Pack 31Live · Aarambam

MP Pack #31 — Malaiyaha Living Wage & ILO Compliance

மலையக ஊதியம் & ILO

UK-facing accountability pack on Sri Lankan tea-sector labour conditions. ILO C87/C98/C111/C190 + UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 §54 + DCTS/GSP+ conditionality + Amnesty ASA37/1011/2026. Companion to MP Pack #10 (up-country-tamils). Frames the file as a UK importer-accountability file, not an Eelam-facing solidarity ask. Doctrine anchor: Parallel Sovereignty (/doctrine/parallel-sovereignty) — the door is open, the seat is named, we will not knock.

Audience

· UK MPs
· Lords
· DBT
· FCDO
· APPG on Modern Slavery
· Business & Trade Committee

Best used for

· Modern Slavery Act 2015 §54 statements covering Sri Lankan tea supply chains
· Written PQs to DBT on tea-sector labour under UK sourcing
· Letters to UK tea brands sourcing from Sri Lanka on living-wage commitments
· IDC / Business & Trade Committee briefings
· APPG on Modern Slavery submissions

Remembrance frame

This pack does not solicit Malaiyaha institutions to co-sign or co-brand any TLTE work. It cites institutions the Malaiyaha community already trusts (CWC, HRO Kandy, ISD Kandy) at organisational level, and routes UK MPs to ILO CEACR and Amnesty for the underlying evidence. The accountability target is the UK importer — not Colombo, not the Northern Tamil leadership. Two peoples, one 1948 architectural wound, parallel roads.

Now · Aarambam

Cited Tier-A evidence is open and unresolved. UK is a co-sponsor of UN HRC accountability resolutions but implementation is uneven. Statements honour memory; evidence remains under-actioned.

Becoming · Nilaiththanmai

Statements are backed by structured packs. Each anniversary produces tabled PQs, FCDO follow-ups, and a tracked answer. Memory becomes evidence; evidence becomes policy; policy becomes repair.

Evidence anchors

Each anchor carries a stable E-id for citation in correspondence, PQs, and parliamentary submissions.

E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.001
ILO CEACR — Sri Lanka observations on C87, C98, C111, C190
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.002
Amnesty International — Abandoned by the State, Trapped in Private Estates (ASA37/1011/2026, 27 May 2026)
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.003
ILO — Fundamental Right to a Safe and Healthy Working Environment in the Tea Sector in Sri Lanka (Nov 2024)
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.004
UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, §54 (transparency in supply chains)
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.005
UK Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) — labour conditionality
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.006
Human Rights Office (Kandy) — estate-sector rights documentation
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.007
Institute of Social Development (Kandy) — plantation community studies
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.008
Ethical Tea Partnership + Oxfam — Sri Lanka tea-sector living-wage studies
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.009
Human Rights Watch — Sri Lanka estate-sector reporting
Open source
E.malaiyaha-living-wage-ilo.010
Minority Rights Group International — Up-Country Tamils community profile
Open source

Policy asks

UK Government (DBT)
Publish a UK assessment of Sri Lankan tea-sector labour conditions under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 §54 and Developing Countries Trading Scheme conditionality, with reference to ILO CEACR observations on Conventions 87, 98, 111 and 190.
UK Government (FCDO)
Engage the Ceylon Workers' Congress and the Human Rights Office (Kandy) as primary civil-society interlocutors on Malaiyaha (Up-Country Tamil) labour, in addition to Sri Lankan state channels, and never through Northern Tamil political leadership speaking on their behalf.
UK Government (DBT)
Publish HMG's guidance to UK tea importers on Modern Slavery Act 2015 §54 disclosures covering Sri Lankan estate-sector wage, housing and franchise conditions.
APPG on Modern Slavery
Request an IDC or Business & Trade Committee session on Sri Lankan tea-sector compliance with UK Modern Slavery Act §54 and ILO Convention 190 implementation.

Sample Parliamentary Questions

written→ DBT
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of living-wage compliance in the Sri Lankan tea sector by UK-sourced brands, with reference to ILO CEACR observations on Conventions 87, 98, 111 and 190.
written→ DBT
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what guidance HM Government has issued to UK tea importers on Modern Slavery Act 2015 §54 disclosures covering Sri Lankan estate-sector wage, housing and franchise conditions.
written→ FCDO
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations HM Government has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on housing, franchise and citizenship implementation for Malaiyaha (Up-Country Tamil) communities under the Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act No. 5 of 2003 and its residual second-generation birth-registration gaps.
written→ FCDO
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what engagement HM Government has had with the Ceylon Workers' Congress and the Human Rights Office (Kandy) as primary civil-society interlocutors for estate-sector labour, in addition to Sri Lankan state channels.
written→ DBT
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment HM Government has made of Sri Lanka's ratification and implementation status of ILO Convention 190 (violence and harassment in the world of work) as it applies to the estate sector.

Full PQ library →

Pack-specific safety rules

· Never frames the Malaiyaha file as a sub-chapter of the Northern Tamil file. Two distinct civic files, one shared 1948 architecture.
· Never lets Northern Tamil leadership speak for Malaiyaha labour. Primary interlocutors are CWC, HRO Kandy, ISD Kandy.
· Never names individual estate workers, unionists, or Malaiyaha MPs. Cite ILO CEACR, HRO Kandy, ISD, ETP, HRW, Oxfam, Amnesty at organisational level only.
· Always cites ILO Convention numbers verbatim (C87, C98, C111, C190) and links the CEACR observation.
· Never frames this as an Eelam-facing solidarity ask. The accountability target is the UK importer.
· Never solicits Malaiyaha institutions to co-sign, co-petition, or co-brand.
· Held for a later pack: EU CSDDD detail and UK Environment Act 2021 (Schedule 17) forest-risk due-diligence.

Global methodology & safety rules →

UK Lobbying Act 2014 · Transparency

TLTE is not a registered consultant lobbyist. This pack is a public-interest civic document. We do not coordinate statements with MPs and we receive no payment from any government.