COMMENT ON DOL DRAFT LIST FOR TVPRA

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000036 E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2019 TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI KTIP IV SUBJECT: COMMENT ON DOL DRAFT LIST FOR TVPRA REF: A. STATE 3075 ¶B. STATE 1730 Classified By: Pol/Econ section chief Silvia Eiriz, Reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Embassy Abidjan believes Cote d'Ivoire should be deleted from the Department of Labor's (DOL) draft list, prepared under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA),for production of gold using child labor. ¶2. (C) Gold production is concentrated in the northern, savanna belt of Cote d'Ivoire. This region of the country has been under the control of rebels who in 2002 carried out a failed coup attempt that split the country in half. Therefore, data regarding the gold sector is very limited and data that is available is difficult to verify. Experts and government agricultural and labor officials in Cote d'Ivoire have little information about forced labor or child labor in the gold mining sector. Reports regarding children working in the gold sector are anecdotal. ¶3. (C) Civil administration is now returning to and beginning to govern the areas of the country formerly under the control of the rebels. Embassy Abidjan believes that, given the potential ramifications of inclusion of a country on this list, Cote d'Ivoire should not be included on this year's list for gold production using child labor. Emboffs will travel to the county's mining zones and will attempt to identify persons with first hand knowledge of the sector in order to gather reliable data. NESBITT