List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that thousands of children below the age of 18 are engaged in the recovery of metals from electronic waste (e-waste) in India. Reports indicate that this is particularly prevalent in the informal e-waste processing sector of Seelampur, which is the largest market for e-waste in India. Thousands of children are estimated to be primarily engaged in the dismantling of e-waste, which includes stripping wire to obtain recycled copper or aluminum, segregating lithium from batteries, breaking circuit boards, and burning metals like mercury, lead, and arsenic. Exposure to these materials is considered hazardous work under Indian labor laws, as they render children vulnerable to skin diseases, respiratory diseases, and developmental abnormalities.

Hindi Translation

There are reports that forced labor conditions are prevalent among workers in the thread and yarn sector in India. In particular, workers in spinning mills in the state of Tamil Nadu are often recruited using deception about working conditions and wages. Sources indicate conditions of excessive and involuntary overtime, debt bondage, withholding of identity records, and restrictions on free movement of workers.

There are reports that men and women working in the production of tea are subjected to forced and bonded labor in India. Evidence of forced and bonded labor has been found in the Assam state. Workers experience non-payment and under payment of wages and withholding of benefits, as well as threats of the same. In addition, sources indicate that workers are not provided access to adequate housing, basic healthcare, and water. While employers are legally required to provide food and medical care, workers are not provided with these services and must borrow money from their employer at high interest rates; workers are also sometimes charged for services they do not receive. This has led to conditions of debt bondage. A smaller number of workers are subjected to forced labor through physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, and threats of violence and dismissal.

ILAB has reason to believe that cooking oil (palm oil blends) produced in India is produced with an input derived from child labor and forced labor, specifically palm fruit produced in Malaysia. Palm fruit from Malaysia was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009 for forced labor and added in 2014 for child labor. Research from NGOs and media reports continue to show tens of thousands of children work in the palm fruit sector in Malaysia. Similar reporting shows forced labor indicators are widespread in palm fruit plantations, particularly among migrant workers who face vulnerabilities during and after recruitment. Malaysia processes its palm fruit into products including crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, refined palm oil, and refined palm kernel oil, which it exports to the global supply chain. India imported over $3.43 billion in crude palm oil and crude palm kernel oil from Malaysia in 2021, representing nearly half of the imports of these products into India. Cooking oil (palm oil blends) produced in India uses Malaysian palm oil, which is produced using forced labor and child labor. In 2022, crude palm oil from Malaysia accounted for 35% of global imports and refined palm oil from Malaysia represented 26% of global imports. This research suggests that further worldwide downstream products of palm fruit and palm oil, such as animal feed, baked goods, beverages, household and industrial products, personal care products, cosmetic products, infant formula, and shortening, may be produced with an input produced with child labor and forced labor.

There are reports that farm-raised shrimp in India is produced using the forced labor of adults. Peeling sheds and processing plants, concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, employ internal migrant workers, often from marginalized social castes, for processing and packaging of farmed shrimp. Peeling sheds, where many of the worst working conditions are reported, mostly employ women. Third party labor contractors recruit workers from marginalized communities and charge exorbitant job placement fees. Unable to pay what can at times be the equivalent of a full month’s wages, many workers take a loan, often from the labor contractor, and cannot leave the job until the debt is paid off, resulting in debt bondage. Workers often reside at or near the worksite in employer-provided housing—typically in a remote location—and severe security measures including lock-ins and surveillance prevent workers from freely leaving the premises. This situation creates multiple dependencies on the employer to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, personal hygiene, and access to market goods. Work to process shrimp involves exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, standing for long hours, and high risk of injury, sometimes without proper personal protective equipment. Verbal and physical abuse, including sexual harassment and abuse, are reportedly prevalent. Reports indicate housing facilities are commonly overcrowded, dirty, and poorly maintained. There are reports of excessive overtime beyond legal limits, often unpaid. Internal migrant workers—who are usually far from their families and homes with few or no job opportunities outside of shrimp processing— often face intimidation and threats of termination by labor contractors, supervisors, and security guards if they fail to comply with restrictive and exploitative labor policies. There are reports of workers not receiving the legally required minimum wage and of working without receiving their pay for up to 2 years. There are multiple reports of workers laboring for months with few or no days off.

Hindi Translation

There are reports that children in India are forced to quarry stones. These children work in stone quarries, mines, and crushers under conditions of bonded labor. According to an assessment by the ILO, as many as 500,000 stone quarry workers, including entire families, in Tamil Nadu were bonded laborers. Families receive an advance payment and become bonded for generations to pay off the debt. Some children are used as a guarantee for the loan and are forced to work to pay it off. Some children inherit the debt of their parents and may be bought and sold between contractors. Children of scheduled castes, a socially disadvantaged class in India, and migrant children, are particularly vulnerable. The children live at the worksite and face isolation and restrictions on their movement. Some children are forced to work under threat of financial penalties or physical violence, receive little pay, and are denied wages. 

Hindi translation