Dismantling a child labour structure brick by brick

We know that our children are not very safe out on the street (Pic AFP) 

Children give us so much hope, but have parents and guardians done their part for these children? We can raise so many questions regarding their welfare and safety. We know that our children are not very safe out on the street and even at school and tuition classes because these places have been haunted by pedophiles. As Sri Lankans we are guilty of being reactive. Other countries are proactive and have strict laws in place to protect the rights and safety of children. The recent issue where a domestic aid employed at a lawmaker’s residence dying due to burnt injuries has made lawmakers think whether our children are safe; given the limitations in existing laws and the snail’s pace at which cases are taken up for hearing. 

When we read the literature of Sri Lanka and the world we’ve read enough stories about child workers employed at homes and business establishments. Lawyer and author Neil Wijeratne writes in his short-story book titled ‘Madurasi Koluwa’ how a kid aged 12 or 13 years does business near a bus stop urging commuters to board buses he is promoting. Whether the story is fiction or not the message is clear; children in labour exist. 

Lawyer and author Neil Wijeratne writes in his short-story book titled ‘Madurasi Koluwa’ how a kid aged 12 or 13 years does business near a bus stop urging commuters to board buses he is promoting. Whether the story is fiction or not the message is clear; children in labour exist

When one reads newspapers these days it seems child activity surveys haven’t been done for many years. One done in 2016 underscores that as many as 43,714 children were employed in labour activities while 39,007 were employed in hazardous forms of labour. 

Some children have no other option when their fathers die prematurely and are forced to find employment. When watching the recent show titled ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ and telecast on Sirasa television we came to know of a few brothers having sacrificed the opportunity to pursue higher studies and found tough and exhausting labour because there were siblings who were minors in the family attending school. 

There was a time when scouts visited homes and offered to do chores in return for money and a note in their job cards. But since the ‘Guide to Safe Scouting’ was introduced in 1991 many dangerous activities have been included in the banned list of activities for present-day scouts

But these rags to riches stories might not be heard much in the future because the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has increased the child’s age to be employed from 16 to 18. Recently we heard a policeman in uniform appearing on a television talk-show stating that he didn’t see it a crime if an underaged child helped about in a family or relation’s business and earned an income if the child’s family was without a father and battling financial difficulties. However there were a few rights activists in the show who shot down the idea presented by the man in uniform. We do have extremists who’d stretch the law to the maximum and in the process fail to see how a practical solution can be found to a problem. 

A news feature appearing last week in our sister paper the Sunday Times and penned by Chrishanthi Christopher and titled ‘20 more occupations to be off limits for children’ highlights that ‘ironically, this year has been declared as ‘elimination of child labour 2021’ by the United Nation’s General Assembly. It’s difficult for a country like Sri Lanka to employ children in labour without such endeavours being leaked to the public because social media is extremely alert these days. Just days ago all forms of media went on the hunt to expose the age of the deceased female domestic aid employed at an ex-minister’s residence; the aid’s untimely death brought an entire estate community and a country to tears. It’s alleged that the female worker was sexually abused before she died of burn injuries.

We’ve read of a story about a past president who saw via a video clip how a minor was engaged in a premises clearing activity connected to a Gam Udawa project. When the president knew that the video would be shown to an audience at the opening ceremony of a housing scheme to be launched soon he quickly organised an affluent businessman to be present at the ceremony and offer a scholarship to the boy. The media present on that day had much to write about housing for the poor and the rising of a village without reporting on a one-off incident featuring child labour. 

So much is done in the name of children on November 20 marked in the calender as ‘world Children’s Day’. November 20 is significant for two reasons; it was on such a day that a declaration was made to establish ‘Rights of Children’ and also because the UN General Assembly adopted a Convention (1989) regarding the ‘right of the child’. But still, despite all that, we hear of children being abused. Recently this writer read on social media how teen-aged gymnasts in the world were abused by their male coaches who promised to help them realise their Olympic dreams. Further reading in the website made the writer depressed. There have been occasions where teen-aged gymnasts have been forced to compete despite battling career-ending injuries because sports authorities in those countries were greedy for medals. Thanks to more professionalism and the availability of better health facilities coupled with coaching staff with humane qualities being in charge the medal winning journey of an athlete isn’t a nightmare at present. 

Even the goals of eliminating children from all forms of labour would take time and would be gradual process. There was a time when scouts visited homes and offered to do chores in return for money and a note in their job cards. But since the ‘Guide to Safe Scouting’ was introduced in 1991 many dangerous activities have been included in the banned list of activities for present-day scouts. We being a third world developing country must move in the direction of ‘eliminating child labour’ gradually by strengthening lawns and putting solid programmes in place to lift the living conditions of less affluent children. 

Just because we see an individual who resembles a juvenile engaged in labour we don’t have the right to disrupt an event or a section of the society. This writer once attended a wedding ceremony at a leading hotel in Kurunegala. A steward, not looking more than 13 or 14 years if age, started serving us by filling our glasses with water. We refused to be served by this steward and complained to the manager demanding why he was employing minors. He patiently took us to his office, pulled out the personal file of the steward, and revealed his personal details; among which was a photocopy of his identity card. He was 23 years old. On further inquiries we came to know that he was from Nuwara Eliya; and was born in a hamlet in that village where Tamil adults don’t show their age. Rather embarrassed we we returned to our half finished meals. What we were eating now strangely started tasting better than what we were consuming before.