A. Overview

This is the second of two Congressionally mandated reports by the U.S. Department of Labor on the exploitation of child labor.¹ The first report, entitled By the Sweat and Toil of Children: Child Labor in American Imports, identified child labor practices in manufacturing and mining industries which export to the United States.² This report reviews commonly practiced, and often egregious, forms of child labor: 1) the exploitation of children in commercial agriculture, and 2) forced or bonded child labor.

This report uses the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment as its principal standard. Convention 138 sets 15 years as the minimum age for work in developed countries and 14 years in developing nations. Other provisions allow slightly younger children to perform "light work" which is not likely to harm their health or development, and does not prejudice their attendance at school. Convention 138 also prohibits any child under the age of 18 from undertaking work that "by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young persons."

A second standard is Article 32 of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. It establishes the right of a child to protection from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous, that interferes with a child's education, or that is harmful to a child's health, or physical, mental, spiritual, moral, or social development.

The report refers to other international standards regarding the use of child labor in commercial agriculture, and forced or bonded child labor. ILO Convention 138 proscribes the use of child labor on "plantations and other agricultural undertakings mainly producing for commercial purposes, but excluding family and small-scale holdings producing for local consumption and not regularly employing hired workers." The line between "commercial" agriculture and "production for local consumption" is frequently blurred, and sometimes requires difficult judgments about which side of the line certain situations fall. The practice of forced or bonded child labor constitutes de facto and de jure exploitation, as both the ILO and the United Nations have specific Conventions prohibiting all forced or bonded labor.

1. Child labor in commercial agriculture and fishing

This report reviews available information on the exploitation of child labor in commercial agricultural and fishing industries producing primarily for export. Consistent with international child labor standards, it does not focus on children working on family farms or in subsistence agriculture. Rather, the focus is on the exploitation of children in commercial enterprises. The criteria used to determine whether to include a particular situation in this report were: 1)whether children have any real opportunity to go to school; or 2) whether the work children perform is hazardous to their health or safety.

Most working children are found toiling in the fields and fisheries of the world. The use of child labor in such places remains largely accepted in many societies, and is regarded as an inevitable and often beneficial fact of life. Few researchers have visited the rural areas where most children work. The exploitation of children in commercial agriculture and fishing is thus under-researched and under-reported, and this study does not provide an exhaustive examination of the issue.

Most child laborers on plantations work as part of a family unit. Indeed, the method of payment at many commercial enterprises encourages families to bring their children to work. Few agricultural workers earn a standard or minimum daily, weekly, or monthly wage. Instead, payment usually depends either on the number of pieces harvested or processed, or the total weight of the daily or monthly crop picked. Thus, the more hands picking the crop, the larger the potential family income. It is commonly assumed by both parents and employers that children will help their parents, subject to the same workload and health and safety conditions borne by adult agricultural laborers.

Conditions in agriculture are worse when people are bonded. In many countries, entire families -- including children -- serve as bonded laborers on the farms of landowners. It is not uncommon for a child to assume the debt of a parent once the parent is unable to work. In other cases, the child works with the family in order to pay off the debt. Rarely does a family successfully work its way out of debt.

2. Forced or bonded child labor

Despite the international prohibition of slavery in all its forms, child servitude is disturbingly commonplace. This report reviews much of the available information on the subject and provides a glimpse into the problems faced by child slaves in various parts of the world.

The most prevalent -- and the most hidden -- type of forced child labor is the selling or giving away of children to become domestic servants. The use of young children as domestic servants is a commonly accepted practice in most regions of the world. In exchange for promises of a better life, perhaps an education and a stipend, the children -- predominantly girls -- find themselves trapped in a web of grueling and demeaning work. They are often subjected to extreme physical, sexual, and mental abuse. Many times they are locked inside their places of work. While the severity of the girls' treatment may vary, their isolation and physical confinement create the conditions for abuse.

The chapter on forced or bonded child labor also describes how children are sold, lured, kidnapped, and sometimes trafficked across borders for the purposes of prostitution. The reasons children end up in the sex industry vary: parents knowingly sell children to recruiters to augment family income, recruiters make false promises, children are kidnapped, or they run away and are lured into prostitution to survive on the streets. Some children believe the sex industry to be their best option. No matter what the cause, the outcome is the same. A large and profitable industry is willing to sexually exploit children to satisfy a demand for child prostitutes. The children are generally scarred for life -- which may be short -- since occupational hazards such as AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, or brutal physical abuse, often kill them.

The debt-bondage of children is another form of forced labor described in the report. Bonded laborers are most commonly found in small-scale farming, domestic service, and prostitution, and a variety of industries, including the brick kiln industry, the manufacture of hand-knotted carpets, and in mining.

Typically, a parent is given a loan by an employer or an agent, for which the child's work is offered to repay the debt. Sometimes the child is taken far away from the family. Other times the child works in the same village and continues to live at home. Children also are bonded into work as part of a family unit. This is most prevalent in agriculture, where ancient feudal land-tenancy systems keep families languishing in servitude for generations.

Poor families become trapped in debt by high interest charges, low wages, and deductions for missed work, mistakes, meals and lodging. It is common for workers to request supplementary loans throughout the year in order to help support the family. The family becomes caught in a never-ending cycle of debt and servitude. For employers, the cheap labor provided by bonded laborers is often more valuable than recovery of the original debt.

3. Methodology

Many hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, and independent experts throughout the world provided data for this report. International organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) (in Geneva and field offices) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (both in New York and field offices) were consulted frequently. U.S. embassies and consulates collected data, provided information and suggested names of organizations or experts in their host countries to contact for further information. Department of Labor staff conducted a survey of available literature and news reports and made trips to some countries discussed in this report.³ The Department held a public hearing to gather information on the topics of this report.⁴ All foreign governments with embassies in Washington were contacted and asked to provide information or present testimony at the hearing.⁵ All trade statistics cited are taken from Official Statistics Collected by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

No reliable statistics on child labor exist. Estimates of the total number of working children in the world range from 100-300 million. This report makes no attempt to assess the actual number of children who work in commercial agriculture, or who are forced or bonded into work. Where governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or international organizations such as the ILO or UNICEF have estimated numbers or percentages of child laborers, a range is noted. Where no figures, or only unreliable figures, are available, the report indicates simply that there is evidence that some children work in a particular sector.

B. Current Developments

The 1994 report, By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume I): The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Manufactured and Mined Imports, presented an overview of why and under what conditions children work. It outlined some of the debates among policy makers, academics, NGOs and other experts on the best strategies for ameliorating the dire situation facing working children and their families. A year later, little has changed for the millions of child workers and their families. But awareness of the problem seems to be growing. Experts agree on one theme that crosses ideological, cultural and political boundaries. That is the pressing need for adequate universal, compulsory, and free primary education. Both ILO Convention 138 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child stress that work should not hinder the ability of a child to receive an education.

Unfortunately, many countries with compulsory primary education laws have neither established an adequate school system nor devoted the necessary resources for enforcing mandatory attendance. There may be few schools in areas where the most children work. And where schools do exist, families cannot afford to pay for tuition, supplies or uniforms. Since many studies have pointed out that the numbers of child laborers decrease when compulsory primary education is enforced, educational enrollment remains the most important response to child exploitation.

The most important developments in the last year can be summarized as follows:

First, the media seems to be paying increased attention to child labor. This enhances the public debate, and clearly places the issue on the international policy agenda and on the agendas of individual countries and governments.

Second, greater public attention, as well as increased efforts by donor agencies and governments to contribute to workable solutions, has encouraged more NGOs to pay attention and dedicate resources to this issue. In addition, many more studies on child labor are being conducted. On a community level, more local schools have been built for working children, more awareness campaigns are being launched on the hazards of child labor, and there is more consultation and coordination among local NGOs to combat child labor. Not all of these projects have been successful. Nor has there been agreement on a single, acceptable strategy. Nonetheless, the ongoing research and efforts are leading the world to a greater understanding of the situation and more proposals for useful programs to address the problem. According to UNICEF,

[t]here is a growing commitment and increasing action toward the goal of eliminating exploitative child labor -- although there is no question that progress remains uneven and we obviously have a very long way to go to win back childhood for the world's laboring children. It is morally unacceptable to even think of going into the 21st century with the shame of child labor still on humanity's list of unresolved social issues. Nevertheless, we at UNICEF believe there is cause for hope.⁶

Third, international organizations with expertise in children's issues and labor matters have expanded their commitment and the number of efforts/projects to eliminate the exploitation of child labor. They have forged innovative partnerships between governments, NGOs, the private sector and local communities -- all prerequisites to accomplishing the goal of eliminating child labor.

The ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) is now conducting hundreds of projects throughout the world.⁷ In addition to the German government, which provided the initial financing for IPEC, the United States and numerous other nations now contribute funds to IPEC's programs worldwide.⁸

UNICEF is developing and implementing educational strategies to "get more children into quality primary school and to keep them learning to the end of the cycle."⁹ UNICEF and the ILO have drafted a letter of intent that will soon provide a framework for cooperation between the two agencies in the areas of child labor policy development and research as well as technical cooperation at the country level.¹⁰

Fourth, interest in child labor has spawned action by consumers and industry worldwide. Consumer groups in many countries actively disseminate information on products made by children under exploitative conditions. Many multinational corporations are developing codes of conduct to prohibit the use of child labor as defined by ILO Convention 138. Indeed, UNICEF itself has responded to this pressure, and on May 23, 1995, it adopted an institution-wide procurement policy prohibiting the purchase of any product from a supplier found to violate national and international child labor laws.

Fifth, there is a growing debate by many governments and in various international fora on the problems of and solutions to the exploitation of child labor. Of particular note, the Fifth Conference of Labour Ministers of Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries, hosted by India in January 1995, adopted a strong resolution on child labor. The resolution states in part, "We are aware and hold that the practice of exploitative child labour wherever it is practised is a moral outrage and an affront to human dignity . . . [w]e too are pro-actively committed to eliminate this practice in terms of the International Labour Conference, 1979 . . . giving immediate priority for total and de facto elimination of child labour in hazardous employments."¹¹ The Delhi resolution followed the very important statement on child labor made by Indian Prime Minister Rao in his August 15, 1994 Independence Day speech in which he announced India would initiate a major program to combat child labor. The Indian Labor Ministry, however, has yet to make public the details of the announced child labor project.

Sixth, additional governments are introducing legislation to make primary education compulsory. Others are raising the number of years children are required to attend school or the minimum age for compulsory education.

Finally, there are significant developments in some countries profiled in the Department of Labor's 1994 report, By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume I). The report contained information on child labor in manufacturing and mining in 19 countries.¹² In some of these countries we can report some important developments.

In Bangladesh, a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the elimination of child labor in the garment sector was signed on July 4, 1995. The tripartite Agreement was signed by UNICEF, the ILO and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). The Agreement requires that a survey of child workers in the garment sector be conducted and that all workers under age 14 will leave garment factories by a target date of October 31, 1995, and enter NGO-run school programs. The BGMEA will offer jobs to qualified older family members of under-aged workers who go to school, and efforts for after school income generation projects will also be explored. Children terminated under the Agreement will also be paid a monthly stipend to help offset the loss of their wages. The ILO will contribute funds for a verification program,¹³ which will be monitored by a steering committee of the MOU signatories.

U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh David Merrill, who played a key role in supporting the MOU, noted at the signing ceremony that the Agreement helps Bangladesh enforce its own law, and that if implemented as intended, the MOU will not only work toward the elimination of child labor, but also contribute substantially to the welfare of those children involved and the garment industry as well. Ambassador Merrill also praised the BGMEA for its enlightened self-interest in pledging $900,000 toward the Agreement and urged the BGMEA to implement the Agreement in good faith.¹⁴

In India, there is now a labelling program in operation to inform consumers that a carpet is not made by children. Tens of thousands of rugs bearing the RUGMARK label -- a logo of a smiling child superimposed over the picture of a carpet -- have been shipped to Germany. The RUGMARK Foundation, supported by UNICEF and well-known local NGOS, grants a license to use its logo to carpet exporters and manufacturers who: (i) legally commit themselves not to employ children under 14; (ii) pay their workers at least the official minimum wage; (iii) make available lists of loom units and sources from which they procure carpets; and (iv) agree to unannounced inspections by RUGMARK inspectors. In addition, importers must pay a one percent surcharge on the f.o.b. price of the carpets. The money will be used by UNICEF to fund educational and vocational programs for the displaced child carpet workers.

In June 1995, the Indian government announced its intention to sponsor a new initiative to label carpets made without child labor. The program, called "kaleen," would be controlled by the Carpet Export Promotion Council, a semi-autonomous body under the Indian Textile Ministry. Few details are known about the initiative to date.

Also in June 1995, the Indian Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade issued a voluminous report entitled, Child Labour in India: A Perspective. The report describes the factual situation of the exploitation of child labor in India, together with a discussion of policy perspectives. The report makes a series of recommendations to the Government for the progressive elimination of child labor in India.

Of concern in India, however, was the June 1 arrest of prominent anti-child labor activist, Kailash Satyarthi, Chairman of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude. The arrest followed charges made by a local carpet manufacturer that Satyarthi's outspokenness about child bonded workers in the carpet industry resulted in the cancellation of orders. Satyarthi was detained for two days. A hearing on the case was originally scheduled for July 5, 1995 but was postponed. No new trial date has been set.

In Pakistan, Iqbal Masih, a liberated bonded child carpet weaver, was murdered in April 1995. Iqbal was known throughout the world and in certain Pakistani communities as a crusader against bonded child labor. The circumstances of his murder remain unclear. One consequence of his murder was to heighten worldwide awareness of child labor. Another was the immediate cancellation of orders for Pakistani carpets from many importers. The Pakistani Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association has called for discussions to establish a labelling system based upon the RUGMARK Foundation initiative. The Government of Pakistan and local NGOs have also expressed interest in such a program.

Of concern in Pakistan, however, is the recent arrest and detention of persons associated with the Masih case: members of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF), family members of Iqbal Masih, and a journalist covering the Masih murder. Additionally, in July a Norwegian trade union delegation visiting a soccer ball factory in Sialkot was attacked as it observed children between the ages of 5 and 10 making soccer balls. The delegation, accompanied by a team from the Norwegian Broadcasting company and a representative of the BLLF, was attacked by a few armed men who beat the cameraman and the BLLF representative. A camera and film were confiscated. The camera was eventually returned, but without the film. It is alarming that anti-child labor activists in Pakistan are forced to operate under increasingly dangerous conditions.

In Nepal, constant media attention (particularly in Germany) has caused a significant drop in orders for Nepali rugs resulting in a decrease in production. Negotiations are underway to establish a RUGMARK or similar program. The Government of Nepal has recently made strong public statements decrying the exploitation of child labor and announcing its intention to strictly enforce the prohibition of child labor in the carpet industry.

In Brazil, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso recently acknowledged that slave labor and child labor has not ended in Brazil, noting that there are still Brazilians who work without freedom. In a June 27, 1995 radio address to the nation President Cardoso announced the creation of an executive task force to crack down on forced labor.¹⁵ He described the new task force as an "action-oriented body," and instructed it to formulate "truly stiff punishments to those people who are making Brazilians work as slaves . . ."¹⁶ The directive also calls upon the Industry and Commerce Ministry to take specific action against the use of child labor in the shoe industry.

In Colombia, the government established a committee for the eradication of child labor and the protection of minor workers on May 30, 1995. At the same time, an awareness campaign was launched to "bring the plight of child laborers to the Colombian public's attention."¹⁷ Minister of Labor and Social Security Maria Sol Navia stated that the long range goal of the committee was the eradication of child labor. In her address at the installation ceremony of the committee, Colombia's first lady, Jacquin Strouss de Samper, noted that there are approximately 1.8 million children in Colombia's workforce.¹⁸