Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Cambodia (Ratification: 2006)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and penalties. The Committee previously noted the statement of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that children in Cambodia were exposed to trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation. Cambodian girls and ethnic Vietnamese girls from rural areas were trafficked to work in brothels, massage parlours and salons. Children from Vietnam, many of whom were victims of debt bondage, travelled to Cambodia and were forced into commercial sex. Moreover, corruption at all levels of the Cambodian Government continued to severely limit the effective enforcement of the Law on suppression of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Committee noted that, in its conclusions adopted at the 104th Session of the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2015, the Conference Committee urged the Government to effectively enforce anti-trafficking legislation.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that it is taking measures to ensure that all perpetrators of child trafficking, including complicit government officials, are subjected to investigations and prosecutions. The Government indicates that, according to the 2016 annual report on combating human trafficking, six cases of illegal removal of minors were identified with six suspects arrested and 30 victims rescued, and 25 cases of child sexual exploitation were identified with 25 suspects arrested and 61 victims rescued. In addition, the Government indicates that all cases of trafficking of children were processed through legal procedures and trials. While the Government informs that 138 cases of human trafficking were prosecuted and 103 suspects were convicted and imprisoned, it does not provide specific statistics regarding child trafficking. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue taking measures aiming to ensure that the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation is effectively applied. It also encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies, including through the allocation of financial resources and adequate training, to combat the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age, and to provide information on the progress made in this regard. It further requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied, specifically in cases of child trafficking for labour or sexual exploitation.

Articles 3(d), 4(1) and 5. Hazardous work and monitoring mechanisms. 1. Hazardous work in the garment and footwear sectors. The Committee previously noted ITUC’s allegations that children, particularly girls, worked long shifts even during the night, often with dangerous machinery, in garment and shoe factories. In this regard, the Committee noted that, the Conference Committee, in its conclusions adopted in June 2015, urged the Government to increase its efforts on preventing children from being exposed to the worst forms of child labour, including through increased labour inspections in the formal as well as in the informal economy.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that it has taken concrete measures to prevent and protect children under 18 years of age from performing hazardous work. The Government indicates that labour inspectors have conducted regular and special monitoring where hazardous work for children is prohibited. In addition, the Committee notes with interest that the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT), in cooperation with the ILO, has developed and implemented guidelines for conducting effective and regular child labour inspections. According to the MoLVT annual report for 2016, 57 garment factories employed 635 children aged between 15 and 18 years in lawful conditions respectful of the Labour Law. The Government further indicates that the MoLVT is working closely with all social partners, including the ILO, to investigate suspected child labour cases. The Government indicates that, as a result, there were decreases in cases of children engaged in hazardous work, going from 34 cases in 2014, to seven in 2015, and four in 2016. The Committee notes that this general trend is corroborated in the June 2016 synthesis report of Better Factories Cambodia (BFC), which is a programme developed in partnership with the ILO and the International Finance Corporation, in the framework of which independent assessments of working conditions in Cambodian apparel factories have been conducted since 2001. According to this 33rd synthesis report, while child labour was found in 2 per cent of the factories where BFC confirmed the presence of underage workers (normally between 12 and 15 years of age), the number of confirmed child labour cases dropped from 65 in 2013, to 28 in 2014, and 16 in 2015. The BFC was able to work with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia to place these underage workers in vocational training centres. Taking due note of the measures taken, the Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts in protecting children under 18 years of age from being employed in hazardous work in the garment and footwear sectors, and to continue providing information on the results achieved.

2. Hazardous work in the sugarcane sector. The Committee previously noted the ITUC’s allegation that child labourers in Cambodia are engaged in hazardous work in agriculture, particularly in sugar cane farms, such as the handling and spraying of pesticides and herbicides and cutting, tying and carrying heavy bundles of sugar cane.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that provincial labour inspections continue to take preventive measures and advocate in small-household sugarcane farms against children performing hazardous work. It notes, however, that according to the “Rapid assessment on child labour in the sugarcane sector in selected areas in Cambodia” of 2015, conducted by the Cambodia Institute of Development Study, children were found working in sugarcane fields in all locations surveyed, some of them as young as 7 years old. The findings showed that 54 per cent of the working children surveyed worked in excess of permissible hours. This was especially prevalent for boys working on commercial plantations, where 82 per cent worked more than the number of hours permissible by Cambodian regulations. In addition, it was found that the work environment and tasks carried out by children, such as working around sharp cane leaves in excessively hot and humid conditions, cutting sugarcane, and operating hand tractors, were extremely dangerous. Therefore, it was found that the work performed by children in the sugarcane sector qualified as hazardous. The Committee therefore urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect children under 18 years of age from being employed in hazardous work in both commercial and household sugarcane fields. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the progress achieved and on the number of violations detected.

Article 8. International cooperation. Trafficking. In its previous comments, the Committee took note of the measures taken by the Government to increase international cooperation to combat trafficking in children and requested it to enhance its efforts in this regard.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the MoLVT has been working closely with Thailand and other Mekong subregion countries, based on various memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and the Subregional Plan of Action 2015–18 of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT SPA IV), to enhance its tight cooperation in combating human trafficking and assisting the victims. The Government indicates that, based on the MoLVT’s 2016 annual report, 360,000 undocumented migrants were under the process of regularization through the bilateral action plan between Cambodia and Thailand (2016–18), and 517 children (230 girls) who were found working in construction sites and cassava farms in Thailand were returned with their families and integrated into communities through the national referral mechanism to support victims of trafficking. Furthermore, through COMMIT SPA IV, the countries of the Mekong subregion exchanged knowledge, information and capacity building. Trainings on victim identification and standard operation procedures were also conducted.

However, the Committee notes, according to the UNODC report “Trafficking in persons from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar to Thailand” of August 2017, that while trafficking in persons from Cambodia to Thailand for sexual exploitation has declined in recent years, Cambodia has become a destination country for sex trafficking from Viet Nam and experiences high levels of internal trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to enhance international cooperation to combat trafficking in children, particularly as regards identification, protection and assistance of child victims of trafficking from Viet Nam. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the impact of COMMIT SPA IV, in terms of the number of child victims of trafficking detected, assisted and returned to their countries of origin.

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