Children - Terre des Hommes

36
Increase in Child Labour
“The image of youngsters, blackened by coal
dust, lugging laden carts from tunnels deep
underground was one of the factors which stirred
the ILO membership to adopt conventions against
child labour at the start of the 20th century.
Astonishingly, almost a hundred years later, that
very image can still be seen in small-scale mines of
Asia, Africa, Latin America, and even parts of
Europe.”
- ILO, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour,
Mining and Quarrying
Children as young as 5 years of age are working, in
horrendous conditions, in mines and quarries across
the world. Child labour in the mining sector is prevalent
in many parts of Africa, South America and Asia. The
majority are working in small scale “artisanal” mines, which
tend to be unregulated and often located in remote, hard-toreach
areas. The International Labour Organization (ILO)
defines child labour in mining as the “Worst Form of Child
Labour,” stating that “While all forms of child labour are
harmful to children, those who work in the mining sector
are in particular danger, labouring in conditions that pose a
Child labour in mining
Cold, dark and dangerous these "unofficial" and
unregulated coal mines and gold mines are no places for
children. Due to extreme poverty and lack of access to
education, some feel they have little choice but to risk
the dangers. In some mines, children work as far as 90
metres beneath the ground with only a rope with which
to climb in and out, inadequate ventilation and only a
flashlight or candle for light. In small-scale mining, child
workers dig and haul heavy loads of rock, dive into rivers
and flooded tunnels in search of minerals, set explosives
for underground blasting and crawl through narrow
tunnels only as wide as their bodies. In quarries, children
dig sand, rock and dirt, transport it on their heads or
backs, and spend hours pounding larger rocks into gravel
using adult-sized tools to produce construction materials
for roads and buildings.
Source::
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Press release: Cold,
serious risk to their health and well being, exposing them to
serious injury or even death on a daily basis.” 135
The global recession has led to an increase in small-scale
mining, and thus the use of child labour, in a number of
mining industry has been forced to downsize its operations.
With nowhere else to go, unemployed miners have been
forced into informal, artisanal mines (that were previously
unable to compete with the large mines when copper prices
were high) operating outside the regulatory framework
with poor working conditions. As a growing number of
households are feeling the effects of the recent slump in the
demand for copper, children are being forced into working
in these small-scale mines.
In India, the global recession has meant that demand for
minerals has reduced, and in some parts of the country
mining activity has slowed down since 2008, following
the “boom” years of the early 21st century. This further
highlights the unsustainable nature of the work as many
mine workers have suddenly found themselves unemployed.
Since they work as daily wage labourers, with no contracts
or employment rights, they do not receive compensation or
even notice of their impending unemployment. In Bellary
district, Karnataka, the local population reported that the
number of child labourers in the mining sector has decreased
The life of a child miner
Rani (name changed) is 10 years old and working in the
sandstone mines in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. She earns Rs. 70
a day, cleaning mine waste from 9am till 5pm. She works
about 15 days a month because she gets tired and needs
to rest, and sometimes can’t find work in the local mines.
She has been to school (an NGO-run crèche) for just two
days in her life. She is already addicted to gutka and
fights with her mother to spend money on soap and gutka
for herself.
Source: Interview carried out in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan
“My father died of some illness and therefore I had to
go with my mother to the quarry,” said a 12 year-old girl
in one of the mines in Maharahtra. She broke down when
asked to describe her work.
Source: Interview in a stone quarry in Pune District, Maharashtra
135. ILO, Digging for Survival: The Child Miners, 2005.
136. ILO, The global crisis and rising child labour in Zambia’s mining communities: Are we facing a downward decent work spiral?, 10 August 2009.