– A new report launched by Amnesty International found that members of the Malaiyaha Tamil community in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province suffered multiple and widespread forms of abuse including intimidation and threats, physical violence, debt bondage, restrictions on movement and poor working and living conditions.

The research included visits to 45 estates in Galle and Matara Districts. The report is based on 159 interviews with workers along with interviews with two estate managers and three supervisors conducted between January 2024 to January 2026.Speaking at the report launch, Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia underscored that private tea estates in Sri Lanka are systematically violating labor laws in their treatment of Malaiyaha Tamil workers with no accountability. “Across the sites we visited, workers reported a consistent pattern of discrimination and abuse, raising serious concerns about forced labor. The persistence of these abuses despite existing legal safeguards reflects a serious failure of the state to enforce labor protections and safeguard workers’ rights,” she added.In her message, Dr. Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International Secretary General said that the Malaiyaha Tamil community has faced systemic discrimination and exclusion for over 200 years. “Sri Lanka’s tea remains one of the country’s key exports but the people who sustain it continue to be among the most marginalized in Sri Lanka. Despite legal protection in place, their daily living conditions remain deeply precarious, their calls for justice go unheard and they have little to no access to remedy. The report launched today brings to light serious labor rights abuses which amounts to forced labor under international law. Let us declare that these are not isolated issues and are not accidental violations; they are systemic and reflect a longstanding culture of entrenched discrimination, extreme marginalization and failures of protection enforced by the state,” she added.

Dr. Callamard called upon the government and stakeholders to engage with the report’s findings and take meaningful steps to strengthen protection, to better enforce existing laws and show accountability for abuses.The report highlights the state’s failures to protect and fulfil the right to social security, freedom of association, access to justice and ensure adequate labor monitoring and inspections. The report lists out several key recommendations to authorities including the Ministries of Labor, Public Security, Plantation and Community Infrastructure, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Justice and National Integration and the Human Rights Commission.