Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2003)

Articles 3(a), 5 and 6 of the Convention. Sale and trafficking, monitoring mechanisms and programmes of action. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the various measures taken by the Government to combat trafficking of children, including the establishment of the Interdepartmental Commission against human trafficking, as well as the steps taken to train police officers, officials from the migration service, and the procurator’s office, on methods for the detection, investigation, prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that the newly adopted Criminal Code of 2014, increased penalties for crimes against children, including trafficking of children. It also notes from the website of the International Organization for Migration (information from IOM) that in August 2015, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in coordination with the IOM for Central Asia conducted the information campaign “Let’s stop trafficking together” across the country. The information from IOM further indicates that Kazakhstan has made sufficient progress in combating trafficking in persons through active work of the Interdepartmental Commission against human trafficking; the adoption of a National Action Plan to combat human trafficking 2015–17; the development of standards on providing social services for victims of trafficking; and the adoption of guidelines, developed in cooperation with IOM, for police officers and labour inspectors on identification and referral of victims of trafficking. The Committee further notes the information from IOM that according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 300 cases related to trafficking in persons have been recorded and investigated in 2014, of which 23 cases relate to trafficking of minors. The Committee notes, however, that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 30 October 2015, expressed concern about the reports that large number of children are trafficked from, to and within the country and that most victims remain unidentified. The CRC also expressed concern at the information about the persistent complicity of the police in trafficking cases (CRC/C/KAZ/CO/4, paragraph 58). While noting the various measures taken by the Government to combat trafficking of children, the Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies in identifying and combating the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that all perpetrators of trafficking of children, including complicit government officials, are subject to thorough investigations and robust prosecutions, and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. It further requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied in this regard. Lastly, it requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken within the framework of the National Action Plan of 2015–17 to combat trafficking in children and the results achieved.

Article 3(d) and application of the Convention in practice. Hazardous work on tobacco and cotton plantations. The Committee previously noted that studies on child labour in Kazakhstan revealed that children were mostly engaged in the informal and agricultural sectors, particularly in tobacco and cotton harvesting. It also noted the Government’s information on the various child labour monitoring bodies in the country and on the seminars and conferences on monitoring child labour organized in the several districts.

The Committee observes that the Government report does not contain any data related to the situation of working children in tobacco and cotton plantations, as previously requested by the Committee. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the reviewed list of types of hazardous work prohibited to children under the age of 18 years which was approved by Order No. 391 of May 2015, prohibits the hiring of minors on tobacco and cotton plantations. It also notes the Government’s statement that Kazakh tobacco cultivation has been excluded from the United States Department of Labour’s List of Agricultural Crops Grown using child labour.

Moreover, the August 2014 Report of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery indicates that in 2013, child labour monitoring systems (CLMS) had been piloted in five villages and that direct services had been provided for children at risk of, or involved in, the worst forms of child labour. However, the Committee notes that the UN Special Rapporteur, expressed her concern that despite the commitment and support of the tobacco industry and steps taken to increase protection of migrant workers, cases of hazardous child labour persist on some farms (A/HRC/27/53/Add.2, paragraphs 14 and 30). The report also indicates that a company acknowledged that cases of child labour were still reported on tobacco plantations, even though their number had decreased (paragraph 22). The Committee further notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of October 2015, expressed concern about the incidence of child labour in cotton harvesting, which involves lifting or carrying of heavy weights, poor living conditions and health risks related to fertilizers and pesticides (CRC/C/KAZ/CO/4, paragraph 56). While taking due note of the measures taken by the Government, the Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to protect children from hazardous work in agriculture, particularly in tobacco and cotton plantations, including through strengthening the capacity of the various child labour monitoring bodies in order to enable them to monitor the effective implementation of the national provisions giving effect to the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the child labour monitoring systems, in terms of the number of children identified and withdrawn from hazardous work in agriculture as well as on the direct services provided to children at risk. Lastly, it requests the Government to provide information on the number of inspections carried out by the various child labour monitoring bodies, the number of violations detected and penalties applied, related to hazardous work performed by children under 18 years, including in cotton and tobacco harvesting.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.