2008 CHILD LABOR UPDATE FOR INDONESIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 JAKARTA 000105

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, DRL/IL - TU DANG
PASS TO LABOR/ILAB - TINA MCCARTER
NSC FOR EPHU

SIPDIS

E.O.12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PREL PHUM ID
SUBJECT: 2008 CHILD LABOR UPDATE FOR INDONESIA

REF: A)08 STATE 127448
B)08 JAKARTA 1097 AND PREVIOUS


1. (U) SUMMARY: The GOI has a strong legal framework in
place in order to prevent the Worst Form of Child Labor (WFCL).
Implementation of safeguards is lacking but improving, however. The
number of child workers has decreased following the ratification of
the 2007 Child Protection Act. Matters that need to be addressed
include child exploitation in domestic servitude, forced
prostitution through debt bondage, and WFCL practices in cottage
industries and farming. There are an estimated 2.1 million child
laborers in Indonesia, according to official figures, but civil
society suspects the numbers are higher. END SUMMARY.

LAWS AND REGULATIONS


2. (U) Indonesia is making progress related to child labor. The
legal framework relating to working children has changed
significantly in recent years and a number of important pieces of
legislation have either been enacted or are presently in the
pipeline. Taken together this new body of law represents an
important step forward. The reforms in part constitute part of a
wider process underway in Indonesia in which the GOI has indicated
its commitment to an approach to labor policy consistent with
International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. The major
challenge now facing the GOI is to effectively socialize and enforce
the new legal framework.


3. (U) In 1989, Indonesia adopted the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child. In March 2000, Indonesia ratified ILO Convention No.
182 (Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for
the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor). Indonesia has
also ratified the main ILO Conventions relating to child labor. ILO
Convention No. 138 (Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to
Employment) was ratified in June 1999.


4. (U) The minimum age for work is 15. The law contains an
exception for employing children aged 13-15 to perform light work
that does not disrupt their physical, mental, and social
development. A set of requirements is outlined for employment of
children in this age range, including a maximum of 3 hours of work
per day, parental permission, and no disruption of schooling.


5. (U) Indonesia has ratified ILO Convention 182 and Law No. 13 of
2003 reiterates the convention's articles on hazardous labor while
Minister of Manpower Decree No. 235 of 2003 defines types of work
that are hazardous to children. Under Law No. 235 of 2003,
employing and involving children under 18 in the worst forms of
child labor (WFCL) or economic exploitation are prohibited under the
law; failure to comply can result in criminal sanctions of 2 to 5
years of imprisonment.


6. (U) The law defines WFCL as slavery; use of children in
prostitution, pornography and gambling; use of children for the
production and trade of alcohol, narcotics, and addictive
substances; and all types of work harmful to the health, safety and
morals of children. The law identifies a list of such harmful
activities and provides detailed descriptions and examples of these
activities. These include jobs requiring children to work with
machines; jobs where physical, chemical, or biological hazards are
present; jobs with inherent hazards such as construction, offshore
fishing, lifting heavy loads etc; and jobs that harm the morals of
the children including working in bars, massage parlors,
discotheques, or promoting alcohol or drugs to arouse sexual desire.
Persons who expose children to such hazardous activities are liable
to terms of up to 5 years of imprisonment or a fine.


7. (U) An Indonesian decree calls for programs to ban and abolish
WFCL and improve family income, as well as specific programs for
non-formal education and returning children to school by providing
scholarships. Additional specific legal sanctions are laid out
against offenses of commercial sexual exploitation, child
trafficking, involving children in the production or distribution of
alcohol or narcotics, and involving children in armed conflict.
Anyone exercising legal custody of a child under 12 years for the
purpose of providing that child to another person, knowing that the
child will be used for the purposes of begging, harmful work, or

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work that affects the child's health, faces up to four years
imprisonment. The law also prohibits sexual intercourse outside of
marriage with a female recognized to be less than 15 years, engaging
in an obscene act with a person under 15 years, and forcing or
allowing sexual abuse of a child, with maximum penalties ranging
from 7 to 12 years of imprisonment.


8. (U) The minimum age for recruitment or enlistment into the armed
forces is 18 years. Indonesian law also protects children in
emergencies, including natural disasters.

FIGHTING TRAFFICKING


9. (U) Indonesia has ratified almost all major conventions relating
to trafficking. In addition to those referred to above, Indonesia
has ratified ILO Convention 29 on Forced Labor, the UN Convention on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and has signed the
optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
Indonesia has also signed the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime and its supplemental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children.


10. (U) In 2007, the GOI passed a comprehensive anti-trafficking
law. The law meets international standards re preventing and
outlawing trafficking, and includes a comprehensive legal mandate
for rescue and rehabilitation of victims. The law outlaws all forms
of trafficking including debt bondage and sexual exploitation. It
also provides stiff penalties for complicity in trafficking by
officials and labor agents, which include harsh prison sentences.
Penalties for trafficking of a child, under 18 years, range from 3
to 15 years in prison, with penalties for officials higher by
one-third, and fines of between $12,000 and $60,000. The GOI has
trained thousands of law enforcement officials on fighting
trafficking. The numbers of special anti-trafficking police and
prosecutors has increased significantly. Police targeted operations
trafficking children domestically and internationally in 2008,
breaking up several large syndicates, rescuing hundreds of children
and arresting traffickers. Authorities convicted 27 persons for
trafficking of children in 2007, along with steep increases of
arrests, prosecution and conviction of traffickers overall.

ENFORCEMENT


11. (U) More progress is needed re enforcement. As of the end of
2008, there were 24 Provincial Action Committees and 92
District/Municipality Action Committees for the elimination of WFCL.
To further encourage provincial and district government to
establish the committees, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a
Ministerial Decree on the establishment of District Action
Committees, District Plan of Action, and community empowerment in
combating worst forms of child labor.


12. (U) There are currently 1,969 labor inspectors across Indonesia
with responsibility for child labor protection. Inspectors withdraw
the children from work and return them to school. Parents are given
business training and funds to increase self-reliance. In 2008,
the ILO trained labor inspectors from seven provinces, funded by the
Manpower Ministry.

RECENT LOCAL ADVANCES TO COMBAT WFCL


13. (U) New local regulations include:

--The Central Java Government launched the Provincial Action Plan on
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor through Governor's
Regulation No. 23/2008 in March 2008. Central Java also endorsed a
provincial regulation on Eliminating Child Labor in 2007.

--Sukabumi District, West Java, endorsed in January 2008 a district
regulation on prevention of trafficking in women and children.

--The government of Tanjung Balai District in North Sumatra endorsed
a District Regulation on the Elimination of WFCL in August 2008.

--Several districts in North Sumatra in late 2007 established
District Action Committees for combating WFCL.

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--The East Java Manpower Department held an anti-child labor
campaign among companies allegedly employing child workers,
including outreach to affected families.

--Local governments in East Java, in cooperation with ILO and NGOs,
conducted vocational training and workshops to prevent child labor
for underage workers.

--The Surabaya Social Department rescued domestic workers under 15
years old, placing them in shelters and providing vocational
training, in cooperation with Save the Children which trained social
workers.

--East Java Manpower Department conducted an anti-child labor
campaign in 2008. Working with a local NGO, the joint effort worked
with street children and child labor to provide vocational training
and legal protection for underage workers and street children.
Children were also returned to their home villages.

SOCIAL PROGRAMS


14. (U) Indonesia's Constitution, as amended in 2002, stipulates
that the Government dedicate 20 percent of the national budget for
education. In 2009, the education budget was set at about 20
percent including teacher salaries.


15. (U) The GOI in 2008 implemented the "Family Hope Program," a
Conditional Cash Transfer (CTF) to the poor. The program has
increased school participation at elementary and secondary levels
(ages 6-15),particularly out-of-school children, including those in
child labor. CTF includes operates in 13 provinces (West Sumatera,
Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, East Nusa
Tenggara, Aceh, North Sumatera, Banten, Yogyakarta, West Nusa
Tenggara and South Kalimantan). Reaching 500,000 impoverished
households to date, the goal is to reach 6.5 million households by

2015. The program requires that households send their children aged
6 to 15 years back to school. Social workers verify children's
attendance. In collaboration with stakeholders, the GOI provides
services such as remedial education and counseling to keep children
in school.


16. (U) In August 2008, the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration
launched a program to support CTF, targeting 5,000 child laborers to
be taken out of the workforce and referring them to education
services, funded at USD4.5 million.


17. (U) The GOI built nearly 1,260 new schools in 2008 and 11,069
new classrooms, accommodating 963,891 children aged 13-15 who did
not have access to junior high school.


18. (U) To keep children in school, the government continued the
Open Junior High School program for disadvantaged primary school
graduates unable to attend conventional junior high schools. In
2008, the government had established 2,576 Open Junior High Schools
across the country, with higher concentrations in areas with large
numbers of child workers to address the issue of child workers. The
schools feature flexible study time and location, agreed to by
tutors, students and parents. This enabled child workers to study
while employed. The number of students attending such schools in
2008 totaled 306,498, with 16,684 teachers and 30,776 tutors in
10,368 learning centers.


19. (U) A major program to assist students from poor families to
stay in school is the School Operational Assistance (BOS) program,
introduced in 2005. The BOS program strives to improve access to
quality education for all children of aged 7-15 by strengthening
school based management and community participation as well as by
reducing school expenses.


20. (U) The West Sumbawa regency administration has carried out a
free education program since 2006 exempting all students from school
fees up to the university level

COMPREHENSIVE POLICY


21. (U) The 20-year National Action Plan for the Elimination of

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Worst Forms of Child Labor completed its first 5-year phase in 2007.
The first phase, established by Presidential Decree No. 59/2002,
focused on mapping child labor problems, raising awareness, and
eliminating five priority worst forms of child labor: offshore
fishing and diving; trafficking for purposes of prostitution;
mining; footwear production; and drug trafficking. These were
conducted in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, North Sumatera and East
Kalimantan.


22. (U) The Manpower Ministry chairs a National Action Committee
for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which
coordinates child labor elimination efforts throughout the country
and produces annual reports on the implementation of the National
Plan of Action. According to the Manpower Ministry, during the
first phase of the project 2,154 children were taken out of the
worst forms of labor and 27,078 others were prevented from going to
work.


23. (U) In July 2008, the Indonesian government launched the second
phase of a five-year project to support the National Action Plan on
the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Under this
project, the government hopes to remove as many as 22,000 children
from hard labor and provide assistance to 2,000 poor families by

2011. The first part of the strategy will focus on continuing to
promote national and local policies to tackle child labor. The
second part of the strategy will involve direct, targeted
interventions in four sectors: child domestic labor in Jakarta, West
Java, East Java and Lampung; children in plantations in East Java,
Lampung and North Sumatra; trafficking of children for sexual
exploitation in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, and North Sumatra;
and street children at risk of trafficking and drug trafficking in
Jakarta. The project will remove children from WFCL and prevent
others from entering such work. Children will be assisted through
educational and other services, including linkage with the
Government's Conditional Cash Transfer program. Many families and
communities will benefit from socio-economic programs supported by
the project.


24. (U) The National Plan of Action of Human Rights in Indonesia
(2004-2009) contains a specific objective on protecting the rights
of the child, with a series of activities aimed at combating
trafficking and protecting against sexual exploitation, pornography,
and worst forms of child labor. The NPA to Combat the Trafficking
of Women and Children and the NPA Combat Commercial Sexual
Exploitation are in place to help reduce the trafficking and
commercial sexual exploitation of children. The NPA to Combat
Trafficking expired at the end of 2007 and a new one is being
formulated.

PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS


25. (U) The majority of child work in Indonesia occurs in rural
areas. Children work in agriculture primarily on palm oil, tobacco,
farming, rubber, tea, and marijuana plantations. Children also work
in fisheries, construction, manufacturing (such as cottage factory
footwear production, textiles, cottage factory cigarette production,
and food processing),logging, and small-scale mining sector. Other
children work in the informal sector selling newspapers, shining
shoes, street vending, scavenging, and working beside their parents
in family businesses or cottage industries. There are also large
numbers of street children. Children, primarily females, also are
exploited in domestic service and are often subject to forced labor,
as well as prostitution. There were 2.1 million child workers in
2007, according to the National Statistical Bureau, although the
National Child Protection Commission believes that this figure
understates the magnitude of the problem. UNICEF estimated the
number at 3 million in 2005.


26. (U) Ongoing WFCL problems reported in 2008 included:

--In Ciomas Village, West Java, a cottage shoe industry encompassing
20 villages manufactures sandals in households. Children from age
14 regularly work 16-hour days for low pay, using toxic glue and
sitting on the floor. ILO has worked with Manpower and other
agencies to address this problem.

--Children in a North Sumatra seaport town, mostly aged 14-17, and

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some under age 10, sort and clean fresh fish working long hours for
low pay.

--Children age 12-17 work in furniture and woodcarving cottage
industries in one district of Central Java, working long hours for
low pay under unhealthy and unsafe work conditions.

--Children in Malang, East Java, work in informal sector small scale
industries (under 20 employees) such as cigarette, textile, and shoe
industries. Several larger companies also reportedly employ child
labor. Boys mostly work in construction and girls work in cottage
cigarette manufacturing.

--In Tulungagung, East Java, children work in the marble industry.

--In Banyuwangi, East Java, hundreds of children age 15-17 work on
plantations harvesting chilies, tomatoes, and other vegetables for
sale to a an export company.

TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN AND DEBT BONDAGE


27. (U) Indonesia is primarily a source, and to a lesser extent
destination, country for individuals trafficked internationally and
internally, including children. Children, primarily girls, are
trafficked internationally from Indonesia primarily to Malaysia,
Saudi Arabia, and a number of other countries in the Middle East and
Asia, as well as to Europe and the U.S., according to 2007 NGO and
official findings. Trafficking of young girls from one urban area
to another across the archipelago by syndicates is a common practice
and aided and abetted by officials. Children also are exploited in
the production of pornography. Girls also are trafficked into
Indonesia, mainly from China and Eastern Europe. Girls are
primarily trafficked both internationally and domestically for
commercial sexual exploitation, domestic work and in restaurants and
hotels, whereas boys are trafficked to work in construction and on
plantations.


28. (U) In 2008, an NGO Indonesian researcher went undercover to a
jungle lumber camp in West Kalimantan, witnessing girls age 13-17
trafficked into a lumber camp brothel. Jakarta NGO Child Care
accused police and military of complicity in the trafficking based
on this investigation. Families rescued some of the children while
most were moved to another location by traffickers.


29. (U) Children are trafficked to work in organized begging rings.
Children also are known to be involved in the production,
trafficking, and/or sale of drugs, both manufactured drugs and
marijuana, according to reliable NGO studies.

CHILD LABOR INSPECTIONS


30. (U) Ministry of Manpower authorities at the provincial and
district levels enforce child labor laws. Manpower has demonstrated
strong political will to protect children from WFCL. However,
Indonesia's Child Protection law is oftentimes not enforced; for
example, there have been no documented cases of prosecution for
exploitation of child domestic workers. Labor inspectors'
involvement in child labor issues is limited. Inspectors work with
inadequate human and financial resources. As they cannot inspect
all workplaces, they give priority to large enterprises and
consequently leave out the unregulated informal sector where most
child laborers are found. There also are indications that
decentralization has had a negative impact on the overall
effectiveness of the labor inspectorate. However, Parliament
ratified ILO Convention 81 in 2007 on Labor Inspection. This
Convention includes provisions on the need for inspection services
to cover children and young workers which, when implemented, could
improve enforcement of child work protection laws.

NEEDED POLICY REFORMS


31. (U) According to the Child Protection Commission, a
comprehensive national enforcement policy is needed, including clear
policy instructions on labor inspection and child labor, which would
include:

--Establishing priorities for the most hazardous or abusive

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situations;

--Defining clear objectives for interventions, including elimination
of illegal employment of children; and,

--Preventive measures to improve the conditions of children who are
legally employed and to extend intervention to all types of
workplaces.


32. (U) Sources for this report include: Ministry of Education,
Ministry for Women's Empowerment, Ministry of Manpower, UNICEF, ILO,
IOM, Save the Children, American Center for International Labor
Solidarity, International Catholic Migration Commission, National
Child Protection Commission, local NGOs, and USAID.

HUME