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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Turkmenistan (Ratification: 2010)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (d) and Article 4(1). 1. Hazardous work and determination. With regard to the adoption of the list of hazardous types of work prohibited to children under 18 years of age, the Committee refers to its detailed comments under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

2. Hazardous work in the cotton sector. With regard to the issue of hazardous work by children in the cotton sector, the Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that following the amendments of 2013 to the Education Act, 2009, the period of compulsory education, including primary and basic secondary education is 12 years, which shall extend up to the age of 18 years. The Government, further referring to section 38 of the Rights of the Child (State Guarantees) Act of 2014, states that no child shall be permitted to engage in agricultural and other work that stops them from attending school. In this regard, the Committee notes, from the report of the ILO Technical Advisory Mission that took place in Ashgabat from 26 to 29 September 2016, the statement made by the Minister of Education that children under the age of 18 years are fully engaged in education in Turkmenistan. This report also reflects the statements made by the representatives of other stakeholders, such as the UN Resident Coordinator, UNICEF, the Embassy of the United States, the UN Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, and the World Bank, that there were no reports of child labour in the cotton harvest.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms and application of the Convention in practice. Trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that according to the information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, no cases of child trafficking have been recorded to date. Moreover, according to the information from the Office of the General Prosecutor, of the four and two cases relating to trafficking of persons, brought before the court in 2015 and in the first four months of 2016 respectively, none of them involved trafficking of children. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 11 March 2015 on the report submitted by Turkmenistan on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, appreciated the various capacity-building and training activities on human trafficking investigation techniques provided to law enforcement officers by the State party, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (CRC/C/OPSC/TKM/CO/1, paragraph 18). It also notes that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (one of the members of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT)) Centre in Ashgabat, welcomed the efforts of the Government of Turkmenistan in preventing and combating human trafficking.

Articles 6 and 7(2)(b). Programmes of action, effective and time-bound measures to provide direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, as well as for their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the National Action Plan (NAP) to Combat Human Trafficking, 2016–18 which was adopted in March 2016 provides for the development of cooperation between government departments, including law enforcement bodies, local government authorities, public associations and international organizations working to combat trafficking in persons. It also notes the information from the United Nations in Turkmenistan that this NAP is aimed at preventing and protecting victims of trafficking, prosecuting criminal cases and promoting partnerships for countering trafficking of persons in Turkmenistan. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, within the framework of the NAP, to prevent, prosecute and eliminate trafficking of children and for their rehabilitation and social integration.