US embassy cable - 05DHAKA4291

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 004291 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
STATE FOR DRL/IL-FOR LAUREN HOLT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, PGOV, BG, USAID 
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH: CHILD LABOR UPDATE 2005 
 
REF: STATE 143552 
 
1. Following is an update and review of the child labor 
report pegged to questions posed in reftel. 
 
a) Bangladesh has not promulgated new laws or regulations on 
minimum age/s for employment since ratification of ILO 
Convention 182.  In June 2003, the government listed 11 
occupations as the worst forms of child labor: sexual acts, 
smuggling, bidi (a form of local cigarette), battery and 
chemical factories, glass factories, tanneries, salt 
factories, transport, rag picking, welding, arms and drug 
trafficking, and slavery in any forms. 
 
b) ILO and child rights NGO leaders believe that Bangladesh 
has adequate laws and regulations for the implementation and 
enforcement of proscriptions against the worst forms of 
child labor, although some laws/regulations may need 
updating.  Implementation of the laws and regulations, 
however, remains poor in many cases.  The office of the 
Chief Inspector of Factories under the Department of Labor 
is primarily responsible for implementing and enforcing 
child labor laws and regulations.  Inspectors have the 
authority to inspect and seize factories, file cases, and 
impose fine.  The total number of inspectors at present is 
88, 46 for factories and 42 for shops and establishments, 
while the number of registered factories is about 21,500. 
According to local ILO officials, a joint monitoring team 
comprising officials from Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers 
Exporters Association (BGMEA), ILO, and the BDG Office of 
the Chief Inspectors of Factories regularly inspects over 
4000 member factories of BGMEA.  From January-July 2005, the 
joint team found nine child laborers working in five 
factories, and each factory was fined the local currency 
equivalent of $100, the maximum allowable under the law. 
The government trains the inspectors in cooperation with 
child rights NGOs. 
 
c) The BDG has worked with NGOs and international 
organizations to launch campaigns against child labor in 
hazardous activities, promoted education for children, and 
geared up counter-trafficking monitoring and awareness 
campaigns.  It is cooperating with the ILO and NGOs in their 
efforts to withdraw children from the street and work and 
place them in schools.  The Bangladesh government provides 
cash incentives to families who send children to schools. 
According to 2002 BDG statistics, 97.5 per cent of the 
school-age children were enrolled in primary schools, 
although there are no reliable government figures for 
student actually attending classes. Under Bangladesh law, 
children must attend school through the fifth grade. The 
current government policy is to implement compulsory primary 
education by the year 2015. 
 
d) The Ministry of Labor and Employment has drafted a 
comprehensive policy aimed at the elimination of the worst 
forms of child labor in consultation with labor and child 
rights organizations.  But the government is yet to approve 
and officially promulgate the policy. 
 
e) Labor and child rights activists report that the BDG is 
getting more engaged in child labor issues with increased 
awareness campaigns.  According to ILO officials, working 
children are still conspicuous in all aspects of life in 
both urban and rural Bangladesh. The withdrawal of child 
laborers from the apparel sector to provide them basic 
education and to some extent, vocational training, under the 
joint auspices of ILO, UNICEF and BGMEA has been touted as 
an exemplary program internationally. The fact remains, 
however, that the apparel children were involved in non- 
hazardous work and made up only one per cent of the total 
child labor force in Bangladesh. 
 
2.  Corrections/Updates on 2003 text: 
 
Government Policies and programs to Eliminate the Worst 
Forms of Child Labor: 
 
The Ministry of Labor and Employment has implemented 
projects to combat child labor in selected industries with 
support from USDA and not from USAID. 
 
In 2003, Bangladesh ratified the Convention on Prevention 
and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for 
prostitution that it had signed with other South Asian 
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries in 
January 2002. 
 
Since mid-June, the BDG has significantly stepped up 
monitoring of human trafficking activities and the 
prosecution of cases related to trafficking in children and 
women. 
 
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor 
 
Post is not aware of any cases of sale of organs of children 
trafficked from Bangladesh. There is a perception among 
officials and rights activists that the incidence of 
trafficking in children and women is decreasing, in part 
because the BDG increased its counter-trafficking efforts in 
June 2004. 
CHAMMAS