Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Bangladesh (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the Trade Union Committee of International Labour Standards (TU-ILS Committee), received on 11 October 2024, and of the Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF), communicated with the Government’s report.

Articles 3(a), 5 and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour, monitoring mechanisms and penalties. Sale and trafficking of children. With regard to its previous request for information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and penalties applied in relation to the trafficking of children, the Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that from July 2022 to June 2023, a total of 715 cases of trafficking were reported, including cases involving the trafficking of 182 children. The Government also indicates that during 2022 to 2023, the Border Guards rescued 62 men, 20 women and 18 children at the border and arrested seven traffickers and filed 24 cases. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that from 2017 to 2021, 3,748 police officers were provided training on dealing with cases reported at the Child Help Desk and that about 7,000 police officers were trained on strengthening cooperation with the Child Help desk, One stop Crisis Centres and Victim Support centres.

The Committee notes that according to the First National Study on Trafficking in Persons in Bangladesh, 2022, prepared by the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants, in cooperation with the Research and Trend Analysis Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Government of Bangladesh, due to the limited resources available to law enforcement, traffickers act largely with impunity when it comes to children, creating a growing prevalence of child victims of sexual exploitation, domestic work and forced labour (page 30). The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that perpetrators of child trafficking are subject to thorough investigations and prosecutions, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. In this regard, it strongly encourages the Government to continue to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacities of the law enforcement bodies, including through providing appropriate training and sufficient resources to effectively monitor this worst form of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard as well as updated information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied for the offences related to trafficking of children under 18 years of age.

Articles 3(d) and 5. Hazardous work and labour inspection. In response to its previous comments concerning the measures taken to strengthen the capacities and functioning of the labour inspectors, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) has been upgraded with eight new field offices established in 2022, bringing the total number of field level offices to 31. The total number of approved posts of labour inspectors under the DIFE has also been increased to 724 and regular trainings are organized for them. Accordingly, from 2023-2024, two training programmes were conducted for 65 officials; one workshop on monitoring and elimination of child labour was provided for 35 officials; and a foundation training course was provided for 25 inspectors. The Government further states that all inspectors are mandated to carry out inspections of child labour in the formal sector and that the comprehensive labour inspection checklist contains specific points for the investigation of matters related to child labour.

According to the statistical information provided by the Government, during 2023 and 2024, around 48,000 inspection visits were carried out, a total of 1,386 cases were filed, including 18 cases of child labour, of which five cases were settled. The Government states that as of now, the ready-made garment, shrimp processing, tannery, glass, ceramic, shipbreaking, export-oriented leather and shoe, and silk sectors are free from child labour. Moreover, the list of hazardous work prohibited to children has been updated, after consultations with the employers’ and workers’ organizations, and five new sectors have been included, namely: (1) work related to fish drying; (2) street-based informal work; (3) work related to the production, collection and transportation of bricks or collection and transportation of stone; (4) informal/local tailoring and cloth making; and (5) garbage and waste management related work. The updated list of 43 sectors has been published through a Gazette Notification on 29 April 2022. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) ensures regular cooperation with different public authorities to eliminate child labour, including the National and Divisional Child Labour Welfare Councils as well as District and Upazila (Sub-district) level committees.

The Committee notes that the TU-ILS Committee, in its observations, states that child labour prevalence is high in the informal sector, but that the scope to inspect the informal sector is limited. The TU-ILS Committee also indicates that the existing labour inspection checklist is inadequate to detect and analyse hazardous work by children.

In this regard, the Committee notes that according to the National Child Labour Survey of 2022, 1.068 million children are involved in hazardous child labour, including in industries, service sectors and agriculture. While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee must once again express its concern at the significant number of children who are still involved in hazardous work. The Committee therefore urges the Government to intensify its efforts to eliminate hazardous child labour, including through strengthening the capacity and expanding the reach of labour inspectors to detect hazardous child labour, so as to ensure that children under the age of 18 years are not engaged in hazardous work, particularly in the informal economy. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this respect, and on the results achieved in terms of the number and nature of violations detected and penalties imposed on persons who engage children in hazardous work. It also requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out by the National and Divisional Child Labour Welfare Councils and the District and Upazila (Sub-district) level committees in eliminating hazardous child labour, and on the results achieved.

Articles 3(d) and 7(2)(d). Hazardous work and effective and time-bound measures. Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child domestic workers. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Domestic Workers’ Protection and Welfare Policy of 2015 (DWPWP) which provides for guidelines for the working conditions and safety of domestic workers, was largely unimplemented, due to the lack of a supportive legal instrument and of awareness.

The Committee notes that the Government once again refers to the adoption of the DWPWP as well as the establishment of the Central Monitoring Cell, and that no further information has been provided. The Committee notes the statement made by the TU-ILS Committee that domestic workers are not covered by the Labour law nor has domestic work been included in the updated list of hazardous work prohibited to children. It also states that the activities of the Central Monitoring Cell are not visible.

The Committee notes from the First National Study on Trafficking in Persons in Bangladesh, 2022, that domestic workers are particularly susceptible to forced labour. It has been estimated that around 33 per cent of all domestic workers in Bangladesh are children (page 56). The Committee also notes that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in her report of 28 April 2023, stated that the limited awareness of the DWPWP and the limited capacity and effectiveness of the Central Monitoring Cell to ensure the security of domestic workers, specifically with regard to children, adds to the risk of trafficking (A/HRC/53/28/Add.1, para. 13).

The Committee once again recalls that child domestic workers constitute a high-risk group who are outside the normal reach of labour controls and are scattered and isolated in the households in which they work. This isolation, together with the children’s dependency on their employers, lays the ground for potential abuse and exploitation. In many cases, the long hours, low or no wages, poor food, overwork and hazards implicit in the working conditions, affect the children’s physical health (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, para. 553). The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to take all the necessary and time-bound measures to protect child domestic workers from the worst forms of child labour, to remove them from such labour and to provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. In this regard, it requests the Government to: (i) consider adopting regulations prohibiting this worst form of child labour; (ii) strengthen its efforts to effectively implement the DWPWP; and (iii) strengthen the capacity and the functioning of the Central Monitoring Cell on Domestic Workers, so as to ensure that children under 18 years of age are not engaged in hazardous domestic work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this respect. In addition, it requests the Government to provide information on the imposition, in practice, of sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties on persons who subject children under 18 years of age to hazardous work.

Articles 6 and 7(2) (a) and (b). Programmes of action and effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in, and removing them from, the worst forms of child labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking of children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the National Plan of Action (NPA) for the Suppression and Prevention of Human Trafficking has been extended from 2023 to 2025, ensuring uninterrupted implementation of activities to eliminate trafficking of children. It also notes the information provided by the Government on the various awareness-raising campaigns and sensitization programmes on trafficking in persons, carried out by several state and non-state agencies, including the Public Security Division (PSD) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), District Women Affairs Officers and Upazila (sub-district) Women Affairs Officers, the Islamic foundation, the International Organisation for Migration, Winrock International and other non-governmental organizations.

The Government also indicates that the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) has established six support centres which provide support facilities, including accommodation for one year with legal support, to women and child victims of trafficking. The toll-free Child Helpline operated by the Directorate of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) has assisted 3,370 child victims, including child victims of trafficking, to obtain legal aid, while 37,496 child victims were referred to various services provided by the Government, non-governmental or private organizations. The Government further indicates that the PSD of the MoHA has adopted and implemented a Human Trafficking and Victim Identification Guideline, which is highly inclusive and competent in identifying all forms of trafficking and its victims with special focus on children across various vulnerable groups. Accordingly, the Government states that in 2023, 913 child victims of sex trafficking, 145 child victims of forced labour, and 299 child victims of unspecified forms of child trafficking, were identified. The Committee, however, notes that according to the First National Study on Trafficking in Persons in Bangladesh, 2022, children as young as 12 years of age are at risk of being trafficked and an estimated two per cent of girls and women aged between 12 and 30 are considered to be at risk of being trafficked for sexual exploitation. Both boys and girls are also trafficked for forced labour, particularly bonded labour (page 30). The Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts, including within the framework of the National Plan of Action (NPA) for the Suppression and Prevention of Human Trafficking, to prevent trafficking of children under the age of 18 years and provide for their removal from such situations and subsequent rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved in terms of the number of children reached through such measures. Lastly, it requests the Government to provide specific information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have been provided with support and assistance by the Support centres and Child Helpline.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d) Children at special risk. Children in street situations. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the PSD of the MoHA is implementing multiple projects to tackle trafficking among street children. In this regard, 1,296 children have been withdrawn and supported with various rehabilitation services in 2023.

The Committee notes from the report of the study conducted by UNICEF and the Department of Social Services (DSS) entitled “A Qualitative Study on Children living in Street situations in Bangladesh 2024”, that there are more than 3.4 million children currently living in street situations in Bangladesh without parental care. These children are often forced into dangerous and exploitative work conditions. The Committee also notes from this report that the MoWCA has initiated programmes for providing services to children living on the streets including; (1) the establishment of two shelter homes, including two community spaces to identify children in need and refer them to shelter homes; (2) the establishment of 22 Child Protection Community Hubs which offer food, clothes, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, and psychosocial support; (3) five tent-based child protection service hubs at bus, railway, and launch stations, providing basic services, including shelter, psychosocial counselling and family reintegration and referrals; and (4) 13 Shelter homes named Sheikh Rassel Child development and rehabilitation centres for vulnerable children and vagrants. In addition, the Bangladesh Shishu (child) Academy is operating one shelter home for street children in Keraniganj. However, the study indicates that these shelters, despite housing hundreds of children, find themselves stretched beyond their limits, falling short of adequately addressing the needs of those in their care. Moreover, efforts to protect these children from the daily abuses and exploitation they face on the streets are notably insufficient. Recalling that street children are at particular risk of becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to continue to take effective and time-bound measures to protect them from the worst forms of child labour and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken and the results achieved in this respect.

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