INFORMATION ON CHILD LABOR AND FORCED LABOR FOR DOL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 JAKARTA 000163 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MTS, DRL/ILSCR FOR SMORGAN, G/TIP FOR LCDEBACA, DOL/ILAB FOR LSTROTKAMP, RRIGBY, TMCCARTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON EIND PGOV SOCI ID SUBJECT: INFORMATION ON CHILD LABOR AND FORCED LABOR FOR DOL CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS REF: SECTATE 131995 Task 1/TVPRA -------------- ¶1. (U) Post does not have information on additional goods for the Indonesian TVPRA list. Post does ask that lacking substantiated reports that DOL delete gold from Indonesia's TVPRA list of goods. Removing Gold -------------- ¶2. (U) Mission has not received any reliable reports to corroborate local NGOs reports of exploitation of child labor in gold mining. Mission would appreciate DOL providing us with any credible reports so that we may investigate. Task 2/TDA -------------- Laws and Regulations -------------- ¶3. (U) 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 ILO standards. The major challenge now facing the GOI is to effectively socialize and enforce the new legal framework. ¶4. (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. 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. 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. ¶6. (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 work that affects the child's health, faces a maximum sentence of 4 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 less than 15 years, and forcing or allowing sexual abuse of a child, with maximum JAKARTA 00000163 002 OF 004 penalties ranging from 7 to 12 years of imprisonment. ¶7. (U) The national government has also created a program to overcome child labor which is called Child Labor Withdrawal Program (PPA PKH) which includes prevention and eradication program. The prevention program handled by social department is a cash compensation program to help poor family's education and health. While, eradication programs includes sweeping and skill training. Anti-trafficking laws -------------- ¶8. (U) In 2007, the GOI passed a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. The law meets international standards to prevent and outlaw 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 three 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 increased. Police targeted operations trafficking children domestically and internationally in until 2009, breaking up several large syndicates, rescuing hundreds of children and arresting traffickers. ¶9. (U) The minimum age for recruitment or enlistment into the armed forces is 18 years. The law protects children in emergencies, including natural disasters. ¶10. (U) Indonesia has ratified most 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. Enforcement Against WFCL ¶11. (U) As of the end of 2009, there were 26 Provincial Action Committees and 116 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) Ministry of manpower has reported that there are currently 2200 labor inspectors across Indonesia, 600 in Jakarta, in the ministry, 1600 throughout the country, with responsibility for child labor protection. Inspectors withdraw the children from work and return them to school. Parents are given business training and capital to increase self-reliance. In 2009, ILO trained labor inspectors from five provinces, funded by the ministry. ¶13. (U) New regulations include: -- Jan 2009, Ministry of Interior released a decree, Permendagri No. 6/2009, to form an action plan committee and actions in provincial and district level to eradicate the worst forms of child labor; --August 2009, The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) released national Strategic Guidelines on Access to Justice, focusing for manpower issues. Four issues of focus are: child labor, migrant labor, formal labor, informal labor. The focus on child labor will be to pull children out of WFCL, to direct strong punishment for those who recruited and treated children within WFCL, and to ensure provincial and district government protect children from WFCL; --April 2009, in Southern Kalimantan and July 2009 in Central Kalimantan, formed action committees against WFCL. --June 2009, District Government of Serdang Bedagai, North Sumatera, declared a commitment for a district "Free from WFCL and Child labor in 2016". --Surabaya City is preparing local regulations on Child Protection, which includes protection from child labor. The draft regulation JAKARTA 00000163 003 OF 004 will be discussed in the parliament in March 2010. --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. --In Sukabumi District, West Java, a district regulation on prevention of trafficking in women and children was endorsed in January 2008 (District Regulation No. 2/2008). --The government of Tanjung Balai District in North Sumatra endorsed a District Regulation on the Elimination of the worst forms of child labor in August 2008. --The East Java Manpower Department held an anti-child labor campaign among companies allegedly employing child workers. The campaign was also directed at families whose children were working. --Local governments in East Java, in cooperation with ILO and NGOs, conducted vocational training and workshops to prevent child labor for underage workers. Social Programs Addressing WFCL -------------- ¶14. (U) Indonesia's constitution, as amended in 2002, stipulates that the Government must dedicate 20 percent of the national budget for education. In 2009, the education budget is fixed at about 21 percent (USD 19 billion),an increase of about 33 percent over 2008. ¶15. (U) The GOI in 2007-2008 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 began in July 2007 and now 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 relevant stakeholders, the GOI provides services such as remedial education and counseling to keep children in school. 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. This program will run until 2015. ¶16. (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. Comprehensive Policy -------------- ¶17. (U) The 20-year National Action Plan (NPA) for the Elimination of 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 the top five priority worst forms of child labor: offshore fishing and diving; trafficking for purposes of prostitution; mining; footwear production; and drug trafficking and was conducted in conducted in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, North Sumatera and East Kalimantan. National Plan of Action -------------- ¶18. (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 (NPA). 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. ¶19. (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 JAKARTA 00000163 004 OF 004 ¶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. These include 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. ¶20. (U)Through these programs the project will remove children from the worst forms of child labor and prevent many others from entering such work. Children will be assisted through the provision of educational and other services, including the linkage with the Government's Conditional Cash Transfer program. Many families and communities will benefit from socio-economic programs supported by the project. ¶21. (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 to Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation are in place to help reduce the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. ¶22. (U) To keep children in school, the government continued the Open Junior High School program, which was designed for disadvantaged primary school graduates who are unable to attend conventional junior high schools. In 2008, the government 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, enabling 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. ¶23. (U) The West Sumbawa regency administration in West Nusa Tenggara has carried out a free education program since 2006 exempting all students from school fees up to the university level. Osius#