List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor

There are reports that children in Colombia as young as 11 years old are forced to cultivate and pick coca, and to scrape coca leaves. The Government, NGOs, media, and the ILO indicate that some children are forcibly recruited by non-state armed groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the National Liberation Army, and criminal groups to pick coca. Others are forced by drug traffickers. Criminal and illegal armed groups use threats of torture or death to prevent children from attempting to escape. 

Spanish Translation

There are reports that children as young as age five are forced to work in coal mines in Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Northwest Frontier Province. Some of these children work as bonded labor; under this arrangement, which is typical of the Pakistani “peshgis” system, children work alongside, or in place of, other members of their indebted families. The children are forced to work without protective equipment. Their work involves blasting rocks with dynamite and digging to extract coal in deep narrow shafts below ground. The children are also forced to lead donkeys deep underground and lead them back out hauling the mined coal.

There are reports that children, especially boys, are abducted and forced to herd cattle in South Sudan. Hundreds of abductions have been reported, particularly in communities in Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria states. The children are abducted when rival tribes or ethnic groups enter communities to steal cattle, as well as during other inter-ethnic or inter-tribal disputes; some of these children are enslaved to herd cattle.

There are reports that children are forced to produce carpets in Nepal. Children age 14 and older are found in registered carpet factories, while children younger than 14 are found in informal, unregistered carpet factories. Carpet factories are concentrated in the Kathmandu Valley. Some children work alone or with their families as bonded laborers in the factories. Most children do not receive payment for their work. Some children work to pay off advance payments for their labor made by the employer to the recruiter or their families. These children live in the factory or nearby in accommodations provided by the employer. The children are not free to leave until the debt has been repaid. Many of the children are forced to work long hours and overtime, up to 18 hours per day; many cannot leave the factory even after they have completed their long workday. Such children are punished by employers for refusing to work, missing production quotas, falling asleep, or making mistakes.

Nepali translation

There are reports that children as young as age five are forced to work in the production of carpets, often through a system of bonded labor. Based on reports from the ILO and the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), as many as half a million children have been producing carpets under conditions of forced labor throughout the country. Children of migrants, refugees, and impoverished families are particularly vulnerable to this practice. Typical of the Pakistani “peshgis” system, children are often sent to work to pay off their family's debt. Families accept a loan in the form of advanced payment for a year of their child's work, and the child is prohibited from leaving the workplace until the debt is paid in full. The children live in the workplace, away from their families, and do not have the freedom to leave. Some children are forced to work without equipment to protect them from exposure to toxic chemicals and dust. The children are paid little, and deductions are taken from their wages for food and shelter. Some children are fined or beaten for any mistakes.

There are reports that children are forced by the military to work in the production of bricks in Burma. According to NGOs, forced child labor in brick production is pervasive, particularly in Northern Rakhine State and near military camps. In some cases, children are recruited into the military and forced to live in barracks and work for years in brick production; in other cases, children are sent by their families on rotation to fulfill the military's forced labor mandate for their household. The children are not paid for their work, and they face physical abuse and other punishments for refusing to work or for producing work that is considered of unacceptable quality. 

Burmese Translation

There are reports that children are forced to produce bricks in Cambodia. According to international researchers and NGOs, numerous incidents of forced child labor have been reported in Cambodia. Reports estimate over 9.3 percent of brick workers are children. However, with upwards of tens of thousands of workers employed at brick kilns and the casual nature of work in brick kilns, this number is likely higher. A cycle of multi-generational debt bondage is created when adults are unable to pay back the high interest charged on loans offered by brick kiln owners and are forced to pass along outstanding debts to their children. Children either inherit or are born into debt bondage and are threatened with arrest or are forced to pay additional debt if they try to leave the brick kiln without repaying their debts in full.

Khmer Translation

There are reports that children, ages 8-17, are forced to produce bricks in China, with concentrations in the Shanxi and Henan provinces. Victims are from provinces across China; some children are abducted or trafficked through coercion and sold to work in brick kilns. Information from media sources and a research study indicate that the children are forced to work without pay under threat of physical violence, held against their will, watched by guards, and denied sufficient food. 

Chinese Translation

There are reports of children working under conditions of forced labor to produce bricks in India's kilns. The most recently available information from a trade union report indicates that in the State of Haryana alone, as many as 40,000 children, many of them forced laborers, are working in brick kilns. Bonded labor in the brick industry is found across India, including in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. The kilns use a system of bonded labor in which children often work alongside other members of their debt-bonded families. Some of these children are forced to work as a guarantee for loans to their parents. Families take an advance payment from recruiters and then are forced to work to pay off the debt; the debt rolls over from one year to the next, binding the worker in a cycle of debt bondage. Children in scheduled castes, a socially disadvantaged class in India, and of migrant families, are particularly vulnerable to forced labor. Some children are forced to work under threat of physical violence. Some children and their families are not paid regularly, do not receive the promised wages, and are prohibited from leaving the worksite. 

Hindi translation