| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* According
to the Child Activity Survey (1999-2000) conducted by the Department
of Census and Statistics, the child population under 18 years was
estimated at 4,344,770. This survey revealed that 2.9 per cent of
the children in the age group 5-14 years and 29.3 per cent in the
age group of 15-17 years are not engaged in education. It further
pointed out that among children below 18 years of age, 5.3 per cent
were involved in economic activities and another 7.1 per cent were
involved in housekeeping and were not attending school.
(ILO-IPEC,
Sarath W. Amarasinghe, Sri Lanka, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children: A Rapid Assessment, Geneva, February 2002)
* For the year
2000, the ILO projects that there will be 35,000 economically active
children, 15,000 girls and 20,000 boys between the ages of 10-14,
representing 2.00% of this age group. (ILO,
International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically
Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* 33,432 children
between 10-14 years of age and 496,550 between 15-19 are economically
active. (ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics,
1999)
* Estimates of
the number of child labourers range between 100,000 to 500,000. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* The Child Activity
Survey estimates that out of 4,344,770 children in the age group 5-17
years living in Sri Lanka at the time of the survey, 926,038 or 21%
were engaged in some form of economic activity. (Ministry
of Finance and Planning and IPEC, Child Activity Survey, 1999)
* Out of all children
below 15 years, 15% are engaged in some form of economic activity.
(Ministry of Finance and Planning and
IPEC, Child Activity Survey, 1999)
* Out of the working
children, 51% are below the age of 15 years. (Ministry
of Finance and Planning and IPEC, Child Activity Survey, 1999)
* Out of all male
children, 26% are engaged in an economic activity. The corresponding
proportion for females is 17%. (Ministry
of Finance and Planning and IPEC, Child Activity Survey, 1999)
* According to
the Labour Force Survey of 1998 nearly 40,000 children between the
ages of 10-14 years are in employment. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* The 1997 Census
and Statistics Department estimates show the total child labour as
16,511 in the 10-14 age group, composed of 11,132 boys and 5,379 girls.
(US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* In 1995, there
were 48,000 economically active children, 21,000 girls and 27,000
boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 2.43% of this age group.
(ILO, International Labour Office -
Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT
Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* In 1991, the
National Plan of Action for Children developed by the Ministry of
Policy Planning estimated that there were about 500,000 child labourers
in Sri Lanka. (ILO-IPEC, Country Paper:
Sri Lanka, citing Ministry of Policy Planning and Implementation,
1991)
* 82,000 of
10-14-year-olds were economically active in 1991. (UNICEF,
Atlas of South Asian Children and Women, 1996)
|
| Child
Slavery |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
*
Information gathered by the British charity, Christian Aid, and
reported by Reuters, indicates that up to 10,000 children between
ages 6 and 14 are enslaved in brothels in Sri Lanka.
(CATW, Child Sex Tourism is Flourishing
in Sri Lanka, Coalition Report, 1997)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* One of the
most destructive forms of child labour in Sri Lanka prevails in
the fishing industry. Children are recruited in the fishing 'vaadiyas'.
Vaadiyas are very remote and children are kept in conditions of
virtual slavery. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* The Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conscripts high-school age children to
work as cooks, messengers and clerks. In some cases, the children
help build fortifications. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* 10,000 to 12,000
children from rural areas are trafficked and prostituted to paedophiles
by organised crime groups. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Sri Lankan children for sale on the Internet", Julian
West, New Delhi, London Telegraph, 26 October 1997)
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)
*
80% of labour migration in 1994 was of women workers. Job trainees
in Korea and Japan have disappeared into underground exploitation,
such as prostitution. (CATW-Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific,
1996)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Children are
trafficked to Middle East for camel-jockeying.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka,
September 1999)
* Reports indicate
trafficking of children into Pakistan from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Nepal and Sri Lanka. (US
Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)
* Malaysia is a
receiving country for trafficked women from Indonesia, the Philippines,
Thailand, China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, Sri Lanka
and Laos. (CATW-Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific,
1996)
* Ethnic conflicts
have left many children displaced and abandoned and consequently easy
prey for 'job placement agents' who pick them up on the streets in
villages or even from within the refugee camps and then sell them
into employment, most commonly for domestic work.
(UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic
Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Children in Domestic Service in Sri Lanka,
1993)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* There are an estimated
30,000 child prostitutes. The numbers are expected to increase to 44,000
by the year 2000. (ILO-IPEC, Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC
Activities, 1999)
* Statistics reveal
that between 18,000 to 30,000 children were involved in child prostitution.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* Child prostitutes
are estimated to number between 15,000-20,000. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* 5,000 to 30,000
Sri Lankan boys are used by Western paedophile sex tourists in Sri Lanka.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Sri Lankan activists, Feizal Smith, "Sri Lanka: Tightening
Screws on Paedophiles", IPS, 20 February 1998)
* There is a significant
problem of child prostitution in certain coastal resort areas. The government
estimates that there are more than 2,000 active child prostitutes in the
country, but private groups claim the number is much higher. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
* About 30,000 Sri
Lankan children, 80% of whom are boys, are sexually exploited in tourist
centres. (CATW, "Child Sex Tourism is Flourishing in Sri
Lanka", Coalition Report, 1997)
* Information gathered
by the British charity, Christian Aid, and reported by Reuters, indicates
that up to 10,000 children between ages 6 and 14 are enslaved in brothels
in Sri Lanka, and another 5,000 between 10 and 18 years of age work more
independently. (CATW, "Child Sex Tourism is Flourishing
in Sri Lanka", Coalition Report, 1997)
* 10,000 to 12,000
children from rural areas are trafficked and prostituted to paedophiles
by organised crime groups. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Julian West, "Sri Lankan children for sale on the Internet",
London Telegraph, 26 October 1997)
* Ratnapala's research
in 1996 found that 1,489 boys and girls were directly or indirectly associated
with commercial sexual activities (one third being girls). (ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, October 1998, citing Nandasena Ratnapala, Child
Prostitution in Sri Lanka, 1995)
* In 1996, PEACE
estimated the total number of child prostitutes at about 15,000 children.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, October 1998)
* Estimates for children
(often boys) exploited in commercial sexual activities range from
as low as 100-200 by Redd Barna and the Ministry of Planning (1987)
to as high as 30,000 by the then Ministry of Health and Women' s
Affairs. (ILO-IPEC, Country Report:
Sri Lanka, October 1998)
* 20,000 children
are engaged in prostitution. (Human
Rights Watch)
* The estimated number
of young Sri Lankan boys (aged between 6-14) who have been victimised by
foreign paedophiles is 10,000-15,000 (UNICEF) with some reports claiming
up to 30,000 (ECPAT). (Movement
to Prevent Child Prostitution-UK: www.lankaweb.com/mpcp)
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Studies
undertaken by PEACE (1999) show that male children whose ages generally
range from six to eight years are involved in the sex trade along
the beach resorts of the southwest coast. (ILO-IPEC,
Sarath W. Amarasinghe, Sri Lanka, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children: A Rapid Assessment, Geneva, February 2002)
*
Children from the streets, villages or refugee camps are sold for
employment especially in child prostitution.
(ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* Many children
are involved in illegal activities, particularly in prostitution.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka,
September 1999)
* Commercial exploitation
of young boys and girls occur mainly in coastal areas in which tourist
resorts are located. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Report: Sri Lanka, October 1998)
* Many of the prostitutes
are boys who sell themselves to foreign tourists.
(EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
* Sri Lanka is
a principal source of child pornography for the United States and
Europe. ("Sri
Lankan children for sale on the Internet", London Telegraph, 26 October
1997)
* Sri Lanka is
one of the favoured destinations of paedophile sex tourists from Europe
and the United States. (CATW
Fact Book, citing "Global law to punish sex tourists sought by Britain
and EU", The Indian Express, 21 November 1997)
* An increasing
number of children are exploited sexually, especially young boys forced
into prostitution, both locally and in international sex tourism.
(UN
CRC, Concluding observations on Sri Lanka, 1995)
* Initiation of
girls into prostitution is done under the guise of religion. 'Devadasis,
Jjogins and Venkat Sanis' are young girls dedicated to goddesses and
forced into prostitution for life under a priest or landlord.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Sarvodaya Movement Sri Lanka, Wijaya Kannangara,
"Paper on Cultural Violation)
* The military
and political situation in Sri Lanka has led to an increase in migration,
which has made women extremely vulnerable to trafficking for prostitution.(CATW
Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalization
& Human Rights")
* In India,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, child marriage is accepted and
considered the best method to procure girls for prostitution. (CATW
Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalization
& Human Rights")
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Many children are involved
in illegal activities, particularly in prostitution. The use of children
for alcohol and drug trafficking is a serious problem.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September
1999)
* Many minors
are convicted for criminal activities.
(DCI, International Child Rights Monitor,
October 1994 to March 1995)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
OPPOSITION GROUP
STATISTICS
* An assessment of the
LTTE fighters killed in combat reveals that 40% of its fighting force are
both males and females between 9 and 18 years of age. Another study done
by a UK-based Sinhala researcher, Dushy Ranatunge, indicates that at least
60% of the dead LTTE fighters were under 18, and of these, most are girls
and boys aged 10-16 years. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing R. Gunaratna, "LTTE child combatants", Jane's
Intelligence Review, July 1998)
* A group of LTTE child
soldiers who surrendered in October 1998 claimed that 75% of LTTE fighters
are children. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing P. K. Balachanddran, "Most of the LTTE fighters
are kids, say Tiger captives", The Hindustan Times, 4 October 1998)
* In late 1998, the LTTE
stepped up its recruitment drive among children in the eastern Batticaloa
district, with at least 150-200 children being added to their ranks. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing V. S. Sambandan, "Security forces, LTTE step
up recruitment", The Hindu, 18 October 1998)
*
Statistics from one school in Mallavi show the escalating scale of child
recruitment. Before compulsory training began in April 1999, 4 children
had joined the LTTE; from April 1999 to early 2000, 15 children joined;
in the most recent campaign from 5 May to the end of June, 24 children
had joined (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing University Teachers for Human Rights – Jaffna;
Bulletin No 23, 11 July 2000)
RECRUITMENT
LAWS AND REGULATIONS
*
The minimum legal recruitment age for the armed forces is 18 years.
(Official sources)
NOTES ON GOVERNMENT FORCES
* Children are used by
armed groups aligned to the government.
(CSUCS, Rory Mungoven, e-mail to GMIS, 18 October 2000)
* During the visit
of Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General
for Children and Armed Conflict, to Sri Lanka in 1998, opposition leader
Ranil Wickramasinghe, claimed in Parliament that the SLA had launched a
campaign in schools to recruit school children. This claim was vehemently
denied by the authorities. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing "SLA recruiting children – Opposition Leader",
TamilNet, 8 May 1998)
* There are concerns
about recruitment of children into some of the paramilitary groups that
fight with the armed forces, such as the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation
Front (EPRLF), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE)
and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). These groups fought
against the government in the 1980s, but have since shifted their alliance.
The general recruitment policies of these forces are not known, though there
have been reliable reports of young men, 14 to 17 year olds, being forcibly
recruited. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Children in South
Asia: Securing their Rights, 1 April 1998)
*
The army had in the past called for applications from candidates under
the age of 17 years, but desisted after receiving appeals from UNICEF and
other international bodies. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing Report of Sri Lanka to the UN CRC, 5 May
1994)
NOTES
ON OPPOSITION GROUPS
* The LTTE was responsible
for grave abuses, including recruitment of child soldiers for military service.
Increased recruitment of children was also reported from the LTTE-controlled
areas . (Human
Rights Watch, Country Reports, 2000)
* Security Forces in
the Muthavil area at Kolombuthurai took into custody a 14 year-old female
LTTE cadre during operations. The captured child said she was forcibly recruited
to the LTTE in May, 1998 at the age of 12. (CSUCS-
Update 5, 30 September 2000)
* The University Teachers
for Human Rights (UTHR), issued a report on 11 July warning that the LTTE
(Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) had initiated a strong new recruitment
drive for child soldiers. The UTHR reported that much of the recruitment
was forced, with an estimated 5% of recruits going willingly. (CSUCS,
Update 4, 11 August 2000)
* The Sri Lankan military
believes that half of the LTTE troops are women, called 'Birds of Freedom'
by their fellow rebels. Many of them were recruited as children and chosen
from ages as young as 10 to become suicide bombers. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000)
* In Sri Lanka, international
media carried the story of a 14-year-old girl who had fought with the LTTE
for six years before her capture in August 2000. She claims to have been
eight when kidnapped by the LTTE. (CSUCS,
Update 6, 19 October 2000)
* There has been widespread
press coverage on the use of children as soldiers by the LTTE throughout
the civil war. Government soldiers have often described how they were forced
to confront LTTE battalions of women, teenage girls, and boys as young as
10 years old. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing Rädda Barnen, Children of War Newsletter,
No. 1/98)
* Amnesty International
reported children as young as 12 years being forcibly recruited
by the LTTE .
(CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing Amnesty International, Children in South
Asia: Securing their Rights, 1 April 1998)
* LTTE assurance to UN
General Secretary in May 1998 of not recruiting children under 17 years
for armed combat is not honoured. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
* The elite Sirasu Puli
(Leopard Brigade) is reportedly composed entirely of children drawn from
LTTE-orphanages. (CSUCS
Asia Report, July 2000, citing R. Gunaratna, "LTTE child combatants", Jane's
Intelligence Review, July 1998)
* Children are recruited
by armed groups as messengers/cooks. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
*
Most of the LTTE soldiers killed at the Weli Oya complex in July 1995
were children, and during an assault on the Wanni defences on 1 February
1998, at least 200 child fighters were killed. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000)
* Despite an oral commitment
to Olara Otunnu in 1998 by the LTTE not to recruit children below the age
of 17, and not use children below the age of 18 in hostilities, their use
of child soldiers has continued unabated. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing Cruez, D., "Sri Lanka shows rebel child soldiers
to media", Reuters, 7 October 1998)
* Hundreds of children
were believed to have been recruited from around the Batticaloa area in
an aggressive drive in October 1998, where they demanded that each family
should provide one male to the LTTE. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing Human Rights Watch, January 1999)
* LTTE ignored appeals
from the international community and stepped up its recruitment drive among
children in the eastern Batticaloa district, by recruiting 150-200 children
to their ranks (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing V. S. Sambandan, "Security forces, LTTE step
up recruitment", The Hindu, 18 October 1998.)
* 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 |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* There are 19,110
child domestics according to official estimates.
(UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic
Work, May 1999)
* UNICEF Sri Lanka suggested
there are approximately 150,000 child domestic workers.
(ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Paper, October
1998 citing UNICEF)
* There are an estimated
75,000 domestic child workers in the whole country.
(ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Report, October
1998, citing Sri Lankan Ministry of Labour)
* 50,000-100,000 children
are employed in domestic service.(US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)
*
There are 500,000 child domestic workers.
(ILO,
Targeting the Intolerable, November 1996)
LOCAL
STATISTICS
*
40,000 children are in domestic service in Colombo.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Report: Sri Lanka, October
1998)
GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
* Children from the streets,
villages or refugee camps are sold for employment especially in domestic
service. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* Migration of
large numbers of women and adolescents as domestic workers (approximately 300,000 to the Middle
East alone) has created a demand for younger children to work in their
place. (UNICEF
Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999, citing P. Stalker,
"Refugees and migration: the impact of emigration", www.oneworld.org/guides/migration/stalker_emigration.html)
* 1 in 3 households in
Colombo had a child under 14 years of age as a domestic worker. Assuming
that the number of middle income households in Colombo is 120,000 this would
result in a figure of 40,000 children in domestic service.
(ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Report, October
1998, citing UNICEF, State of the World's Children, 1997)
* The Committee expresses
its grave concern about the substantial number of children working as domestic
servants and who are often subjected to sexual abuse.
(UN
CRC, Concluding observations on Sri Lanka, 1995)
* Ethnic conflicts
have left many children displaced and abandoned and consequently
easy prey for 'job placement agents' who pick them up on the streets
in villages or even from within the refugee camps and then sell
them into employment, most commonly for domestic work.
(UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child
Domestic Work, May 1999, citing ILO, Children in Domestic Service
in Sri Lanka, 1993)
|
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
GENERAL
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
*
Children employed in plantation industry, gem mining industry and fishing
industry. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Report: Sri Lanka, October 1998)
SPECIFIC SECTORS
* Begging - Begging in
the street is also an occupation that places children at most risk.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September
1999)
* Camel Racing - Recruitment
of children for camel riding has become a serious child labour problem.
Children are trafficked to the Middle East for camel-jockeying.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September
1999)
* Camel Racing - Children are trafficked for camel-jockeying.
(DCI, International Child Rights Monitor, July to December 1992)
* Commercial Fishing
- One of the most destructive forms of child labour in Sri Lanka prevails
in the fishing industry. Children are recruited in the fishing 'vaadiyas'.
Vaadiyas are very remote and children are kept in conditions of virtual
slavery. (ILO-IPEC,
Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September 1999)
* Restaurants and Hotels - An
estimated 100,000 children are employed in occupations such as food
catering.
(UNICEF Innocenti Digest on Child Domestic Work, May 1999,
citing University of Manila, A Study of Child Domestic Workers in
Metro Manila, 1997)
* Street Children - On
the streets children work as vendors and child prostitutes.
(ILO-IPEC, Country Paper: Sri Lanka, September
1999)
* Street Children - There
are 10,000 street children and an annual increase of 2,000 is predicted.
(ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Report, October
1998, citing Plan of Action for Children in Sri Lanka)
* Street Children
- 950 Street children in Colombo and 1,500 in the entire island.
(ILO-IPEC, Sri Lanka Country Report, October
1998, citing Redd Barna, 1995)
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