US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1396

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001396 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/IL MARINDA HARPOLE 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA FAULKNER 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, CE, USAID, Human Rights 
SUBJECT:  SRI LANKA CHILD LABOR UPDATE FOR TRADE AND 
DEVELOPMENT ACT (GSP) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
REF: (A) STATE 163967  (b) 03 COLOMBO 001436 
 
Responses keyed to Reftel (A).  Since post submitted 
a detailed report on child labor in 2003, below is an 
update on the child labor situation.  Only new 
developments are described. 
 
(A) Whether the country has adequate laws and 
regulations proscribing the worst forms of child 
labor: 
 
The most important development since the Child Labor 
report last year is the compilation of a list of 
fifty (50) occupations considered to be the worst 
forms of child labor existing in Sri Lanka under the 
ILO/IPEC program.  The National Labor Advisory 
Council, chaired by the Minister of Labor, approved 
this list on January 21, 2004, but it has not been 
publicly released.  Due to the dissolution of 
Parliament, subsequent parliamentary elections and 
other political reasons, the list has not been 
presented to the Cabinet and Parliament yet and 
therefore laws proscribing these worst forms of child 
labor have not been formulated.  As mentioned in 
reftel b, however, existing laws protect children 
(14-18 years) from hazardous labor. 
 
B) Whether the country has adequate laws and 
regulations for the implementation and enforcement of 
such measures: 
 
The Sri Lanka Department of Labor and the National 
Child Protection Agency (NCPA) have observed a 
declining trend in employment of children under 14 
years.  This decline is due to tough regulations and 
increasing public awareness against child labor.  For 
example, the recent ILO/IPEC sponsored Rapid 
Assessment Survey on domestic child labor in five 
districts found child domestic workers (under 18 
years) in roughly two percent of households.  The 
findings, although not directly comparable, contrast 
with an earlier (1998) finding of child labor in ten 
percent of households in the Galle District. 
 
C)  Whether the country has established formal 
institutional mechanisms to investigate and address 
complaints relating to allegations of the worst forms 
of child labor: 
 
NCPA's anti-trafficking unit, cyber-watch unit and 
the special police unit are continuing to combat 
child abuse including child labor. 
 
NCPA works with 450 divisional level social 
development officers of the Government's "Samurdhi" 
(social welfare) program.  They are given training on 
child abuse, drugs and suicide in order to raise 
awareness on these issues among their communities. 
These officers are a regular source of reporting on 
child abuse to NCPA.  In addition, NCPA has 
established 11 district child protection committees. 
While some of the committees are quite active, some 
have become defunct due to lack of funding.  UNICEF 
is hoping to commence a program soon with the NCPA to 
establish and strengthen district child protection 
committees in all 22 districts under GSL control 
during 2004-2006.  A pilot project to establish 
school child protection committees is underway in the 
Ratnapura district.  These committees, comprised of 
parents and students, are responsible for creating 
awareness in the areas of child abuse, child rights 
and child labor and attempt to strengthen child- 
family-school interactions. 
 
Statistics 
---------- 
 
-- The following table presents data on child labor 
complaints made to various government departments. 
 
Table 1 
 
Year     Dept of Labor(a)  NCPA(c) 
2000         194            184 
2001         255            276 
2002         161            386 
2003    203          179 
2004    64 (b)     NA 
 NA 
 
a) Employment of Children below 14 years: 7, 42, 26, 
44 and 19 cases were prosecuted in 2000, 2001, 2002, 
2003 and 2004 respectively. 
b) From January to June, 2004 
c) NCPA receives complaints on all forms of abuse 
against children below 18 years.  Most of the 
complaints concern sexual abuse, including child 
prostitution.  In 2003, NCPA received 25 complaints 
about child labor, 200 about sexual abuse, and 51 
about physical abuse. 
 
Sources:  Women's and Children's Division of the 
Department of Labor, and the Statistics Division of 
the NCPA. 
 
-- NCPA's cyber-watch unit sponsored by ILO/IPEC has 
been successful in combating child abuse (child 
pornography and pedophilia) using the Internet.  The 
unit has also been able to identify and detain 
foreign pedophiles operating in Sri Lanka. 
Statistics pertaining to cyber-watch unit activities 
are below. (Data within parenthesis indicate the 
number of foreign suspects.) 
 
Table 2 
 
No of Investigations    No ofarrests 
ts 
 
SIPDIS 
2002                  45 (17)     7 (4) 
2003                  40 (10)       2 (-) 
2004(a)               11 (6)        2 (2) 
 
(a) January to August 19, 2004. 
Source: NCPA (Cyber Watch Unit) 
 
Other NCPA programs:  Between July 2003 and August 
2004, the NCPA facilitated following training 
programs: 
 
- Trauma counseling for child care officers and child 
rights promotion officers; psychosocial counseling 
for medical professionals; surveillance training for 
government officers; legal awareness for divisional 
Samurdhi welfare officers; various lectures on child 
abuse and protection of girls for police and nursing 
officers; and training of trainers in psychosocial 
counseling. 
 
- Scotland Yard provided training to NCPA officers on 
detection of pedophile activities. 
 
- NCPA has also prepared a manual for trainers in 
psychosocial counseling, and continues to raise 
awareness of child rights through poster campaigns 
and media. 
 
GSL Labor Department Programs: In 2003-2004, the GSL 
Labor Department trained 300 labor, probation and 
police officers in child domestic labor issues. 
 
D) Whether social programs exist in the country to 
prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms 
of child labor and assist in the removal of children 
engaged in worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Education:  The Government of Sri Lanka continues 
to demonstrate a strong commitment to education and 
strives to eliminate child labor through education. 
There is strong commitment to child protection and 
education at the highest level of the Government. 
The (executive) President is also the minister in 
charge of Education.  In addition, the NCPA comes 
under the President. 
 
-- Government spending on education (RS million): 
 
Table 3 
 
Year          Total Education     Primary Education 
2002          37,209                 9,962 
2003    39,116 11,257 
2004    41,951 12,847 
 
Exhange rate: Rs 95.66 (2002), Rs 96.52 (2003), Rs 
102 (2004) 
Source: Ministry of Finance estimates provided to the 
ed to the 
Embassy and Central Bank Annual Report 2003. 
 
-- UNICEF conducts various programs in the following 
broad thematic categories: early childhood 
development (for children below 5 years), learning 
years (for children between 5-14 years), and 
adolescent education. 
 
-- NCPA assists children engaged in worst forms of 
child labor.  It helped the Child Care and Probation 
Department to establish a rehabilitation center, 
which offers vocational training and counseling for 
victims of trafficking.  Currently, NCPA is assisting 
two other rehabilitation centers under the ILO/IPEC 
program.  ILO/IPEC and UNICEF are also working with 
the Don Bosco Center, a local NGO to conduct remedial 
classes for children at risk in areas bordering 
conflict zones.  ILO/IPEC also has programs with 
trade unions to strengthen plantation communities to 
combat child labor.  In June 2004, NCPA commenced a 
program with World Bank funds to establish six drop- 
in centers for children under 18 years. These centers 
are geared to provide education and entertainment to 
children, and raise awareness regarding child rights 
and abuse. 
 
-- Child Soldiers: According to the head of the NCPA, 
child soldiering is the most pressing form of 
hazardous child labor existing in Sri Lanka.  Despite 
the announcement of a cease-fire in February 2002, 
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) still 
uses child soldiers and recruits children, sometimes 
forcibly, for training and use in battlefield support 
and in combat.  The Government of Sri Lanka, UNICEF, 
the US Government and other international agencies 
continue to press the LTTE to cease all child 
recruitment and to release those children in their 
ranks.  Reliable statistics on child soldiers are not 
available, though many agencies are addressing this 
issue. 
 
-- In April 2003, UNICEF facilitated a workshop 
between the Government of Sri Lanka, the LTTE, and 
local and international organizations to agree on a 
plan of action to address the needs of children 
affected by war.  The plan aims to restore normalcy 
to these children, including child recruits.  Child 
rights training to LTTE, Government armed forces and 
communities is one component of the plan.  It 
provides for the release and re-integration of child 
soldiers with UNICEF assistance.  Under this program, 
UNICEF supported the establishment of a transit 
center for child recruits released by the LTTE. 
ILO/IPEC is providing vocational training for 
children affected by war.  Child recruitment by the 
LTTE has increased in the first half of 2004.  A 
number of foreign governments represented in Sri 
Lanka have made strong representations to the LTTE to 
end this practice and release all child soldiers to 
UNICEF's care.  The United States has condemned LTTE 
recruitment of children in public statements. 
 
E) Whether the country has a comprehensive policy for 
the elimination of the worst forms of child labor: 
 
The Government has ratified ILO convention 182 on the 
elimination of worst forms of child labor. 
 
The most important development since last year's 
Child Labor report was the creation of a list of 50 
occupations considered to be the worst forms of child 
labor under the ILO/IPEC program.  A tripartitie 
committee, through wide national consultation, 
prepared the list of hazardous occupations and also 
has recommended actions to prohibit and reduce such 
forms of occupations.  On January 21, 2004 the 
National Labor Advisory Council, chaired by the 
Minister of Labor, approved this list.  Due to 
political problems, the list has not been presented 
to the Cabinet yet.  In order to proscribe the 
occupations, the next steps include cabinet approval, 
drafting of amendments to existing legislation and 
presentation to the Parliament. 
 
Pending legislation, the NCPA, under the ILO/IPEC, is 
already implementing a comprehensive 10-year national 
policy and a national action plan on elimination of 
trafficking of children for exploitative employment. 
A comprehensive review of this program is scheduled 
for the end of 2004.  In addition, again pending 
legislation on the worst forms of child labor, the 
NCPA, with the assistance of ILO/IPEC, has also 
prepared proposals for legal amendments and a code of 
conduct for employers of young persons including 
domestic workers (14-18 years). 
 
F) Whether the country is making continual progress 
toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor: 
 
The last thorough child activity survey was carried 
out in 1998/99.  There has been no comparable update 
since then.  In view of this gap in data, IPEC will 
fund a national estimation of child labor (under 18 
years) in certain sectors: fisheries, fireworks, sex 
workers, domestic workers, children in the north east 
and children in plantations. 
 
The following documents are being sent via 
unclassified pouch to DoL's Tina Faulkner: 
 
SIPDIS 
 
1.  Sri Lanka Child Domestic Labor, A Rapid 
Assessment, 
2.  A Study of young domestic workers in Sri Lanka: 
proposals for legal amendments and a code of conduct, 
3.  List of hazardous employment approved by the 
National Labor Advisory Commission. 
ENTWISTLE