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

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

The Committee notes the Government’s first report.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. 1. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes that according to section 8(1) of the Law on Combating Abduction and Human Trafficking, 2008 (Law on Human Trafficking) any person who commits the offence of human trafficking shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than eight years. This offence if committed against a child is punishable with imprisonment for not less than 12 years (section 8(2)). Section 3 of the Law on Human Trafficking defines “trafficking in persons” as transferring, transmitting, employing, or keeping of a person for the purpose of exploitation by taking advantage of the poor economic and desperate condition of the victim through paying and receiving money, interest or using other deceiving means in order to obtain consent of the victim or his/her guardian. “Exploitation” as defined under section 3 refers to receiving benefits through employment, selling, engaging in sexual or criminal activities, pornography, armed conflict, forced labour or into other illegal activities. The Committee observes, however, that the Law on Human Trafficking does not define the term “child”.

The Committee also notes from the UNICEF document entitled “Child Notice Afghanistan”, 2015 (UNICEF document 2015,) that Afghanistan is a source, transit and destination country for men, women and child victims of forced labour and sex trafficking. Children are the majority of trafficking victims in Afghanistan, involving working in carpet making and brick kilns, domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, begging, transnational drug smuggling and assistant truck driving. The UNICEF document 2015, also refers to other survey reports which reported that male child trafficking for sexual exploitation was more likely to occur internally, while male child trafficking for labour exploitation was both internal and transnational across the Iranian and Pakistani borders. The Committee further notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations of 30 July 2013, expressed its concern at the lack of implementation of the Law on Combating Abduction and Human Trafficking (CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/1-2, paragraph 26). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation of the Law on Human Trafficking, in particular to ensure that perpetrators of trafficking of children are subject to thorough investigations and robust prosecutions, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. It also requests the Government to provide information on the application of this law, in practice, including statistics on the number and nature of offences reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed with regard to the trafficking of children under 18 years. The Committee finally requests the Government to indicate whether the term “child” pursuant to section 8(2) of the Law on Human Trafficking covers children under the age of 18 years.

2. Slavery, debt bondage, forced or compulsory labour. The Committee notes that article 49 of the Constitution and section 4 of the Labour Law prohibit forced labour, including of children. Moreover, the list of prohibited works to children, adopted by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) in 2014, includes bonded labour. The Committee notes, however, from the UNICEF document 2015, that the system of bonded labour is prevalent in the traditional agricultural sector and other informal economic activities such as brick kilns, the carpet industry and mining stone crushing. In many instances, children below 14 years are found to be working as bonded child labourers especially in the brick kiln sector. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to protect children under 18 years of age from all forms of exploitation in forced and bonded labour, particularly in brick kilns and to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of offenders are carried out and sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are applied in practice. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard.

Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, pornography or pornographic performances. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Penal Code criminalizes the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution and production of pornography. However, the Penal Code of 1976 only contains provisions criminalizing adultery and pederasty, which, if committed against a person under the age of 18 years amounts to aggravating conditions. The Committee also notes that according to section 18(2) of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women any person who forces an underage woman into prostitution shall be punished with imprisonment to not less than ten years. However, there appears to be no provision that criminalizes the use of a child by a client for sexual exploitation and, furthermore, no provisions that prohibit the use, procuring or offering of boys for prostitution. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to prohibit the use, procuring or offering of all children under the age of 18 years, including boys, for prostitution as well as to criminalize clients who use children under 18 years of age for prostitution.

With regard to pornography, the Committee observes that there appears to be no provisions prohibiting the use, procuring or offering of children for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to prohibit the use, procuring or offering of a child under the age of 18 years for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. The Committee notes that section 7 of the Counter Narcotics Drug Law of 2005 prohibits any person from cultivating, producing, processing, manufacturing, trading, distributing, possessing, supplying, trafficking, transporting, purchasing, selling, importing or exporting narcotic drugs listed in the annex. Section 23 of this Law further states that any person who intentionally compels another by force or intimidation to carry out the above acts shall be punished with imprisonment up to eight years and a fine. The Committee notes that the same penalties shall apply for employing or using a child to commit drug trafficking and related offences (section 23(e)). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of sections 7 and 23(e) of the Counter Narcotics Drug Law with regard to the use, procuring or offering of a child under the age of 18 years for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs.

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 5. Monitoring mechanisms. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Labour Inspection Directorate of the MoLSAMD is entrusted with the monitoring of the application of the provisions of this Convention and the Child Secretariat within the MoLSAMD is responsible for the overall management, monitoring and control of the child support activities and programmes. Moreover, the Child Labour Survey Operation Teams monitor work locations to assess working conditions, including of children under the age of 18 years. The Government report does not provide any information on the functioning of the labour inspection system or any other mechanisms in identifying and eliminating the worst forms of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Labour Inspection Directorate, the Child Secretariat and the Child Labour Survey Operation Teams in identifying and eliminating the worst forms of child labour.

Article 6. Programmes of action. 1. National Child Labour Strategy, 2012. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a National Child Labour Strategy was developed in 2012 and an action plan has also been developed with a view to protect children from child labour. One of the key components of this action plan is the prevention of child labour in brick factories in Kabul and Nangarhar provinces and a preliminary survey has been conducted to assess the situation of children in the brick kilns. The survey results indicated that a number of economically vulnerable families have taken loans from brick factory owners and in order to pay off their debt, the families force their children to work in those factories under extremely unhealthy, physically arduous and hazardous conditions. Within the framework of this action plan, the MoLSAMD established quick learning training centres as well as technical and vocational training courses for over 894 families who reside in areas surrounding these factories with a view to making them economically self-reliant. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts, including within the framework of the National Action Plan to prevent children from engaging in hazardous labour in brick factories. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this regard and the results achieved in terms of the number of children withdrawn from debt bondage and hazardous working conditions in brick factories and provisions for their rehabilitation and social integration.

2. National strategy for children at risk. According to the Government’s report, this strategy which was initially launched in 2006, is being currently implemented with a view to improving care and support for the country’s most vulnerable children. The Government report provides information on the following activities carried out by the MoLSAMD within the framework of this national plan of action:

• -established the Child Protection Action Network (CPAN) in over 100 districts and 33 provinces in order to identify and address all issues pertaining to children. From 2014 to 2015, the CPAN addressed over 5,417 different cases of vulnerable children and prevented 492 children from the worst forms of child labour;
• -established a system of reintegrating vulnerable children into their families and a total of 264 children, who were provided temporary social support, have been reunited with their families during 2014–15;
• -established 39 orphanages, in addition to 52 private orphanages, and a total of 20,220 orphans are receiving support and protection from these orphanages;
• -established a social safety net which provides financial assistance to poor families with children. In 2016, over 15,000 such families with children under 5 years of age were identified.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures undertaken within the framework of the National Plan of Action for Children at Risk and the results achieved in terms of the number of children at risk who have been prevented from the worst forms of child labour.

3. Draft action plan on the prevention of worst forms of child labour. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a draft action plan on the prevention of the worst forms of child labour has been developed in consultation with the social partners. This action plan which identifies priority measures for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including provision for free access to basic training and vocational education of children withdrawn from the worst forms of child labour, will be finalized and implemented with technical assistance from the ILO. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the adoption of the action plan on the prevention of the worst forms of child labour and to provide information on its implementation.

Article 7(1). Penalties. The Committee notes that the Labour Law and the regulation containing the list of types of hazardous work prohibited to children does not appear to establish any penalties for the violations of the provisions related to the prohibition of hazardous work by children under 18 years. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are established for the offences related to the employment of children under 18 years in hazardous work. It also requests the Government to provide information on the application of the penalties in practice in cases of violations of the provisions relating to Article 3(a)–(c) of the Convention, including the number and kinds of penalties imposed.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. 1. Internally displaced and refugee children. The Committee notes that according to the 2016 Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation Report of UNICEF, an estimated 5,400,000 children are affected by conflicts and disasters in Afghanistan. The UNHCR report entitled Breaking the Cycle: Education and the Future for Afghan Refugees, September 2015 indicates that the Afghan refugee population in both Pakistan and Islamic Republic of Iran is young, with second and third generations of children having been born into displacement. Children below the age of 14 years account for half of the 2.45 million refugees in both Pakistan and Islamic Republic of Iran. In Pakistan, around 80 per cent of the school-age Afghan refugee population is currently out of school. Considering that internally displaced and refugee children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

2. Street children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that a national strategy for street working children was developed in 2011 by the MoLSAMD, in cooperation with UNICEF and other relevant stakeholders, and a street child labour protection project is being implemented which aims to cover 300 children and 75 parents through technical, vocational training and family support systems. It also notes the Government’s indication that street child labour daily support centres have been established to provide rapid literacy support to street children. It notes that during 2014–15, over 19,000 street children have been admitted to schools following the completion of rapid literacy training programmes. The Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to protect and withdraw street children and provide for their rehabilitation and social integration, including through the implementation of the street child labour protection project. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the results achieved in terms of the number of street children withdrawn and provided assistance.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that conditions of poverty; children without guardians; insecurity; internal displacement and Afghan returnees; guardians with disabilities; large number of average children in families; low family income; illiteracy and lack of awareness about the consequences of child labour are the key challenges to the effective implementation of the Convention. In addition, the lack of reliable data and statistical information on child labour in different sectors, particularly on the worst forms of child labour, further complicates the application of the Convention. However, the Government states that it remains committed to applying the provisions of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure in practice the protection of children from these worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the availability of up-to-date statistical information on the worst forms of child labour in the country, including information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied. To the extent possible, all information should be disaggregated by sex and age.