Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Lao People's Democratic Republic (Ratification: 2005)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that it is taking measures to implement the Anti-Human Trafficking Law, 2015, in order to combat the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee notes from the combined third to sixth periodic reports submitted by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic under Article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 25 October 2017 (combined periodic reports under the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)) that the Anti-Human Trafficking Law imposes a sentence of 15 to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine for trafficking offences where the victims are children (CRC/C/LAO/3-6, paragraph 188). This report also indicates that from 2013 to 2015, the Ministry of Public Security received 78 complaints involving 125 child victims of trafficking (58 girls) which resulted in 35 convictions. The Committee also notes from the report of the National Commission for the Advancement of Women and Mothers and Children (NCAW-MC) on the Implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC) of 5 June 2018 (NCAW-MC report on the OPSC) that, according to the People’s Supreme Court record, there were 269 cases involving trafficking of children in 2016 and 264 such cases in 2017. The Committee notes, however, that the CRC, in its concluding observations on the report of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic under the OPSC of 3 July 2015, expressed concern at the large number of cases of trafficking and sexual exploitation of children not leading to a conviction owing to traditional out-of-court settlements at the village level and the failure of the judicial authorities to enforce the law. The CRC also expressed concern that the prosecution of foreign traffickers is rare and impunity remains pervasive, primarily because of corruption and the alleged complicity of law enforcement, judiciary and immigrations officials (CRC/C/OPSC/LAO/CO/1, paragraph 31). The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in practice, thorough investigations and prosecutions are carried out for persons who engage in the trafficking of children, including foreign nationals and state officials suspected of complicity, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied for the offence of trafficking in persons under 18 years of age, in accordance with the provisions of the Anti-Human Trafficking Law.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee notes from the combined periodic reports under the CRC that an initiative entitled “Project Childhood” funded by Australian AID to combat the sexual exploitation of children, mainly in travel and tourism in the Greater Mekong Region was introduced in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Under this project, a number of educational materials were developed for the tourism sector, community representatives, parents and guardians of children and young persons. Moreover, several training sessions and workshops were held with relevant stakeholders, including community police. The Committee also notes from the NCAW-MC report on the OPSC, the various measures taken by the Government, including developing regulations on the administration of hotels and guest houses and measures for monitoring compliance of such regulations through inspections; conducting awareness-raising workshops on child prostitution; and the distribution of booklets, posters and brochures to hotels and entertainment units on the protection of women and children. The Committee notes, however, that the CRC, in its concluding observations under the OPSC, expressed serious concern that children are being sexually exploited by foreign paedophiles and at the Government’s incapacity to effectively address the issue (CRC/C/OPSC/LAO/CO/1, paragraph 27). The Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect children from becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the tourism sector. In this regard, it requests the Government to continue to take measures to raise the awareness of the actors directly related to the tourism industry, such as associations of hotel owners, tourist operators, associations of taxi drivers, as well as owners of bars and restaurants and their employees, on the subject of commercial sexual exploitation. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and the results achieved, including the impact of the Project Childhood initiative in combating the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

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