Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2013, publiée 103ème session CIT (2014)

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the comments made by the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) dated 24 August 2013.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. The Committee previously noted that sections 360A, 360B and 288A of the Penal Code, as amended, prohibited a wide range of activities associated with prostitution, including the prohibition of the use, procuring or offering of minors under 18 years of age for prostitution. It also noted the Government’s information that prosecutions on the commercial sexual exploitation of children are carried out by the Department of Police and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA). The Committee further noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 19 October 2010 (CRC/C/LKA/CO/3-4, paragraph 69), expressed concern at the high incidence of exploitation of approximately 40,000 children in prostitution, that no comprehensive data were available on child sexual exploitation, and that no central body was established to monitor the investigation and prosecution of child sexual exploitation cases.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that several initiatives and measures have been taken against the sexual exploitation of children, such as: the development of a national plan of action to combat trafficking in children for sexual and labour exploitation; the establishment of a children’s council throughout the island; and the establishment of a special committee to look into the issue of reducing the duration of judicial proceedings relating to child sexual exploitation. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government in its fifth periodic report of 31 January 2013 to the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/LKA/5, paragraph 294), that it has established a women and children police desk at district level consisting of specially trained police officers to deal with the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. The Committee further notes from the Government’s report that, as per the data collected from the police unit and the NCPA, in 2012, 53 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children were reported while, in 2013, 30 cases were reported. The Committee urges the Government to continue its efforts to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children and to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of persons who commit this offence are carried out and sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. It requests the Government to continue providing information with regard to the number of prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed on offenders in cases related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Clause (d) and Article 4(1). Hazardous work. The Committee previously requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 20A of the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act of 2006, which prohibits the employment of children under the age of 18 years in any hazardous occupation.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that around 65,000 labour inspections are carried out annually and no incidents of hazardous work by children have been detected in the formal economy. The Committee notes, however, that, according to the findings of the Child Activity Survey 2009, out of the total child population of 107,259 reported to be in child labour, 63,916 children (1.5 per cent) between the ages of 5–17 years are engaged in hazardous work. The incidence of hazardous forms of child labour is highest in the manufacturing industries followed by the service and agricultural industries. Noting that a large number of children under the age of 18 years are involved in hazardous work in Sri Lanka, the Committee urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure their protection from hazardous work, including in the informal economy. It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

Article 6. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee previously noted that the CRC, in its concluding observations of 19 October 2010 (CRC/C/LKA/CO/3-4, paragraph 71), expressed concern that Sri Lanka remained a common destination for child-sex tourism, with a high number of boys being sexually exploited by tourists. The CRC also expressed concern that the police lacked the necessary technical expertise to combat child-sex tourism; that the Cyber-Watch programme to monitor the Internet for child pornography and crimes related to child-sex tourism was discontinued; and that the Cyber Crimes Unit closed due to lack of funding.

The Committee notes that, according to the document entitled “Sri Lanka’s Roadmap 2016 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour from Commitment to Action”, one of the strategies of the 2016 Roadmap is to promote child-safe tourism. The document also indicates that Sri Lanka’s Ten-Year Horizon Development Framework 2006–16, called Mahinda Chintana, which is vigorously tackling many of the root causes of child labour, aims to strengthen security against tourism-related crimes, including combating child-sex tourism through strict police vigilance and awareness-raising programmes. However, the Committee notes from the same document that the beach boy phenomenon along with the issue of paedophilia has been known for a long time along the south western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. The Committee further notes the comments made by the NTUF that the commercial sexual exploitation of children takes place mainly in seaside tourist resorts and the very secretive nature of these offences curtails complaints or facts from coming to light. The Committee expresses its concern at the situation of children involved in child-sex tourism. The Committee, therefore, once again urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to combat child-sex tourism and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the strategies of the 2016 Roadmap in promoting child-safe tourism as well as the measures taken within the framework of the Mahinda Chintana in combating child-sex tourism.

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