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

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Myanmar (Ratification: 2013)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for pornography or pornographic performances. The Committee once again requests the military authorities to provide information on the application in practice of sections 66 and 105 of the Child Rights Law of 2019 – which together make whoever subjects children to sexual exploitation, prostitution or pornography liable to imprisonment – indicating the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. The Committee once again requests the military authorities to clearly indicate the penalties to which perpetrators of the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities are liable, pursuant to section 3(t)(iii) of the Child Rights Law of 2019. It also once again requests the military authorities to provide information on the application of sections 3(t)(iii) and 48(a) concerning the use, procuring or offering of children for illegal drug operations, indicating the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied.

Clause (d) and Article 4(1). Hazardous work and determination of hazardous work. 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).

Article 6. National plans of action. National Plan of Action (NPA) to Combat Human Trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the military authorities’ information regarding the activities undertaken by the Central Body for Suppression of Trafficking in Persons (CBTIP) to combat trafficking in persons between January 2022 and April 2025. In particular, the Committee notes that, in the framework of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking in Persons (COMMIT), the 2025 Work Plan of the Fourth Five-Year National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons is currently being implemented. Moreover, awareness-raising initiatives have been undertaken, including the publication of pamphlets on online scams and child sexual exploitation in five languages, and awareness-raising talks on trafficking and youth discussions in basic education schools and training centres. The Committee requests the military authorities to continue providing information on the activities of the CBTIP and to provide information on the results achieved relating to the protection of children under 18 years of age from sale and trafficking for labour or sexual exploitation. It also requests the military authorities to provide information on the implementation of the 2025 Work Plan of the Fourth Five-Year National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons in this respect.

Articles 6 and 7(2)(a) and (b).National plans of actions and effective and time-bound measures to prevent children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour and removing them from these worst forms. The Committee previously noted that the Working Committee on the Removal and Remedy of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, established as one of the eight committees of the National Committee on the Elimination of Child Labour (NCECL) in the framework of the Myanmar National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour (NAP-ECL), was implementing processes to eliminate hazardous child labour and remove children who are at risk. In this regard, the Committee notes the information from the military authorities on the measures that have been implemented by this Working Committee, including several instances of identification and removal of children from circumstances where they have been subjected to the worst forms of child labour by their employers, in such sectors as food manufacturing, domestic work, sweets and confectionary production, and shops. Many of these children were provided with assistance, including shelter, money for various expenses (such as legal fees, medical treatment, living expenses), education and vocational training.

The Committee notes, from the ILO study of Mon, Kayin, Kayah and Shan States on trends in child labour in Myanmar 2021–24, that there is an increased vulnerability among children and families after the 2021 military takeover which may have increased the risk of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour (WFCL), including hazardous work and work taking place in circumstances that jeopardize children’s health and development because of abuse. Most families and children still work in agriculture on family farms, which can involve hazards associated with heavy lifting, severe weather, toxic substances and respiratory illnesses. The study’s participants also point to an increase in informal work across urban centres, rural provincial centres, and in camps, for example, in food stalls and petty trading. The study also reports that there is a clear increase in the number of girls (and to a lesser extent boys) who are sent to urban centres to engage in child labour in domestic work. TheCommittee therefore requests the military authorities to strengthen their efforts to prevent children under 18 years of age from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including hazardous work, as well as to ensure their removal from these worst form and rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, including through the Working Committee on the Removal and Remedy of the Worst Forms of Child Labour of the NCECL, and on the results achieved.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Sale and trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the military authorities’ information regarding recent international and regional cooperation efforts to combat trafficking in persons, including children, particularly with Thailand and China. Cooperation with Thailand included coordination meetings on incident management and reintegration and integration of trafficked persons between Myanmar and Thailand, the latest of which were in February and August 2025, information exchange on investigations and joint inspections of entry and exit of border areas as regards online scams. As for cooperation with China, mutual information exchange on human trafficking is carried out through designated focal persons and border liaison offices, notably to assist and rescue victims of trafficking and investigate and arrest perpetrators. The two countries are also working together to systematically control borders due to increasing online fraud and related crimes. The military authorities indicate that between January 2021 and April 2025, nine children who were trafficked to Thailand, one boy trafficked to China, four girls trafficked to Laos, and one girl who was trafficked internally, were identified, repatriated and reunited with their parents. The Committee strongly encourages the military authorities to pursue their international and regional cooperation efforts to combat the trafficking of children and to provide information on the measures taken and results achieved.