TURKEY: INFORMATION ON FORCED LABOR AND CHILD

UNCLAS ANKARA 001060 SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR: MARK MITTELHAUSER AND G/TIP: STEVE STEINER; LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB RACHEL RIGBY AND MIHAIL SEROKA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI SUBJECT: TURKEY: INFORMATION ON FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS REF: A. STATE 43120 ¶B. 07 ANKARA 2965 ¶1. (U) Post consulted with GOT officials, representatives of organized labor, employers' organizations, and ILO representatives in Turkey in an effort to determine the level and nature of the use of child and forced labor in the production of goods, per request in ref A. Post is aware of one report of several individuals from Turkmenistan who were involved in forced labor in the construction industry in Turkey, but post was unable to uncover any evidence of the use of forced labor in the production of goods here. The use of child labor undoubtedly continues in some sectors of Turkey's economy, but the GOT continues to make strides toward its goal of reducing the overall incidence of child labor, as well as eliminating the worst forms of child labor in Turkey by 2014, as reported in ref b. ¶2. (U) Reliable data that accurately portray the true level of the use of child labor in Turkey are difficult to find. According to a 2006 study conducted by Turkey's State Statistics Institute, the number of children aged 6-17 thought to be engaged in some form of economic activity was 958,000. Of these, the study estimates that just over half of those children (about 500,000) engage in work in rural areas. Officials of the Turk-Is labor confederation and the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK),which have conducted their own studies on the use of child labor in Turkey, conducted a joint 2002 study on the incidence of child labor in the agricultural sector in the Adana area. According to estimates from that study, well over half of Turkey's working children are employed in the agricultural sector. Most are unpaid workers in a family farming business, while upwards of 200,000 children are reportedly engaged in agricultural work as a result of being born into migrant worker families. These children are employed in seasonal work in crop harvesting, forestry activities, and animal husbandry. ¶3. (U) According to data provided by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security's Labor Inspection Board, in calendar year 2007, a total of 27,500 work places were inspected for workplace health and safety. In those inspections, a total of 2279 children were found to be working in various enterprises. 2182 of these were engaged in employment as part of approved apprenticeship programs tied to vocational schools, while 97 were employed outside the realm of an associated educational program (no further information was available on the places of employment of those 97.) More complete data provided by the Board for 2006 indicates that a total of 61,113 workplaces were inspected. 26,617 workplaces were inspected for workplace health and safety, while another 34,496 workplaces were inspected with a view toward overall working conditions (work hours, salaries, leave, etc.). In all of these inspections, a total of 2697 children were found to be working in 2006. Of these, 1074 were working in commercial offices, 659 in the production of wood products and furniture, 68 in electrical repair services, 61 in shoe production, 47 in educational and health services (museums, libraries, health institutions),40 in auto repair services, 34 in metal goods production, 31 in the construction industry, 21 in the weaving industry, 21 in the production of roofing tiles/bricks, 14 in the production of machinery, 12 in foodstuff processing, and 11 in the chemical industry. Nearly all of these children are employed in small businesses which employ between one and ten workers, which generally are not registered. ¶4. (U) The employment of children in these enterprises, specifically in shoe production, furniture production, metal goods production, and roof tile and brick production, as well as in auto and electrical repair services, is illegal under Turkish law unless it occurs as part of an approved vocational program. When children were discovered to be working in such enterprises through Labor Board inspections, employers were told to enroll the children in approved apprenticeship programs so that the children could continue their education. Labor inspectors then informed National Education Ministry officials about the children so that they could be tracked. Employers also received fines for employing children outside an approved apprenticeship program. ¶5. (U) While the data cited above points to some incidence of the use of child labor in the production of some goods in Turkey, the nature of children's involvement in that production is impossible for post to discern. Equally difficult for post to determine is whether that work was necessarily exploitative. For example, while 61 children may have been involved in shoe production as discovered in inspections in 2006, post was unable to obtain information regarding the hours worked by those children, their ages, whether any were also attending school, etc. ¶6. (U) As a result, post is unable to obtain or provide specific data that points to widespread use of either forced or exploitative child labor in the production of goods in Turkey. ¶7. (U) However, the continued use of labor provided by children of migrant worker families in the agricultural sector, particular in southern/southeastern Turkey, remains a concern. Post does not have data to point to the degree of use of child labor in harvesting/processing specific crops, but anecdotal evidence points to continued involvement of children in harvesting cotton in southeastern Turkey, as well as involvement in the harvesting of tobacco, sugar beets, and hazelnuts. The 2002 Turk-Is/TISK joint survey of migrant worker families in the Karatas District of Adana Province was undertaken to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data on the nature, conditions, and effects of employment on the health, education, and development of children engaged as seasonal laborers in cotton harvesting. It was, however, conducted on a geographically small basis from which it is difficult to extrapolate the scope of the problem nationally in that sector. Children of migrant worker families have been, and continue to be, the focus of efforts by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, and the Ministry of National Education, together with ILO/IPEC and USDOL through sponsored programs, to reduce and eventually eliminate their involvement. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON