US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1550

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 001550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN AND DRL/IL-LAUREN HOLT 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, AM, USAID, GTIP, ILO 
SUBJECT: ARMENIA:  EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR REMAINS RARE 
 
REF: A) STATE 143552 B) YEREVAN 1387 C) 04 YEREVAN 1838 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
2. (SBU)  In March 2005, the Armenian National Assembly 
adopted and President Robert Kocharian signed legislation 
that established the State Labor Inspectorate, a new 
government agency responsible for implementing and enforcing 
Armenia's new Labor Code.  The Labor Code, enacted July 12 
and drafted to meet International Labor Organization (ILO) 
standards (ref B), prohibits child labor but conflicts with 
several articles of Armenia's existing civil and criminal 
codes.  An interagency working group tasked with 
synchronizing the laws and setting the Labor Inspectorate on 
course plans to submit its findings in December 2005. 
Bonded, arduous, or exploitive child labor is very rare in 
Armenia.  The high demand for employment, especially for 
unskilled workers, and the Armenian cultural premium on 
family make it unlikely that employers would force valuable 
or hazardous jobs on children.  While conventional bonded or 
slave child labor may not be a significant problem in 
Armenia, we have encouraged the GOAM to take more active 
measures to protect women from trafficking (ref C) and sexual 
exploitation.  The GOAM has never prosecuted a case of 
exploitive child labor, and maintains that it is not a 
problem in Armenia. End Summary. 
 
------------------------------------- 
ARMENIA:  EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR RARE 
------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) The following responses are keyed to Ref A and 
update Ref B. 
 
A)  Laws against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-In 2005, Armenia ratified three international instruments on 
the protection and promotion of children's rights:  the 
Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the 
Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and 
Pornography (February 28), the Optional Protocol to the CRC 
on the involvement of children in armed conflict (March 21), 
and International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 182 on 
the worst forms of child labor (March 22). 
 
-Armenia's new labor code, adopted November 9, 2004, and 
enacted July 12, 2005, incorporates the CRC protocols and ILO 
Convention 182, prohibits child labor (Article 17, Section 
1), sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years old 
(Article 17, Section 2), and prohibits exceptions to the 
minimum age requirements (Article 17, Section 3).  Children 
14 to 16 years old must also obtain permission from a parent 
or guardian to work (Article 17, Section 2). 
 
-Under the new labor law, children under 18 years old are 
prohibited from working in hazardous conditions (Article 257, 
Sections 1-4), though the law does not adequately define 
those conditions.  The Government has not developed a list of 
occupations considered to be among the worst forms of child 
labor. 
 
-The Armenian Criminal Code, adopted April 11, 2003, does not 
specifically address the "worst forms of child labor," but 
punishment for exploitive child labor includes:  human 
trafficking (one to eight years imprisonment and fines under 
Section 7, Chapter 20, Article 132), involving minors in 
prostitution (one to six years imprisonment and fines under 
Section 7, Chapter 20, Article 166), child trafficking (three 
to seven years imprisonment and fines under Section 7, 
Chapter 20, Article 168), disseminating and involving minors 
in child pornographic material (two to four years 
imprisonment and fines under Section 9, Chapter 25, Article 
263). 
 
-The minimum age for completing educational requirements in 
Armenia varies according to the age at which the child first 
enrolled in school.  Generally, however, primary and basic 
education is compulsory to age 14.  UNICEF's 2004 Armenia 
report asserted that 25 percent of children in Armenia did 
not continue studies after eighth grade. 
 
B)  Regulations for implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-On March 24, 2005, the Armenian National Assembly adopted 
and President Robert Kocharian signed legislation that 
established the State Labor Inspectorate, a new government 
agency with responsibility for implementing and enforcing 
Armenia's new labor code.  On April 19, 2005, the State Labor 
Inspectorate officially replaced the Monitoring and 
Inspections Department of the State Social Insurance Fund. 
The Monitoring and Inspections Department had neither 
received nor investigated a single child labor complaint 
since its establishment in 1992. 
 
-According to State Labor Inspectorate Director Arsen 
Grigoryan, staff from the now-defunct State Social Insurance 
Fund Monitoring and Inspections Department transferred to the 
new State Labor Inspectorate.  The Labor Inspectorate will 
maintain ten regional field offices, but has made little 
progress toward establishing a support infrastructure, 
implementing an inspection regime or sifting through the 
requirements of the new labor code.  The new agency -- which 
resembles the old department -- has not designated specific 
inspectors to specialize in child labor issues and has not 
received any child labor complaints. 
 
-During a USG-sponsored workshop in May 2005, GOAM officials 
drafted the Inspectorate's mission statement, designed the 
Labor Inspectorate's departmental structures, and identified 
timelines for training inspectors.  USAID also sponsored a 
study tour for eight State Labor Inspectorate officials to 
visit their counterparts in Bulgaria. 
 
-According to UNICEF child protection officer Naira 
Avetisyan, the new labor code -- which is based on 
international protocols and European Union standards -- 
conflicts with existing Armenian legislation, has ambiguous 
enforcement mechanisms, and is rife with technical errors. 
The new Labor Inspectorate, she says, will require "some 
time" to "wade through" its new duties. 
 
-Head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Department 
of Women, Family and Children Lala Ghazaryan told us her 
department drafted the child labor section of the new labor 
code, but that the language was "too general to be 
effective."  Minister of Labor Aghvan Vardanyan, according to 
Ghazaryan, signed a memorandum in August establishing an 
interagency commission that will now revise the legislation. 
Ghazaryan predicted the commission would submit 
recommendations to the National Assembly "by around December" 
2005. 
 
-According to Armenian Human Rights Ombudsman Larissa 
Alaverdyan, none of the 850 written human rights complaints 
she received this year included cases of child labor. 
Armenian National Police Juvenile Police Division Head Nelly 
Duryan said none of the 280 juvenile police officers she 
manages had investigated any cases related to child labor. 
 
C)  Social programs to prevent children from engaging in the 
worst forms of child labor: 
 
-According to official Ministry of Education statistics, 
approximately ten thousand Armenian children are currently 
enrolled in special state-run boarding schools and 
orphanages, where the GOAM provides education and food free 
of charge.  Approximately nine hundred children reside in 
state orphanages.  The remaining nine thousand reside in 53 
special boarding schools.  UNICEF-Armenia child protection 
officer Naira Avetisyan said approximately eight thousand of 
these enrollees are registered with the Ministry of Education 
as disabled. 
 
-Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Social Support 
Department Head Astghik Minasyan confirmed press reports that 
the GOAM has begun issuing one-time allowances of AMD 20,000 
(approximately USD 43) to approximately five thousand needy 
families.  The program, which began August 22, 2005, is 
intended to provide families with assistance in purchasing 
clothing and school supplies for their primary school-aged 
children. 
 
-Armenian NGO "Orran" maintains a home for approximately 
sixty orphaned and abandoned children, including children 
rescued from Armenian streets.  According to Executive 
Director Heriknaz Harutunyan, none of the children for which 
her NGO provides assistance had been victims of exploitive 
child labor, though we know that many had been street 
prostitutes. 
 
-"Orran" NGO Executive Director Heriknaz Harutunyan estimates 
that approximately fourteen thousand Armenian children do not 
attend school because their families lack funds for basic 
supplies, clothing, and food.  In 2002, the last year UNICEF 
compiled data on homelessness in Armenia, UNICEF reported the 
Ministry of Interior had identified 135 "children living and 
working in Armenian streets."  UNICEF-Armenia child 
protection officer Naira Avetisyan says the number of 
children currently "living and working" in the streets in 
2005 is "about the same." 
 
-The NGO Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) maintains a 
Children's Reception Center that shelters, assesses, and 
refers "troubled and vulnerable" children to special 
institutions including state-run boarding schools and 
orphanages.  Acting Director Sarkis Movsisyan told us that, 
since 2000, the Armenian National Police have referred more 
than 900 children to the center.  According to Movsisyan, 
some parents or family members had charged fees to 
"customers" for the minors' "sexual services."  Juvenile 
Police officers and state social workers work with the 
children to develop criminal cases and provide social 
services. 
 
D)  Comprehensive policies designed to eliminate the worst 
forms of child labor: 
 
-On February 23, 2005, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and 
UNICEF Representative Sheldon Yett signed the Program of 
Cooperation between the Government of Armenia and UNICEF 
2005-2009 Action Plan.  The Action Plan defines the current 
situation of children and women in Armenia, lists "lessons 
learned" from past cooperation, defines national priorities 
and "social programs for disadvantaged groups, including 
children and women," lists child protection measures the GOAM 
should implement, and defines the partnership strategy and 
commitments.  The GOAM-UNICEF Action Plan tracks goals 
enumerated in the National Plan of Action for the Protection 
of the Rights of the Child (ref B and C), adopted in November 
2002. 
 
E)  Armenia's continued progress toward eliminating the worst 
forms of child labor:  There are no significant exploitive 
child labor problems in Armenia. 
EVANS