.The law prohibits most full‑time workers from regularly working more than 45 hours per week (a five and a half day workweek). Regulations limited the maximum overtime hours to 15 per week. Several laws protect the safety and health of industrial workers, but the Ministry of Labor's small staff of inspectors was inadequate to enforce compliance. Health and safety regulations did not meet international standards. Workers have the statutory right to remove themselves from dangerous situations, but many workers were unaware or indifferent to such rights and feared that they would lose their jobs if they removed themselves from the work situation  <a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100620.htm" target="_blank">http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100620.htm</a></blockquote>

Verification: Nawa warak dahaya keeyada? (Namaya wadi kireema dahaya)

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