FIJI: DOL CHILD LABOR REPORT INFORMATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SUVA 000021

SIPDIS

FOR: DOL/ILAB FOR LEYLA STROTKAMP, RACHEL RIGBY AND TINA MCCARTER,
STATE DRL/ILCSR FOR SARAH MORGAN AND G/TIP FOR LUIS CDEBACA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD KTIP PHUM SOCI USAID FJ

SUBJECT: FIJI: DOL CHILD LABOR REPORT INFORMATION

SUVA 00000021 001.10 OF 004



1. Tasking 1: Exploitive child labor happened in the agricultural
sector, particularly in sugar cane farming. The Fiji Times reported
on a 13-year-old boy who has been cutting sugar cane since leaving
school at the age of 11. Two government labor inspectors and two
union officials have confirmed that children work in cane growing
and cutting, sometimes leaving school, or spreading potentially
dangerous agricultural chemicals without proper safety equipment or
adequate supervision. Children involved are mostly boys, age 10-18,
who have family working in sugar cane farming or cutting. This
takes place primarily in small farming communities in sugar-growing
areas of Fiji, primarily the Western Division. Post has found no
reports of trafficking, debt bondage, or other coercive employment
situations. Exploitive child labor is reported where children
involved in legal agricultural work with their families are given
excessive hours or hazardous work in violation of child labor laws.
Hazardous work includes handling pesticides and fertilizers, using
heavy farm equipment with little or no supervision, and harvesting
sugar cane with machetes. One instance of exploitive child labor
was confirmed by the Fiji Times, and several people in the Ministry
of Labour and sugar growers unions say they have seen the practice,
but no information on prevalence is available. Everyone consulted
said they believed excessive or hazardous child labor was rare,
although legal agricultural work performed by children aged 14-18
was common. Inspectors employed by the Ministry of Labour are aware
of the problem, and make an effort to address it through
awareness-raising among farm families.


2. Tasking 2A): Prevalence and Sectoral Distribution of Exploitive
Child Labor
- 1. Children in Fiji work in the informal sector; selling food such
as fish and fruit,
shining shoes, and pushing wheelbarrows at the market. Some
children work in traditional Fijian "meke" dance troupes, providing
entertainment at tourist resorts. Children are subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation, primarily through prostitution, but
also through pornography and sex tourism.
- 2. The government of Fiji did not collect information on this in

2009.


3. Tasking 2B): Laws and Regulations
- 1. The new Crimes Decree, created in 2009 and due to be
implemented in February 2010, expands the offense of Trafficking in
Persons to include trafficking within the country of Fiji,
establishes a gender-neutral standard for trafficking and sexual
exploitation of children, and has stiff penalties for subjecting
children to trafficking, forced labor, or debt bondage. These laws,
if enforced can significantly improve the government's ability to
address child labor.
- 2. Fiji's child labor laws are largely consistent with
-Qlwinternational standards. Some problematic areas include the lack of
a clear definition of either "light work" or "hazardous work", and
laws against prostitution and sexual abuse that leave inadequate
protection for boys. According to Director of Labour Compliance,
Sadrugu Ramagimagi, the definitions of light and hazardous work will
be codified in 2010, and the Crimes Decree should come into effect
during the month of February.


4. Tasking 2C): Institutions and Mechanisms for Enforcement
- 1. Responsibility for enforcement of laws against hazardous child
labor has rested largely with the Ministry of Labour, however the
police have some enforcement responsibilities.
- 2. There are not any current mechanisms to coordinate between
agencies. The Ministry of Labour has started a Child Labour
Advisory Board to develop a better mechanism for addressing child
labor. This board is developing a strategy for coordination.
- 3. The labor inspectors run by the Ministry of Labour are
authorized to receive complaints from anyone observing child labor.
In 2009, they did not officially document any instances of child
labor. The Department of Public Prosecutions is also not aware of
any child labor cases.
- 4. Funding information was not available.

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- 5. The government employs 20 labor inspectors in Fiji. This
number is insufficient to effectively address child labor issues.
Labor inspectors are stationed in the larger towns, and have
difficulty getting out to the smaller rural communities and outer
islands.
- 6. No information was available on the number of inspections.
- 7. No children were removed or officially assisted as the result
of inspections. Labor officers report unofficially assisting
children, by raising awareness of the law, by providing warnings to
employers who are not fully compliant, and by encouraging their
parents to apply to social welfare for help.
- 8. No cases were opened.
- 9. No cases were resolved.
- 10. No violations were found or convictions reached.
- 11. No cases were opened or resolved.
- 12. No violations were found.
- 13. There is an inadequate effort to combat child labor.
Considerable evidence shows that child labor does happen in Fiji, so
a complete lack of reported cases demonstrates a failure to
systematically address the problem and track results.
- 14. In September 2009, the Ministry of Labour offered a short
training for labor inspectors on this issue, the first the
government has conducted. The feedback from the labor officers
contributed to Ministry of Labour plans to more effectively address
this issue.


5. Tasking 2D): Institutional Mechanisms for Effective
Enforcement
- 2D, Section I: Child Trafficking
--1. Enforcement of laws on child trafficking is divided between
the police, the Ministry of Immigration, and the Department of
Public Prosecution. No officials were dedicated to enforcement in

2009. The police formed a task force to develop strategies to
address trafficking in persons, including child trafficking. All
police officers, labor inspectors, and immigration officials
theoretically had responsibility to address child trafficking,
however the pervasive lack of awareness hampered efforts.
-- 2. Total funding information is not available. No funding was
allocated specifically for these tasks.
-- 3. There was no hotline or dedicated mechanism to receive
complaints.
-- 4. No investigations were opened. This is inadequate, based on
the evidence, and stems from the pervasive lack of awareness. Most
officials were only aware of the issue of international trafficking,
and cross-border trafficking of children in Fiji is extremely rare.
Currently, the government is working to address this problem with
new laws, and substantive awareness-raising and training efforts.
-- 5. No children were rescued.
-- 6. No arrests were made.
-- 7. No cases were closed or resolved.
-- 8. No convictions happened.
-- 9. This is not applicable. See previous responses.
--10. Not applicable.
-- 11. No cases were resolved.
-- 12. The government conducted three conferences addressing this
issue. The police and DPP have formed task forces, and are
developing cooperative efforts with the NGO community. New laws
have been promulgated, to better allow for trafficking offenses to
be prosecuted.
-- 13. There were no reports of child soldiers in 2009.


6. Tasking 2D, Section II: CSEC
- 1. Enforcement of laws on CSEC is the responsibility of the
police. No officials were dedicated to enforcement of CSEC in 2009.
The police formed a task force to develop strategies to address
trafficking in persons, including child sex trafficking. There were
four members of the unit responsible for sexual crimes against
children.
- 2. Total funding information is not available. No funding was
allocated specifically for these tasks.
- 3. There was no hotline or dedicated mechanism to receive

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complaints.
- 4. Two cases suspected of involving trafficking and CSEC are
being prosecuted under the defilement statute. Prior to the
implementation of the Crimes Decree in February 2010, it was
difficult to apply criminal charges for CSEC, and prosecutions were
rare, leading to inadequate efforts to address this problem.
- 5. No child rescues were reported.
- 6. No arrests were made.
- 7. No cases were closed or resolved.
- 8. No convictions happened.
- 9. This is not applicable. See previous responses.
- 10. Not applicable.
- 11. No cases were resolved.
- 12. The government conducted three conferences addressing this
issue. The police and DPP have formed task forces, and are
developing cooperative efforts with the NGO community. The
government is cooperating with the ILO on the TACKLE project, which
addresses CSEC and other forms of exploitive child labor. New laws
have been promulgated, to better allow for trafficking offenses to
be prosecuted.
- 13. There were no reports of child soldiers in 2009.


7. Tasking 2D, Section III: Use of Children in Illicit Activities
- 1. Enforcement of laws on the use of children in illicit
activities is the responsibility of the police. No officials were
dedicated to enforcement of these laws in 2009.
- 2. Total funding information is not available. No funding was
allocated specifically for these tasks.
- 3. There was no hotline or dedicated mechanism to receive
complaints.
- 4. No investigations were opened. This is inadequate.
- 5. No children were rescued.
- 6. No arrests were made.
- 7. No cases were closed or resolved.
- 8. No convictions happened.
- 9. This is not applicable. See previous responses.
- 10. Not applicable.
- 11. No cases were resolved.
- 12. No steps have been taken to address these issues.
- 13. There were no reports of child soldiers in 2009.


8. Tasking 2E): Government policies on child labor
- 1. The government has not had a specific policy or plan to
address exploitive child labor. A coordinated plan is being
developed by the Ministry of Labour for 2010.
- 2. This issue was included in the Employment Relations
Promulgation.
- 3. No plan exists to be funded.
- 4. No plan exists to be supported. The government is working to
develop a plan.
- 5. The government cooperated with the ILO on the TACKLE project
to research the problem of child labor and create a plan to address
it. The study has not yet been released, and the Ministry of Labour
is in the process of developing a national plan, with the goal of
beginning to take action in March 2010.
- 6. The government worked on the TACKLE project with the ILO to
address child labor. Results are not yet available.
- 7. No agreements or conventions were signed in 2009


9. Tasking 2F): Social Programs to eliminate or prevent child
labor
- 1. No programs were implemented specifically to address this
issue.
- 2. Efforts to address poverty included, but did not specifically
address child labor. Labor inspectors referred families to poverty
alleviation efforts of the Ministry of Social Welfare.
- 3. No programs exist.
- 4. No programs exist.
- 5. The government implemented a plan to help children in need get
free bus fare to improve school attendance, and general anti-poverty
efforts. No formal efforts were made to address child labor.

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- 6. The government did not sign any agreements in 2009. The laws
of Fiji are consistent with all ILO accords signed, however
enforcement remains inadequate.


10. Tasking 2G): Continual Progress
Despite poor performance, the government made progress in combating
exploitive child labor in 2009. Efforts to address child labor in
Fiji are starting from a very low level of awareness and capacity.
The government has begun work to develop the official framework to
implement existing child labor laws, which should lead to meaningful
improvements. While there were no prosecutions, work has begun on
training, and laying the implementing framework to perform more
effectively in 2010.

MCGANN