RESCUING CHILDREN FROM LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001617 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, G/TIP, EAP/RSP, DRL/ILCSR (MMITTELHAUSER) NSC FOR EPHU DEPT OF LABOR FOR BSASSER, SHELLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL ELAB ID SUBJECT: RESCUING CHILDREN FROM LABOR REF: A. JAKARTA 1345 ¶B. MEDAN 1248 ¶C. JAKARTA 1097 JAKARTA 00001617 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) This message was coordinated with Consulate Medan. ¶2. (U) SUMMARY: A half dozen child and labor protection advocates in Medan in western Indonesia recently recounted to Labatt the extreme difficulties they face in saving child workers from unhealthy work conditions. Sometimes when children are rescued from harsh labor conditions, the whole rescue effort is foiled when the children are then trafficked to other jobs, largely because their parents are powerless and poor. The only solution is to provide sustainable education and other opportunities for children in order to help families cope with poverty, the child protection advocates said. USDOL projects are helping in this effort. END SUMMARY. MEETING IN MEDAN ¶3. (U) Labatt recently reviewed trafficking-related issues during a stop in Medan in North Sumatra. A half dozen child and labor protection advocates in Medan recounted to Labatt the extreme difficulties they face in saving child workers from unhealthy work conditions. Trapped in an environment where parents expect and need children to work in order to make ends meet--exacerbated by the families' inability to pay school fees--many children work long hours in unhealthy conditions. Public education is free through grade eight under Indonesian law but fees are charged for high school. Many elementary and junior high schools charge fees despite the law. Unofficial fees can be as high as USD 170 a semester, several months' salary for poor families. The situation in Medan is a microcosm of conditions nationwide (Ref C). TO WORK OR TO BE TRAFFICKED ¶4. (U) In the past, North Sumatran NGOs have reported child labor activity to police, only to see the children sometimes fired from their jobs and trafficked, child welfare advocates told Labatt. The same employers later hire other children. Traffickers prey on children who are desperate for income and accustomed to working. Oktoviana (one name only),head of the influential child advocacy NGO Yayasan Pondok Rakyat Kreatif (YPRK),said she has been working for nearly 20 years to stop child labor in the local shrimp packaging industry (Ref B) but has yet to arrive at a solution which will protect children's welfare. Children in these factories rise at dawn to be bused to work and do not get to bed until around midnight. These conditions are classified as the worst forms of child labor because of the long hours and the fact the children have no opportunity to pursue any kind of education. ¶5. (U) The only solution is to provide educational and job training opportunities for children, to help families cope with poverty, and to educate parents of the dangers of child labor and trafficking, child protection advocates said. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) funds many projects nationwide, which have succeeded in keeping children in school by defraying costs of education, providing vocational education and educating communities on the harm caused to children who forego education in order to work (Ref A). A commonly held perception in poor Indonesian communities is that child labor is positive because the children are helping their families. ¶6. (U) Another obstacle in rescuing child workers in North Sumatra and elsewhere--mostly aged 15-17 but some under age 15--is the fact that they have false documents raising their ages and that they conspire with employers to lie about their JAKARTA 00001617 002.2 OF 002 age. Sometimes local officials in Indonesia readily comply by issuing false documents which allow children to work. WORKING TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM ¶7. (U) Over all, the child protection advocates painted a picture of an ongoing problem, which the GOI is working to deal with. USG programs to prevent child labor are leading the way to find solutions. The GOI will need to make huge investments in education to help overcome this problem. Still, the GOI is increasingly addressing child employment through innovative education programs, following the models of USG-funded projects, such as those sponsored by USDOL. Political awareness of the child labor problem has greatly increased in recent years largely because of these USG efforts. HUME