I. Overview
Many children work in Indonesia. According to the 1990 Population Census of
Indonesia, 2.2 million children between the ages of 10 to 14 years, representing
about three percent of the total labor force, were economically active.1 This figure does not include child workers below
10 years of age and children involved in domestic work. In July 1993,
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Azwar Anas, said that 2.24 million
children are working in rural areas and a quarter-million children in urban
areas.2 The most recent report of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights (1994) reported that there are 2.7 million
working children aged 10 to 14.3
There is little hard data on the extent of child labor in export industries.
Child labor is found in the garment and the wood and rattan furniture
industries. There are credible allegations of children working in other
industries, including food processing, chocolate, shrimp and seafood processing,
and the export-oriented pumice stone industry, but the extent of child labor in
these industries and their direct link to export is not documented and thus more
research is needed.
II. Child Labor in Export Industries
The Indonesian Documentation and Information Center (INDOC), a
non-governmental organization in the Netherlands which focuses on Indonesia,
alleges that export industries employ children under 14 years of age at various
stages of the manufacturing process.4 Many
foreign companies use cheap labor, including children, to manufacture
semi-finished products for European and North American markets. In its 1994
report, INDOC concluded that factories producing goods for export to the United
States generally are under tight surveillance of company guards who are backed
by the police force and, therefore, it is difficult to obtain information on
child labor.5
Child workers are found in the export factories of Tangerang. According to
a 1991 study by the Committee for the Creative Education of Indonesian Children
(KOMPAK),6 the factories in Tangerang, were paying
meager wages to children for long hours of work under unsafe conditions.
Children worked for 8,000 Indonesian rupiahs (approximately $4.53) per week for
an 8-hour daily shifts, and worked an average of 7 to 13 hours per day seven
days per week.7 KOMPAK reported that over 70
percent of the children have become sick from the long working hours and little
rest.8 In many cases, the children are docked
3,000 Indonesian rupiahs (approximately $1.70) for each day absent from work.
Most of the children have attended school only up to the third grade and some
never at all.
The Kepodang Foundation, another non-governmental organization, interviewed
child workers and found that the three major complaints were tiring work, "fearful"
working conditions due to the "vicious" attitude of the supervisor,
and hot temperatures due to lack of ventilation in the factory.9
The 1990 Population Census found that about one third of the economically
active children worked more than 35 hours per week, with almost six percent
working 60 hours or more per week.10
With regard to export industries, substantiated research finds child labor
in the rattan and wood furniture and garment industries.
Wood and Rattan Furniture
The United States imports significant amounts of rattan and wood furniture
from Indonesia. Based upon his April 1994 visit to Indonesia, Jeff Ballinger
reports that, "the production of rattan furniture almost certainly involves
child labor".11 The use of children in the
export-oriented rattan industry is also confirmed by the Indonesian
Documentation and Information Center in the Netherlands.12
Other furniture made for export also involves children.13
In Jepara (Central Java), Victorian reproductions are made and overseen by
Australian and English dealers. Much of the carving is allegedly done by 12 and
13 year old boys.
A draft report by White and Tjandraningsih further documents child labor in
the rapidly growing export-oriented rattan furniture industry.14
The authors researched the rattan furniture industry in Tegalwani, Cirebon,
which includes all sizes of production units, including households. According
to White and Tjandraningsih, the rattan industry relies heavily on child and
juvenile labor, who work as paid helpers in a family enterprise, seek
apprenticeships, or become wage-workers in the larger production unit. Children
begin work at the age of nine or ten, and enter full-time wage labor after
leaving primary school at the age of 12 or 13.15
Most children work full-time, seven hours per day, and six days a week.
Children are usually provided with meals by their employers in the rattan
industry.16 In general, children are paid 6,000
to 9,000 Indonesian rupiahs (approximately $3.40-$5.10) per week.17
Apprenticeships, however, are a widespread source of cheap labor in the rattan
industry, even though they are found to do most of the same kinds of work as
their adult employers.18
Children are reported to suffer various ailments from their work in the
furniture industry,19 including fevers, coughs,
and influenza.20
Garments and Embroidery
The United States imported approximately $978 million worth of apparel from
Indonesia in 1993.21 There are reports of
children working in the Indonesian garment and textile industry. During his
visit to Indonesia, Jeff Ballinger visited a drop-in center for children and
interviewed 14 and 15 year-old children who worked for a garment factory.
Children from the Tangerang region reported working 48 hours a week and
receiving less than minimum wage.
In addition to the garment industry, it is quite common to find children,
some as young as eight years old, working in the embroidery industry. They may
also work in the batik industry in Bali. White and Tjandraningsih studied two
villages in the Tasikmalaya district where they found almost every household
engaged in embroidery.22 The embroidery work is
done on a subcontracted basis (filling orders) or by "putting-out"
workers, who work on a piece rate basis for other households which receive
orders. Children commonly work on winding cotton into reels; burning holes in
the cloth after embroidery with soldering irons; and folding and packing the
finished work.
Other Export Industries
There are also some credible allegations of child labor in Indonesia's food,
candy,23 beverage, mosquito repellant,24 plastic, electric light bulb,25
metal, cigarettes, footwear,26 gem mining (in
Kalimantan), and commercial fishing (shrimp and other seafood) enterprises.27 These industries are not included for extensive
discussion in this report as more research needs to be conducted to determine
the extent of child labor and whether these goods are exported to the United
States.
There is also extensive export of pumice stones from Indonesia to many
countries, including Hong Kong and Thailand.28
There are credible allegations that children are searching for pumice stones,
which are used in cosmetics, for bullet proof glass, sound proof equipment, in
cleaners, and in the manufacture of blue jeans.29
At this time, there is no direct export of pumice stones from Indonesia to the
United States.
III. Laws of Indonesia
A. National Child Labor Laws
The basic minimum age law in Indonesia is Act No. 1 of 1951, which was
passed but never implemented. It would set the minimum working age at 14 years.
However, draft implementing regulations are still under consideration and the
actual legal working age remains 12 years, as enacted under a Dutch Colonial
Government Ordinance of 1925 on Measures Limiting Child Labor and Night Work of
Women.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Manpower Regulation, No. PER-01/MEN/1987
legalizes the employment of children under the age of 14 who must work to
contribute to the income of their families. It requires parental consent,
prohibits dangerous or difficult work, limits work to four hours daily, and
requires employers to report the number of children working.30
This regulation does not set a minimum age for the employment of children.
Enforcement of any restrictions on child labor is weak. According to the
U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993,
in September 1993, the Government of Indonesia announced it would review its
child labor regulations with a view towards tightening enforcement of
restrictions on child labor. At the end of 1993, the review was not complete
and no changes in practices have since been implemented.31
In its report entitled "Situation Analysis on Women and Children,"
UNICEF confirms that Indonesia's child labor laws are inadequately enforced, and
calls for a review of national enforcement procedures. To date, no employer has
been brought to court for violating existing child labor regulations and no
reports have been collected from establishments employing children.32
Employer sanctions are also very slight with a maximum fine of only Indonesian
rupiahs 100,000 (about US $56) or 3 months imprisonment.33
According to the Ministry of Manpower, there is no data on child labor
enforcement and no prosecutions.34
There is also a shortage of labor inspectors in Indonesia. Consequently,
employers do not have to worry about frequent visits.35
According to a Child Workers in Asia article in 1993, there have been reports
that when inspectors from the Ministry of Manpower visit the factories, children
are ordered not to show up.36 Jeff Ballinger
estimates there are approximately 1,320 labor Inspectors.37
According to the ILO, only between 700 and 800 of the inspectors are
operational, the rest being clerical and support staff.38
UNICEF estimates that, with an average of one labor inspector per 3,895
companies, child labor remains a low priority for the Labor Inspectorate.39 Moreover, children often have "legal"
identification cards issued by the Ministry of Interior, falsifying their age,
which makes enforcement of child labor laws difficult.40
B. Education Laws
According to the International Labor Organization, compulsory education is
required up to age 13.41 The government of
Indonesia is planning to expand universal education from six grades to nine
grades.42
Although the government has a "compulsory education" program, it
is not truly "compulsory" as there is no penalty for parents who do
not enroll their children.43 UNICEF estimates
that more than one million children drop out of primary school every year,
primarily because the cost of supplies, uniforms, and other expenses are a
burden for disadvantaged families, but also because of a professed need to
supplement family income.44
C. International Conventions
Indonesia is a party to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. It
has not ratified ILO Conventions No. 59 Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to
Employment in Industry or No. 138 Concerning Minimum Age for Employment.45
IV. Programs and Efforts To Address Child Labor
Under the current five-year development plan which began April 1, 1994, the
Government of Indonesia vows to eradicate employment of children under 14 years.46 In April 1992, the Government of Indonesia
signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with the International Labor Organization
under the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC).
According to the ILO, the total funds allocated for 23 Action Programs in
Indonesia under IPEC is $1,269,110.47 For
example, a child labor survey in West Java has been completed, and 120 of the
Department of Manpower's child labor inspectors have received ILO effectiveness
training in five provinces of Java and one province in North Sumatra; twenty of
these inspectors have received advanced training, with forty more scheduled for
it later this year.48 In addition, plans are
being developed for the elimination of child labor, "beginning with the
children most at risk, and the protection meanwhile of working children."49
UNICEF reports that during the 1990-1995 program period, its Country Program
for Indonesia does not have a Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances
(CEDC) component. A new country program for Indonesia for 1995 to 2000 is being
prepared.50
There are only a few non-governmental organizations in Indonesia working on
child labor. One non-governmental organization, "Education Committee for
Indonesian Creative Child Workers" (KOMPAK), has protected child workers in
factories, especially girls aged 11 to 17 who work in the industrial area of
Tangerang, West Java. KOMPAK educates children on their rights, the labor laws
and relevant governmental regulations. Another non-governmental organization
working on these issues is the Foundation for Independent Children (Bandung,
West Java), which was planning a program for child workers in the shoe factories
in southern Bandung. The only legal trade union organization, the
quasi-governmental All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), is operating a program
for child laborers in the Bekasi region, and a non-governmental organization,
Yayasan Pondokan Rakyat Kreatif (YPRK), has a program in Medan. There are some
other programs for working children concentrated in Java and Bali.
1 Situation Analysis on Women and Children
in Indonesia (New York: UNICEF, 1993) 252. See also "Government
to regulate child labor despite strong protests," Jakarta Post,
September 11, 1993.
2 "2.5M Indonesian kids forced into labor,"
United Press International, July 30, 1993.
3 Vitit Muntarbhorn, "The Rights of the
Child," U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1994/84, 20 (1994). This figure tracks with the
International Labor Organization's 1992 approximation. "ILO's 1992 Report
Condemns Child Labor," International Children's Rights Monitor,
vol. 9, nos. 3-4 (1992).
4 Letter from Hans Goderbauer of the Indonesian
Documentation Center to the International Child Labor Study (March 28, 1994).
5 International Child Labor Hearing,
U.S. Department of Labor (April 12, 1994) (Statement of Indonesian Documentation
Center/INDOC) [hereinafter Testimony of INDOC].
6 KOMPAK stands for "Komite Pendidikan
Anak-anak Kreatip Indonesia." "Factory Children in Indonesia,"
in Child Workers in Asia, vol. 9, no. 2 (April-June 1993).
7 Id. at 16.
8 Id. at 16.
9 International Child Labor Hearing,
U.S. Department of Labor (April 12, 1994) (Statement of the Kepodang Foundation,
Indonesia).
10 Situation Analysis of Women and
Children in Indonesia (New York: UNICEF, 1993) 254-255.
11 Jeff Ballinger, Goods Produced for
Export to the United States Using Child Labor in Indonesia (May 1, 1994) 7
[on file] [hereinafter Ballinger].
12 Testimony of INDOC. Interviews by a U.S.
Department of Labor official with officials from the Indonesian Ministry of
Manpower in May 1994 also brought an acknowledgment that child labor likely
existed in the rattan industry.
13 Ballinger at 7.
14 Benjamin White and Indrasari
Tjandraningsih, Rural Children in the Industrialization Process: Child and
Youth Labor in "Traditional" and "Modern" Industries in West
Java [2nd DRAFT] 19-20 [unpublished manuscript on file, n.d.] [hereinafter
White and Tjandraningsih].
15 Id. at 20.
16 Id. at 23.
17 Id. at 24.
18 Id. at 24-25.
19 "The World of Working Children
1987-1993," Child Workers in Asia (1993) 20-21.
20 Id.
21 U.S. Department of Commerce, International
Trade Administration, Office of Textiles and Apparel, Major Shippers:
Textiles and Apparel (June 11, 1994).
22 White and Tjandraningsih at 18-19.
23 For example, a review of current literature
shows that 12 to 15 year old children are working in chocolate, cracker and
biscuit factories for mostly domestic consumption. See generally
Ballinger. Ballinger interviewed several children working in the chocolate
factories. See also White and Tjandraningsih at 17. White and
Tjandraningsih document girls working in milk-based candy and caramel industries
in Pangalengan. Children, ranging in age from 7-18, weigh, wrap, seal and bag
candy.
24 A 1991 survey by an Indonesian
non-governmental organization, KOMPAK, found hundreds of children working in a
mosquito repellant company filling tubes with toxic liquids for export to a
European country. "Factory Children in Indonesia," Child Workers
in Asia, vol. 9, no. 2 (April-June 1993) 16. According to the 1994
Journal of Commerce Piers Imports database 1994, the United States does
import mosquito coils and repellents from Indonesia. More research is necessary
in this industry.
25 An article in 1992 in the Calgary
Herald (Canada) cited the ILO and reported that children were working in
electric light bulb factories for $3 per week. David Todd, "From the
Cradle to the Factory: Children Toil Like Slaves for Paltry Pay," Calgary
Herald, July 5, 1992, B1.
26 There are numerous accounts of 12 to 14
year old children working in shoe-making in Cidabayut, near Bandung. The shoes
made by children are allegedly for domestic consumption only. Ballinger at 10.
Child "apprentices" from 7 to 11 years old work in the shoe industries
of Ciomas (Bogor district) and Cibaduyat (Bandung district) producing sports,
leather, and rubber shoes, mainly for domestic use. White and Tjandraningsih at
20 and 24.
27 Child labor is used in commercial fishing
on off-sea platforms in Sumatra, where young boys are virtual prisoners for
months earning less than $1 a day. "Government Taking Concrete Action
Against Child Labor," Business Times, August 27, 1993, 6-7.
28 Her Suharyanto, "Pumice: Pebbles with
a Price," Indonesia Business Weekly, vol. 1, no. 29 (July 2, 1993)
30.
29 Meeting between Jeff Ballinger and
International Child Labor Study staff at the U.S. Department of Labor (February
15, 1994).
30 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1993 (U.S. Department of State, February, 1994) 652.
31 Id.
32 Id.
33 Testimony of INDOC.
34 Interview with the Ministry of Manpower by
Department of Labor official (May 1994).
35 Id.
36 "Child Abuse Rampant," Child
Workers in Asia, vol. 9, no. 3, July-Sept, 1993, 26.
37 Ballinger at 2.
38 See American Embassy-Jakarta,
unclassified telegram no. 7417, August 11, 1994 [hereinafter Jakarta 7417].
39 Situation Analysis of Women and
Children in Indonesia (New York: UNICEF, 1993) 252.
40 Interview with Ministry of Manpower by
Department of Labor official (May, 1994).
41 Conditions of Work Digest: Child Labor
Law and Practice, vol. 10, no. 1 (Geneva: International Labor Organization,
1991).
42 See Ballinger's summary review of
ILO/IPEC draft report. This is also confirmed by an official U.S. Department of
Labor visit to Indonesia in May 1994.
43 Interview with the Indonesia office of IPEC
by U.S. Department of Labor official (May 1994).
44 Situation Analysis of Women and
Children in Indonesia (New York: UNICEF 1993) 251.
45 Lists of Ratifications by Convention
and Country (as at December 1992) (Geneva: International Labor
Organization, 1993).
46 "Worker Rights Proposal Seen as Trade
Maneuver," [AFP source not known], April 3 1994 [on file].
47 IPEC: Reflections on the Past, Pointers
to the Future (Geneva: International Labor Organization, 1994) Annex II.
48 Jakarta 7417.
49 "Worker Rights Proposal Seen as Trade
Maneuver," [AFP source not known], April 3 1994 [on file].
50 Letter from UNICEF-Asia Section to the
International Child Labor Study (June 27, 1994).
