Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

The Committee takes note of the Government’s report and the supplementary information provided in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020).

The Committee notes the observations of the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Associations (TİSK) communicated with the Government’s report.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee previously urged the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the perpetrators of trafficking of children under 18 years of age were prosecuted, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties were applied in practice. It requested the Government to provide information on the number of prosecutions, convictions, and penalties imposed.

The Government indicates in its report that it introduced numerous administrative and legal measures to combat the trafficking of children under 18 years of age. It states that in the framework of a project to increase the organizational capacity of the women and children sections of the Gendarmerie General Command (2016-2020), training on child abuse and modern slavery were provided to the Gendarmerie staff. The Committee however observes the absence of information in the Government’s report regarding the number of prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed on perpetrators of trafficking of children.

The Committee notes the indication of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings of the Council of Europe (GRETA), in its report adopted on 10 July 2019 concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in Turkey, that there are reports of refugee and migrant children, including Syrian children, sometimes unaccompanied, being trafficked or at risk of being trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation, including begging, in the agricultural sector and in forced criminality (paragraphs 13 and 124). The Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to combat the trafficking of children under 18 years of age, including of migrant and refugee children, and to provide further information on the measures that have been taken in this respect. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the specific number of cases of trafficking of children identified, investigated, prosecuted and convicted, as well as the penalties imposed in this regard.

Clause (d) and Article 4(1). Hazardous work and excluded categories of work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Labour Law and the Child Employment Regulation excluded from their scope of application workers in businesses with less than 50 employees in the agricultural and forestry sector, construction work related to agriculture within the framework of the family economy, and domestic service. It noted that the Occupation Health and Safety Law (OSH Law) applied to all workers, including those excluded from the Labour Act, with the exception, inter alia, of domestic workers and self-employed workers. The Government indicated that the Code of Obligations No. 6098 covered domestic service and provided for the obligation of the employers to ensure occupational health and safety at the workplace. The Committee pointed out that children working in the informal economy and the domestic and agricultural sectors constituted high-risk groups who were usually outside the normal reach of labour controls and vulnerable to hazardous working conditions. It urged the Government to ensure that all children under 18 years of age were protected from hazardous work, including those working outside a labour relationship or out of the normal reach of labour controls.

The Government indicates that children working in heavy and hazardous work in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises were determined as one of the primary target groups of the National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (2017–2023) (National Programme). The Committee notes the statement in the communication of TISK that children working on the streets, as well as in agricultural work other than family work and itinerant and temporary agricultural jobs were also determined as priority target groups by the National Programme. This National Programme provides for the modification of the scope of provisions of the Labour Law and the Regulation on Working Conditions in Works Counted as Agriculture and Forestry to cover children working in seasonal agricultural works and enterprises in which the number of workers is 50 or below. The Committee notes that the National Programme also provides for the modification of the Child Employment Regulation in this regard. The National Programme has determined work on the streets, heavy and hazardous work in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, and mobile and temporary agricultural work, except for family business, as worst forms of child labour in the country. The National Programme underlines that child labour in seasonal mobile and temporary agricultural labour is one of the most hazardous sectors in terms of occupational diseases and work accidents (page 21). Most children work on a seasonal basis, for four to seven months, leaving their homes to work notably in plant production work such as weeding, cleaning, harvesting, in extreme hot and humid environments. They are exposed to dangers caused by chemical substances, bug bites, back pain, hazards of machinery and equipment, long working hours, and heavy load lifting. In addition, a child’s vulnerability to violence, neglect and abuse can be increased by agricultural work and seasonal agricultural migration (pages 33 and 34).

The Committee also notes, from the Government’s supplementary information, that according to the Statistics on Child 2019 of the Turkish Statistical Institute, published on 31 March 2020, 720 000 children aged 5–17 years were engaged in economic activities, including 30.8 per cent in agriculture. The survey indicates that the risk of accident concerns 6.4 per cent of children engaged in economic activities. On average, 9.1 per cent of children aged 5–17 years engaged in economic activities were exposed to factors negatively affecting their physical health, such as: working in extremely hot/cold weather or in an excessively humid environment for 12.9 per cent of these children; exposure to chemicals, dust, fumes, smoke or gases for 10.8 per cent of these children; as well as working in difficult work postures or work movements and handling heavy loads for 10.1 per cent of these children (page 119). The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to ensure that all children under 18 years of age are protected from hazardous work, including in the agricultural sector, and to provide information on any progress made in this regard. It also requests the Government to provide information on any eventual modification provided for by the National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the scope of the provisions of the Labour Law and related Regulations to cover children working in seasonal agricultural works and enterprises in which the number of workers is 50 or below.

Articles 5 and 7(2). Monitoring mechanisms and effective and time-bound measures. Children working in seasonal hazelnut agriculture. The Committee previously took note of a Pilot Project on the Prevention of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Hazelnut Agriculture until 2018, as well as a Pilot Project on “Testing United States Department of Agriculture’s Application Proposals in Hazelnut Supply in Turkey”, carried out in collaboration with the ILO. It further took note of the Circular “Access to education for the children of seasonal agricultural workers, migrants and semi-migrant families” of 2016, providing for concrete measures regarding the provision of education to the children of migrant workers and semi-migrant families engaged in seasonal agricultural work, in order to protect them from child labour. The Committee however noted the absence of labour inspection activities covering seasonal agricultural work, in particular the activity of hazelnut picking, between 2013 and 2016, and requested the Government to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate in agriculture. It also requested the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that children under 18 years of age are not engaged in hazardous work in the agricultural sector, particularly in seasonal agricultural work and the nut harvest.

The Government indicates that a project entitled “Seasonal Agricultural Workers Project” (METIP) has been developed to eliminate the problems faced by seasonal agricultural workers and their families, including directing their children to education instead of work, and is being carried out successfully. In the framework of this project, a Seasonal Agricultural Information System (e-METIP) has been established within the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services in cooperation with the Ministries of Interior, Health and National Education, in order to monitor seasonal agricultural workers, their children, and their children’s school attendance when they are of compulsory school age. As a result of this monitoring, absenteeism has decreased significantly. The Government further indicates in its supplementary information that the children of families working in seasonal agriculture were 21,023 attending school in the academic year 2017–18, 16,247 in 2018–19, and 15,581 in 2019–20 (in the latter academic year, the COVID-19 Pandemic should be taken into account).

The Government also indicates that the project carried out in cooperation with the ILO, entitled “Integrated Model for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Turkey” and implemented in the provinces of Ordu, Düzce, Sakarya and Şanlıurfa, was extended until 2020. It states that training and awareness-raising activities were carried out for families, garden owners and employers, and that many children working in seasonal agriculture were withdrawn from work and directed to education.

The Committee notes the ILO’s information that, in the framework of the “Integrated Model for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Turkey”, 1,022 children were withdrawn or prevented from work through provision of education services during the hazelnut harvesting season of 2018. In addition, children in the seasonal agriculture were provided with on-site education, guidance, counselling and rehabilitation services within social support centres during the hazelnut harvesting seasons in 2018 and 2019 in target provinces of Ordu, Düzce and Sakarya. Taking due note of the measures taken by the Government to reduce child labour in seasonal hazelnut agriculture, the Committee requests it to continue to provide information on the activities and results of the various projects implemented to reduce child labour in seasonal hazelnut agriculture, including information on the activities and results of the social support centres. Noting the absence of information regarding the activities of the labour inspectorate in agriculture, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to enable labour inspectors to have access to the sites where seasonal agricultural work is carried out, particularly hazelnut harvesting, in order to ensure that children under 18 years of age are not engaged in hazardous work in seasonal hazelnut agriculture.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Provide the necessary and appropriate assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. The Committee previously noted that the 2016 Regulation on Combatting Human Trafficking and Protection of Victims provided for measures to protect and assist child victims of trafficking. In particular, it provided for the presence of psychologists or social workers during interviews with child victims, for the handling of these children by the relevant units of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, and for access to education services as well as a voluntary and safe return programme for these children. The Committee requested the Government to continue its efforts to provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance to child victims of trafficking, including their rehabilitation and social integration, and to provide information on the results achieved.

The Government indicates that it closely works with civil society to assist and protect child victims of trafficking. It specifies that in 2016, 33 victims of trafficking under the age of 18 were identified, 36 in 2017 and 56 in 2018. In addition, the Government indicates in its supplementary information that between January and June 2019, 37 child victims of trafficking were identified. It states that victim identification procedures, which are provided for in the Regulation on Combating Human Trafficking and Protection of Victims, are carried out by the Provincial Directorates of Migration Management. The Government further indicates measures that is has taken to protect unaccompanied minors, such as the establishment of Child Support Centres of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, which provide support and assistance to unaccompanied children aged 13–18 years. The Government also indicates, in its supplementary information, that it has established a Department of Legal Support and Victim Rights as one of the main units of the Ministry of Justice, which aims to support all victims of crime, including victims of trafficking, especially children, as well as to provide them with guidance and to prevent repeated victimization. In this framework, Forensic Support and Victim Services Directorates have been set up and are currently operating in 99 courthouses. The Government indicates that “forensic interview rooms” are in place in 72 courthouses, to ensure that child victims are interviewed in an appropriate environment. The Government adds that, in the framework of various projects carried out in partnership with international organisations in the field of trafficking in persons, two field studies on child trafficking are envisaged.

The Committee takes note of TISK’s statement under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), according to which the Coordination Commission on Combatting Human Trafficking has been established under the Regulation on Combatting Human Trafficking and Protection of Victims, and has decided to create a working group on children. The Committee further notes the indication of the GRETA, in its above-mentioned report adopted on 10 July 2019, that according to the Turkish authorities, the working group on children met in September 2018 and decided that staff dealing with child victims should be provided with awareness-raising activities and training (paragraph 29). The GRETA also indicated that pursuant to the above-mentioned Regulation, child victims of trafficking were referred to the relevant units of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services (paragraph 33). The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that child victims of trafficking are removed from this worst form of child labour, rehabilitated and socially integrated. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the concrete activities of the units of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services responsible for the care of child victims of trafficking, as well as the measures that have been taken by the working group on children of the Coordination Commission on Combatting Human Trafficking. Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Department of Legal Support and Victim Rights and its Directorates to support child victims of trafficking, and to provide copies of any studies that have been carried out on child trafficking.

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