| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* Children between the
ages of 10-14 constitute 0.6% of the labour force, 5,936 children in total,
according to the latest official figures. Most of these child labourers
are Lebanese, but some are Syrian. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* According to a UNICEF
study, 60% of working children are below 13 years of age and 75% earn wages
below two-thirds of the minimum wage. Nearly 40% of working children work
10 to 14 hours per day, and few receive social welfare benefits. In addition,
approximately 52,000 children between the ages of 15-19 are in the active
labour force. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* 11,430 children between
10-14 and 94,785 between 15-19 are economically active. (ILO,
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
* 52,185 teenagers between
15-19 of age years work without minimum wages. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
*
Working children between 10-14 years of age constitute 1.87% of the total
number of children in this specific age group. (ILO-IPEC,
Amal Dibo, Child Labour in Few Countries of the Arab Region, 1999, citing
ILO-IPEC/Lebanon Ministry of Labour, National Child Labour in Lebanon,
1997)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Poor children often
are compelled by their parents to seek employment, and often take jobs
that put their safety at risk, in industries such as car mechanic shops,
and carpentry. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
|
| Child
Slavery |
ADULT STATISTICS
* The majority
of the 170,000 female Sri Lankans who are currently working in Lebanon
are shamefully exploited.
(Marie Odile and Xavier
Favre, "The Beirut slave trade", Le Monde diplomatique, June 1998)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* In the absence of a
prohibition against it, children, foreign domestic servants, and other foreign
workers sometimes are forced to remain in situations amounting to coerced
or bonded labour. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Investigations
pointed out the presence of child slavery. The last survey, to study
this phenomenon, was conducted on July 24th, 1995.
(Lebanese Union for Child Welfare, National Report of Lebanese Associations,
submission to the UN CRC, May-June 1996)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
ADULT
STATISTICS
* Majority of the
170,000 female Sri Lankans who are currently working in Lebanon are shamefully
exploited. (Marie
Odile and Xavier Favre, "The Beirut slave trade", Le Monde diplomatique,
June 1998)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Lebanon is a destination country for internationally trafficked
persons, primarily women. Women from Ethiopia travel to Lebanon,
in the belief that they will work as domestics and have reported
being forced into domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Women
from the New Independent States (specifically Russia, Ukraine, and
Moldova) have reported being forced into sexual exploitation. (US
Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
- |
| Children
in Crime |
- |
| Child
Soldiers |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* A study commissioned by UNICEF in 1990 estimated that 1% of Lebanese
children had taken part in combat, and stated that many young people
may have become resigned to violence and a military life (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
GOVERNMENT FORCE STATISTICS
*
There are around 100 children below the age of 18 in government
armed forces. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing Machal study)
NOTES
ON GOVERNMENT FORCES
* There are
no indications of under-18s in government armed forces. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
NOTES
ON OPPOSITION GROUPS
*
Children are known to participate in various armed groups operating
in the country. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
* Armed militias had a history of recruiting youths during the civil
war, with both young boys and girls taking part in the fighting.
(CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
* Some girls,
as young as eleven, received military training from the militias.
(CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001)
*
Hezbollah, a religious militant outfit operating in Lebanon recruits
very small numbers of child soldiers according to NGO source. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database)
* Palestinian National
Liberation Army, a non-government force recruits very small numbers
of soldiers under 18 years according to NGO source. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database)
*
Palestinian commandos are as young as 9 years old according to the
Machal Case Study. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database)
NOTES ON PREVIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS
* A woman from
Markaba, whose son was forced to join the SLA at the age of 16, told
Human Rights Watch that forced conscription of children by the SLA
was not unusual: They take them at the age of 14, 15 and 16. (Human
Rights Watch, Punishing Flight From The Militia, 1999)
* The SLA practice of forced conscription of teenaged
boys has been a long-standing nightmare for families that are opposed
to the occupation and despise the SLA. According to Lebanese defense
lawyers, since 1985 "about 12,000 people have joined the SLA freely
or forcibly.
(Human Rights Watch, Punishing Flight From The Militia,
1999, citing "Former Israeli-allied militiamen `treated correctly'
- lawyers", AFP, 11 June 1999)
* Some adults have
used young people's immaturity to their own advantage, recruiting and training
adolescents for suicide bombings. (UN, Graca
Machel, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 26 August 1996, citing Rachel
Brett and Margaret McCallin, Children: The Invisible Soldiers, April 1996)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
- |
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Poor children often
are compelled by their parents to seek employment, risking their safety,
in industries like car mechanic shops, and carpentry.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Children are employed
predominantly in the industrial, crafts, and metallurgical sectors.
(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
*
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child notes the rising number of
children working in the streets or in domestic service, including children
from other countries. (UN
CRC, Concluding observations on Lebanon, 1996)
SPECIFIC SECTORS
* Metal Works - A majority
of child labourers engage in metal-work and repairs.
(ILO-IPEC, Amal Dibo, Child Labour in Few
Countries of the Arab Region, 1999)
* Street Children - There
are hundreds of children living on the streets, some of whom survive by
begging. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
* Street Children
- Street children are beggars, bubble gum sellers or car glass cleaners.
(Lebanese Union for Child Welfare, National Report
of Lebanese Associations, submission to the UN CRC, May-June 1996)
* Street Children
- The study in July 1995 revealed that street children belong to
the following groups: 49.3% gypsies, 32.9% Syrians, 17.8% Lebanese.
(Lebanese Union for Child Welfare, National Report of Lebanese Associations,
submission to the UN CRC, May-June 1996)
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