List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that children as young as age 7 mine gold in Uganda. This practice is especially common in eastern Uganda and in the northeastern Karamoja region, where children typically work alongside family members. According to international organizations and the media, thousands of children abandon school to work in ASGM. One research study found approximately 1,000 children working in gold mines in central Uganda. Boys work in dangerous conditions in the mines, collecting soil from deep, open pits. Children mine gold in riverbeds, use toxic mercury to process gold ore, and carry water from long distances to sift and wash sediment.

Swahili Translation

There are reports that children as young as 9 years old work in the gold mines of Venezuela. Most of the gold mining in this sector takes place in a region in the south of the country known as the Orinoco Mining Arc. Due to their low weight and small build, children are often utilized in the extraction of the mineral from a network of small, unsupported caves. Children are also tasked with lowering people into the mines, and operating machinery such as electric hammers and gas extractors. These children work long hours, ranging from 10 to 15 hours a day, in dangerous conditions. Children working in this sector do so without access to toilets, safety equipment, first aid, ventilation, or adequate hydration. They run the risk of mining accidents, contracting malaria or mercury poisoning, or being victims of gang violence. Many mines in the region are run by gangs called sindicatos, and increasingly by armed groups such as FARC and ELN. These groups levy taxes and exercise strict control over these mining communities, often under threat of violence. Reports indicate that sometimes children are victims of shootouts between gangs, armed groups, and government forces vying for control of certain mining operations.

There are reports that adults are forced to work in the mining of gold in Venezuela. Research indicates that forced labor occurs throughout the Orinoco Mining Arc, a swath of land in Venezuela’s southern Bolivar state, where the majority of Venezuela’s gold is concentrated. It is estimated that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 gold miners in Venezuela. Mines are largely run by armed and violent criminal groups, and research shows evidence that officials from the Government of Venezuela, including members of security forces and local authorities, have colluded with and allowed members of non-state armed groups to commit human rights violations and labor abuses. Miners experience unsafe working conditions, unsafe and degrading living conditions, extortion and financial penalties, limited freedom of communication, and threats of violence and torture.

Spanish Translation

There are reports that children as young as 8 are engaged in the production of gold in Zimbabwe. Child labor occurs at unregulated artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites, including riverbeds in Mudzi and Mazowe. Sources estimated that thousands of children are working at gold mining sites and doing various work activities, including panning and sieving gold around riverbeds, digging and drilling in pit areas, and collecting and carrying gold ore. Children engaged in gold production in Zimbabwe work in hot climate conditions, lack proper protective equipment, and face exposure to dangerous chemicals, such as mercury. According to NGO reports, at least two children died during a mine shaft collapse.

There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 raise goats in Paraguay. In 2016, the Government of Paraguay published results from the Survey of Activities of Rural Area Children and Adolescents 2015, a representative survey of children’s work in rural areas. The survey considers a working child to be engaged in child labor if the child is below the minimum age for employment of 14 or the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. The survey estimates that 301,827 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous work in rural areas of Paraguay and indicates that children working in agriculture experience accidents and illnesses, including from using dangerous tools and handling chemicals. According to the survey, almost 13 percent of Paraguayan children engaged in child labor in agriculture do not attend school. The survey estimates that 8,584 child laborers raise goats throughout rural areas in Paraguay. Approximately 4,714 child laborers raising goats are below the minimum age for employment in Paraguay. The survey indicates that more boys than girls are engaged in child labor in goat raising. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of Paraguay’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs.

Spanish Translation

There are reports of glove factories forcibly training and employing 1,500 to 2,000 ethnic minority adult workers with the government’s support.  Victim testimonies, news media, and think tanks report that factories, including for gloves, frequently engage in coercive recruitment; limit workers’ freedom of movement and communication; and subject workers to constant surveillance, retribution for religious beliefs, exclusion from community and social life, and isolation.  Further, reports indicate little pay, mandatory Mandarin lessons, ideological indoctrination, and poor living conditions. In some instances, workers have been reported to be subject to torture.  More broadly, according to varied estimates, at least 100,000 to hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities are being subjected to forced labor in China following detention in re-education camps.  In addition to this, poor workers in rural areas may also experience coercion without detention.  Workers are either placed at factories within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where the camps are located, or transferred out of Xinjiang to factories in eastern China.

Chinese Translation