CMNT_TITLE

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

Other comments on C182

Observation

Direct Request

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Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously that noted that studies on child labour in Kazakhstan revealed that children are mostly engaged in the informal and agricultural sectors. In agriculture, child labour was mostly identified in tobacco and cotton harvesting, although this agricultural work is prohibited for persons under 18. In this regard, the Committee also noted the Government’s indication that investigations in the Almaty province revealed that children from Kyrgyzstan (aged 6–15) were working in tobacco fields for approximately 75 hours a week, and that Uzbekistani children had been discovered working in cotton fields in the Makhtaaral district of South Kazakhstan.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that, following the 2011 round table on “Working conditions of persons employed in agricultural work”, a resolution was adopted to extend the Programme to Prevent Child Labour in the Almaty province. The Government states that these ongoing efforts aim to eliminate the violations identified in a report entitled “Hellish Work Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan”. This report outlines that many children of migrant workers engage in tobacco cultivation and that this work is hazardous, posing significant health risks, including musculoskeletal disorders, exposure to high temperatures, exposure to pesticides and fumes from tobacco plants, and is performed under poor sanitary and hygiene conditions, often for long hours. The Committee also notes that the Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations of 19 August 2011, expressed regret at the increase in the number of children employed in cotton and tobacco fields (CCPR/C/KAZ/CO/1, paragraph 16). Therefore, while noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee expresses its concern at reports of a large number of children working in the cotton and tobacco industries under hazardous conditions, despite legislative provisions prohibiting this practice. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the prohibition on employing children under 18 in both cotton and tobacco harvesting is strictly enforced in practice, including for the children of migrant workers. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken in this regard, including measures to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspectorate to protect children from this hazardous work. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of inspections carried out, violations detected and penalties applied, related to work performed by children under 18 in cotton and tobacco harvesting.

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