Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

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

The Committee notes the observations from the General Union of Workers (UGT), received on 22 August 2016, and from the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Committees (CCOO), received on 1 September 2016, as well as the Government’s report.

Article 7(2) of the Convention. Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, removing them from such labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking for sexual exploitation. The Committee previously noted the numerous measures taken by the Government for combating the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children and young persons. However, the Committee also noted that, despite major efforts by the Government to combat this practice, there are significant gaps in the recording of data concerning foreign children intercepted at borders. The latter are not automatically registered in police databases, which prevents child protection services from being aware of their presence on the territory and from detecting children who are potential victims of trafficking.

The Committee notes the observation by the CCOO that there are some 45,000 women and girls who are victims of trafficking in Spain. Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that a new “Comprehensive plan to combat the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation (2015–18)” has been approved and that for the first time it includes a specific reference to girls, who are worst affected by the trafficking of young persons. The Committee notes with interest the entry into force in 2014 of a “Framework Protocol on certain measures concerning unaccompanied foreign minors (MENAS)”, which serves to rectify the shortcomings in the coordination and registration of such minors by the authorities. Children who have been intercepted are now automatically registered in police databases and a procedure has been established to ensure systematic follow-up and protection for them. However, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in May 2016, the Ministry of the Interior recorded six children who were victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2012 and 12 children who were victims in 2013, most of whom were girls between 14 and 17 years of age. Moreover, the Committee notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of 29 July 2015, remained concerned about the prevalence of the trafficking of girls to Spain (CEDAW/C/ESP/CO/7-8, paragraph 22). The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to protect young persons under 18 years of age, particularly girls and migrant children, against trafficking for sexual exploitation. It requests the Government to supply information on the number of migrant children registered in the context of the Protocol and on the procedure implemented to ensure follow-up for them and prevent their involvement in the worst forms of child labour.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Migrant children and unaccompanied minors. The Committee previously noted a reduction in the levels of effective protection as a result of the austerity measures adopted by Spain, which has had a disproportionate impact on the exercise of the rights of migrant children and asylum seekers. Furthermore, the Committee observed that education has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the budgetary restrictions and it asked the Government to intensify its efforts to protect migrant children, especially by ensuring their integration into the education system.

The Committee notes that, according to the observations from the UGT, the compensatory education programme whose main objective is to promote equal opportunities for migrant children and their social and educational integration has had its budget cut by 97 per cent between 2011 and 2016 (the budget allocated by the Government in 2011 was €70,084,280 compared with €5,113,220 in 2016). The UGT emphasizes that this reduction in the budget for compensatory education affects both foreign students and those from ethnic minorities. Moreover, the Committee notes that, according to the concluding observations of 13 May 2016 of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), there are major differences in the quality of education received by ethnic minorities and the phenomenon of “ghetto” schools, where there are large concentrations of migrant children, persists (CERD/C/ESP/CO/21-23, paragraph 31). CERD recommends the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure a more egalitarian distribution of students in order to put an end to the phenomenon of “ghetto” schools. Recalling once more that migrant children are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour, particularly by ensuring their integration into the education system. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken and the results achieved in this respect. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the compensatory education programme and the results achieved by it.

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