CZECH REPUBLIC: NO SIGNIFICANT FORCED LABOR IN THE

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000405 SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR MARK MITTELHAUSER STATE FOR G/TIP STEVE STEINER LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB RACHEL RIGBY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD ECON PHUM SOCI EZ SUBJECT: CZECH REPUBLIC: NO SIGNIFICANT FORCED LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS REF: (A) STATE 43120 (B) PRAGUE 00144 ¶1. The Czech Republic (CR) does not have significant incidence of forced labor or child labor in the production of goods. The number of North Korean workers in the CR, who were employed in textile workshops, decreased from 132 in March 2008 to 15 in May 2008. Czech NGOs (Czech Helsinki Committee Presidium and the Czech Human Rights Council) are generally concerned about ethnic communities (e.g. Mongolian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, etc.) exploiting their own countrymen's illegal status in the CR. These concerns, however, cannot be substantiated. ¶2. The Foreign Employment Unit of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs confirmed that in January 2007, the GOCR ended the practice of issuing visas to North Korean workers, who worked in textile workshops (ref B). According to the latest Labor Ministry statistics, corroborated by Czech Foreign Police, the number of North Koreans in the CR dropped from 132 in March 2008 to 15 by the end of May 2008. This number is expected to reach zero soon. The presence of North Korean workers in the Czech Republic is construed as forced labor given the nature of the North Korean regime. Graber