List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that children ages 10 to 17 mine or “harvest” sand in Kenya. These children reportedly work in Busia, Homa Bay, Kilifi, Kitui, Machakos, and Nakuru counties. It is reported that boys are more likely to work in harvesting sand than girls. In a study from Kenyatta University, sand harvesting was the most frequently reported reason for primary school students to drop out in Kathiani Division in Machakos. Among 80 students interviewed, all said they were involved in sand harvesting to some degree. Similarly, a survey of local residents and interviews with community stakeholders in Magarini determined that sand harvesting was a leading form of child labor for boys. In addition, according to the ILO, academics, NGOs, local government officials, and the U.S. Department of State, numerous incidents of child labor have been reported in sand production across the country. In many cases, children drop out of school to dig and shovel sand in and along rivers and load and unload sand onto and from large trucks. Children harvest sand during school hours and at night, and are at risk of accidents from collapsing mine walls that can result in loss of life. 

Swahili translation

There are reports that school-aged children harvest sand in Uganda, particularly in the Central, Eastern, and Northeastern regions of the country. According to a Government of Uganda official, sand harvesting is one of the main occupations in which child laborers work. Children harvest sand for long hours, which prevents them from attending school. Children dive underwater, scoop up sand, and transport it to boats on the river bank. This work exposes children to severe health and safety hazards, including drowning, injury, and water-borne disease. 

ILAB has reason to believe that raw sugar, refined sugar, molasses, rum, bagasse, and furfural produced in the Dominican Republic (DR) are produced with an input produced with forced labor, specifically sugarcane produced in the DR. Sugarcane from the DR produced with forced labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Numerous reports indicate the widespread presence of forced labor throughout the sugarcane sector of the DR, including in plantations owned by private companies, state-owned entities, and small independent producers (colonos). Sugarcane workers in the DR, particularly workers of Haitian origin or descent, work and live under conditions of forced labor. Sugarcane is used to produce a number of sugar-based products in the DR. The U.S. imports nearly all the raw sugar and the majority of the molasses exported from the DR, while the EU imports all of the produced furfural. In 2023, the U.S. imported over $131 million in raw sugar from the DR. Research suggests that further downstream products of sugarcane, such as beverages, alcoholic beverages, candy, baked goods, processed food products, animal feed, paper, pulp, construction materials, biofuels, industrial chemicals, medicines, and medicinal alcohol may be produced with an input produced with forced labor.

Spanish Translation

There are reports that adults are forced to produce rubber gloves in Malaysia.  Forced labor predominately occurs among migrant laborers from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Nepal working in more than 100 rubber glove factories throughout Malaysia.  Reports indicate that there are an estimated 42,500 migrant workers employed in the Malaysian rubber glove industry.  Workers are frequently subject to high recruitment fees to secure employment that often keeps them in debt bondage; forced to work overtime in excess of the time allowed by Malaysian law; and work in factories where temperatures can reach dangerous levels.  Additionally, laborers work under the threat of penalties, which include the withholding of wages, restricted movement, and the withholding of their identification documents.

Bahasa Melayu

There are reports that children as young as age nine are forced to work in the production of rubber in Burma. According to reports by NGOs, villagers, including children, are forced to work cultivating rubber plants in nurseries and on plantations for the military camps. Local officials and the military enforce the work orders. The forced child laborers are not paid for their work, and endure physical violence or other punishment if they refuse to work. 

Burmese Translation