Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Viet Nam (Ratification: 2003)

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that, according to the joint ILO, UNICEF and World Bank report on Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) in Viet Nam of April 2009, an estimated 1.3 million children between the ages of 6 and 17 years were involved in child labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s information regarding the statistics on the employment of children and young persons, extracted from the reports of the labour inspection services for 2006–10. According to these statistics, 1,012 underage workers were detected in 2006; 101 in 2007; 501 in 2008; 496 in 2009; and 101 in 2010. However, the Government also indicates that the number of children subjected to heavy labour and in hazardous and dangerous conditions, while decreasing, was as high as 68,000 in 2005 and 25,000 in 2010. In this regard, the Government provides information on the new penalties provided in Decree No. 91/2011/ND-CP of 17 October 2011 and imposed in various cases of child labour, aimed at deterring the use of child labour in the country. These penalties include: a caution or fine of 1 to 5 million Vietnamese dong (VND) for parents who force their children to work too hard or overtime in a manner that affects their studies; a fine of VND10 to 20 million for employing children in certain types of work, such as working in massage rooms, in casinos, bars, pubs or places that risk adversely affecting the development of the child; a fine of VND20 to 40 million for employing children in certain illicit activities, such as the transport of illegal commodities.

The Committee takes due note of the Government’s information regarding the measures adopted to combat child labour. However, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 15 June 2012 (CRC/C/VNM/CO/3-4, paragraph 68), the Committee on the Rights of the Child expresses its concern that child labour remains widespread in the country, in particular in the informal economy, and that labour inspection outreach is limited. The Committee therefore observes that the statistics provided by the Government and taken from the labour inspection reports may not take into account the high number of children working in the informal economy in Viet Nam, as reflected in the joint ILO, UNICEF and World Bank report on UCW of April 2009. It must therefore once again express its deep concern at the prevalence of child labour in the country. The Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to ensure the effective elimination of child labour. It requests the Government to take practical measures to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate in its action to prevent and combat child labour, in particular in the informal economy. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, based in particular on statistics on the employment of children under 15 years of age, extracts from the reports of the inspection services and information on the number and nature of the violations reported and the sanctions imposed.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.