Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Camboya (Ratificación : 2006)

Articles 3(a) and (b) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Sale and trafficking of children and commercial sexual exploitation of children. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s general statement that labour inspectors regularly follow capacity-building trainings. It notes, from the Government’s report to the United Nations Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) that: (1) it has developed an action plan to protect and prevent, and respond to child sexual exploitation online (2021-2025); (2) the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) has reached out to hotels, guesthouses and entertainment venues, and set up a hotline for receiving information, complaints and interventions to help victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation; (3) the NCCT has also been cooperating with international organizations and civil society organizations involved in the prevention and control of the sexual exploitation of children online; and (4) between 2019 and mid-2023, awareness-raising and prevention activities were undertaken for a total of 30,438,518 beneficiaries, while Police Commissariats patrolled suspected targets 1,791 times and undertook prevention activities at 12,343 hotels, guesthouses, karaoke and massage parlours, with 98,511 people involved (A/HRC/WG.6/46/KHM/1, 15 February 2024, paras 39 and 72).

However, the Committee notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) the deep concerns about: (1) the high level of sexual exploitation of children, including through online sexual abuse material and in the context of prostitution, and the so-called “sale of virginity”; and (2) the significant underreporting and lack of investigation of such cases, owing to stigma, corruption and limited enforcement of the legislative framework, and the resulting impunity for offences (CRC/C/KHM/CO/4-6, 27 June 2022, para. 27). The Committee further notes, from the report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the “Role and achievements of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in assisting the Government and people of Cambodia in the promotion and protection of human rights”, that reports were received of trafficking in persons, including children, for their use in illegal operations of online scam centres in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh, Kandal, Koh Kong, Poipet, Pursat, Svay Rieng and Kampot (A/HRC/57/78, 26 August 2024, para. 61). The Committee also notes from the 2023 UNICEF Country Office Annual Report on Cambodia that 11 per cent of 12–17-year-olds are exposed to online sexual exploitation. The Committee must express its deep concern over the situation of children involved in commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, as highlighted above. The Committee strongly urges the Government to intensify its efforts and strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators and complicit government officials are prosecuted, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed. Noting the lack of information provided on this point, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied in relation to the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Articles 3(d), 5 and 7(2)(b). Hazardous work, monitoring mechanisms and effective and time-bound measures. Debt bondage in brick kilns. Following its previous comments, in which it noted that a large number of children were involved in child labour, including debt bondage, in the construction and brickmaking industries, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is currently in consultation with the social partners to prohibit the employment of young workers in high-risk industries, such as the construction and brickmaking industries.

The Committee also notes, from the Government’s report to the UPR, that the Government has been promoting and raising awareness on the prevention of child labour in high-risk industries such as brick making, textiles, garments, manufacturing of footwear, travel products and bags, cassava and sugarcane plantations. From 2019 to October 2023, 544 campaigns to prevent the use of child labour were organized with the participation of 14,135 employers, workers, parents, guardians and children and short video clips were produced for educational outreach (A/HRC/WG.6/46/KHM/1, para. 45).

While taking note of the information provided, the Committee notes the absence of reply to its previous request for information on the activities of the Taskforce of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training on child labour prevention in the brick making industry (MLVT Taskforce), established in 2019. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to identify and protect children under 18 years of age engaged in the brick kiln industry from debt bondage and hazardous work, including through the action of the MLVT Taskforce. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the activities, and impact, of the MLVT; (ii) the number of children removed from work in brick kilns through inspections and provided with direct assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration; and (iii) the progress achieved in prohibiting the employment of children under 18 years in debt bondage or hazardous work in the brick kiln industry, and ensuring that effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed against offenders.

Article 7(2)(a). Effective and time-bound measures. Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes, from the Government’s report to the UPR, the information that: (1) the salaries and allowances for state teachers was increased; (2) the Government has been expanding school infrastructure, for a total of 8,607 kindergartens, 8,067 primary schools, 1,340 junior high schools and 816 senior high schools throughout the country; and (3) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government launched online learning and teaching at all levels from kindergarten to high schools in various forms to ensure the continuity of education (A/HRC/WG.6/46/KHM/1, paras 23, 24 and 26).

The Committee further notes, from the UNICEF 2023 Country Office Annual Report on Cambodia, that 2023 saw a major scale-up of education initiatives towards Sustainable Development Goal 4 (ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning opportunities), particularly the enhancement of quality education. However, the Committee notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the concerns about: (1) the high level of school drop-out rates, especially in secondary education and among students belonging to marginalized or disadvantaged groups and indigenous children; (2) the shortcomings in the quality of school infrastructure, including the lack of sanitation facilities affecting, in particular, girls’ access to education; and (3) the lack of trained teachers and their inadequate working conditions (E/C.12/KHM/CO/2, 27 March 2023, para. 48). Recalling that education is key in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to improve the functioning of the national education system and increase the enrolment and completion rates and reduce drop-out rates at the lower-secondary level, particularly for girls and children from marginalized or disadvantaged groups. It requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the concrete measures taken in this regard, including within the framework of the previously mentioned Cambodia 2030 Roadmap and the 2030 Secondary Education Blueprint; and (ii) the results achieved, including by providing updated statistical data on the school enrolment and drop-out rates at the primary and lower secondary levels.

Article 7(2)(a) and (b). Effective and time-bound measures for the prevention, assistance and removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. Child trafficking. The Committee notes the absence of information provided in reply to its previous comments and therefore once again requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that child victims of trafficking who are removed from sexual or labour exploitation are rehabilitated and socially integrated. The Committee also once again encourages the Government to take measures to ensure that adequate statistics in this regard are compiled, disaggregated by sex and age, and made available.

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