Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It requests the Government to supply further information on the following points.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). Compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted with satisfaction that, by virtue of section 358A of the Penal Code, as amended by the Penal Code (Amendment) Act No. 16 of 2006, the recruitment of children under 18 years for use in armed conflict is punishable as an offence. However, it had noted with concern that, according to the information from the United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict of 27 June 2006 (OSRG/PR060623), the LTTE militant group continued to recruit and use child soldiers. Moreover, the Karuna faction, a breakaway group of the LTTE, continued to abduct and recruit children under 18 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, by virtue of section 20A of the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children (EWYPC) Act, as amended by the EWYPC (Amendment) Act of 2006, the Minister of Labour is empowered to issue regulations on the types of hazardous work prohibited to children. These will include, amongst others, “any work connected with armed conflict”. The employment of children in types of hazardous work shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to a fine or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months, or both, and to pay compensation to the victim of the offence. The Committee also notes that, with regard to the measures taken to stop the recruitment of children under 18 years in armed conflict, the Government refers to the UNICEF mandate to monitor child rights violations of the ceasefire agreements and to compile and verify data on child recruitment.

The Committee further notes the Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka of 20 December 2006 (S/2006/1006; the “Secretary-General’s Report”), as well as the Conclusions of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict of 13 June 2007 (S/AC.51/2007/9), based on that report. It notes that, according to that report, despite previous commitments by the LTTE, that group continues to use and recruit children. In addition, a particularly disconcerting development in 2005 and 2006 is the increase in abductions and recruitment by the Karuna faction. In particular, UNICEF has received reports of 541 children being recruited by the LTTE, of which 68 per cent are boys and 32 per cent are girls, both of an average age of 16 years. The LTTE notified UNICEF that 362 children had been released from its ranks. According to UNICEF data, as of 31 October 2006, out of the 5,794 total cases of child recruitment since April 2001, 1,598 recruited children are believed to remain with the LTTE. However, it is probable that the UNICEF figures reflect approximately one third of the total cases of recruitment. Moreover, UNICEF has received reports of 164 children being recruited by the Karuna faction, of which 142 are believed to remain in the ranks of this faction (Secretary-General’s Report, paragraphs 11–27, pages 4–10). Besides the recruitment of child soldiers, there were also allegations of other grave violations against children by all parties to the conflict. According to the Secretary-General’s Report, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) indicated that a significant number of the 1,135 civilians killed during the conflict were children. The acceleration of violence since May 2006 has resulted in an increase of child casualties. Several of the children killed have been utilized by the LTTE as child soldiers. Also, the SLMM received 237 complaints on child abductions, mostly against the LTTE and the Karuna faction (Secretary-General’s Report, paragraphs 30–37, pages 10–12). Moreover, weaknesses of state institutions, such as the police and the judicial system, impede the effective and timely verification and investigation of cases, the identification and punishment of the perpetrators of grave violations (Secretary-General’s Report, paragraph 62, pages 17–18).

The Committee observes that, although the forced or compulsory recruitment of children in armed conflict is prohibited by law, it remains a serious issue of concern in practice. It shares the concern of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict about the continuous pattern of abduction, recruitment and use of children by the LTTE and the Karuna faction. The Committee requests the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that the practice of forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age in armed conflict is eliminated. It also requests the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that children under 18 years are released from the ranks of the LTTE and the Karuna faction, in particular, in any future peace negotiations. It finally urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that persons who forcibly recruit children under 18 years for use in armed conflict are prosecuted and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice.

Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. The Committee had previously noted the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) indication that child prostitution is prevalent in Sri Lanka and that, according to PEACE (an NGO), at least 5,000 children in the age bracket of 8–15 years were exploited as sex workers, particularly in certain coastal resort areas. It had further noted that sections 360A, 360B and 288A of the Penal Code, as amended, prohibit a wide range of activities associated with prostitution, including the prohibition of the use, procuring or offering of minors under 18 years for prostitution. The Committee notes the Government’s information that prosecutions on the commercial sexual exploitation of children are carried out by the Department of Police and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) of Sri Lanka. The police have recorded 341 cases of child trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation from January to June 2006. Out of these, 13 cases regarded child procuring and 108 cases concerned cruelties inflicted on children. In the case of child trafficking, it was revealed that 70 per cent of these cases concerned boys. The Committee also observes that the Government has taken measures to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children, especially paedophilia, through the NCPA and Cyber Watch activities. More than 40 local and foreign paedophiles have been prosecuted. The Committee requests the Government to redouble its efforts in enforcing the legislation on commercial sexual exploitation by ensuring that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice on persons who use, procure and offer children under 18 years of age for commercial sexual exploitation. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the investigations conducted with regard to cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children and penalties applied to offenders.

Article 6. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Trafficking. The Committee had previously noted that Sri Lanka is one of the three countries included in the ILO/IPEC TICSA Programme, launched in June 2000. It had noted that TICSA was moving into Phase II (TICSA II) with the main objective of preventing 2,000 girls and boys from being trafficked into exploitative forms of employment. The Committee notes that TICSA II ended in March 2006. It notes with interest that, according to the report entitled “Final Evaluation – Combating Child Trafficking for Labour Exploitation – TICSA II Project in Sri Lanka” of February 2006 (TICSA II Final Evaluation Report), supplied by the Government, TICSA II achieved the following objectives:

(a)   a legal framework on trafficking has been reviewed to include trafficking for exploitative labour;

(b)   the capacity of government, employers’ organizations, trade unions, NGOs and other relevant stakeholders has been strengthened, enabling them to plan, implement and monitor programmes against trafficking;

(c)   the capacities of vocational training institutions have been strengthened;

(d)   children and families in high-risk areas have been assisted in order to reduce their vulnerability to trafficking;

(e)   a number of child victims of trafficking have been rehabilitated;

(f)    the capacity of the relevant institutions to provide services to rehabilitate and reintegrate child victims of trafficking has been improved.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Child trafficking. The Committee had previously noted that various projects aimed at preventing trafficking were implemented under TICSA II. It notes with interest that, according to the Government’s report and the TICSA II Final Evaluation Report, the following projects have been implemented under TICSA II:

(a)   “Cyber Watch” activities aimed at strengthening the anti-trafficking and anti-paedophilia strategy of the NCPA;

(b)   training of 40 surveillance staff by Scotland Yard experts on child trafficking;

(c)   awareness-raising campaigns promoted by the Ceylon Workers’ Congress aimed at preventing 2,000 vulnerable children from trafficking and strengthening the capacity of 100 social mobilizers in plantations to eliminate child trafficking; and

(d)   various activities aimed at preventing the involvement of children in the worst forms of child labour through formal and non-formal education and vocational training.

These activities included various training programmes organized by the Don Bosco Children and Youth Centres at Nochciyagama and Murunkan. In the Nochciyagama centre, education and vocational training were provided to more than 3,000 children under 18 years and in the Murunkan Training Centre, 235 children attended remedial classes. Moreover, vocational training activities were organized by the Ceylon Workers’ Congress whereby vocational training was provided to 200 children. Finally, various other training programmes in the formal sector (including masonry, carpentry, electrical wiring, sewing), and in the rural skills sector (home gardening, animal husbandry, food processing) were organized. A total of 1,679 girls and 821 boys benefited from these programmes between 2003 and 2007. There are currently 3,500 children enrolled in ongoing training.

Clause (b). Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. Child victims of trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that, according to the TICSA II Final Evaluation Report, creating supportive rehabilitation and reintegration services for trafficked and abused children has been the most challenging component of TICSA II. The following measures have been taken under TICSA II to rehabilitate child victims of trafficking: (a) psychological assistance, counselling, and other rehabilitative measures were provided by the NCPA in two rehabilitation centres in coordination with a local NGO to child victims of trafficking (148 children have been rehabilitated); (b) establishment by the Ceylon Workers’ Congress of 35 community centres, and 62 children’s clubs to provide various rehabilitative services to vulnerable children; and (c) discussion between the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Social Welfare and the ILO on the development of child-friendly guidelines for the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims of trafficking. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts in order to rehabilitate child victims of trafficking and reintegrate them in their communities. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have been rehabilitated under the abovementioned and other programmes.

Clause (d). Identify and reach out to children at special risk. 1. Children who have been affected by armed conflict. The Committee had previously noted that various programmes were adopted between 2004 and 2005 with the assistance of ILO/IPEC in order to address the problems of children involved in armed conflict, especially by providing them with vocational training. It notes with interest the Government’s information that among the 3,500 children enrolled in ongoing vocational training, 453 are former child soldiers. The Committee notes that, according to the information available at the Office, UNICEF, in collaboration with the UNHCR, WHO, WFP, ICRC, international and national NGOs and government partners, is continuing to take measures to address the situation of children affected by armed conflict and prevent them from being involved in the worst forms of child labour, especially by providing them with education (Catch-Up Education), health services, and various support services. The Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts, in collaboration with UNICEF and other international and national partners, to rehabilitate and reintegrate former child combatants. It also requests the Government to provide data on the number of former child combatants who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated in their communities.

2. Children affected by the tsunami. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the NCPA launched a project entitled “Strengthening the capacity of the National Child Protection Authority to mobilize tsunami-affected communities in Sri Lanka and to prevent the trafficking of tsunami-affected orphans into exploitative employment”. Under this project, started in 2006, the NCPA adopted measures to raise awareness on the worst forms of child labour among 600 families of tsunami-affected children. It also provided psychosocial care and support to approximately 1,000 children in the six drop-in centres constructed in tsunami-affected areas. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the NCPA project to prevent tsunami-affected children and orphans from trafficking into exploitative employment, and the results achieved.

The Committee is also addressing a direct request to the Government concerning other points.