Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

The Committee has noted the Government's report on the application of the Convention. The Committee also has taken note of a report on Children's Rights in Haiti, prepared by the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee in February 1989 and submitted to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in August 1989 by an observer of the International Human Rights Internship Programme. The report refers to the use of children as servants, known in Creole as "restavek" from the French "rester avec" or "to stay with". Many poor families are alleged to be selling their children to urban families to work as domestics in conditions which are not unlike servitude. The children were forced to work long hours, with little chance for bettering their conditions; many children were reported to have been physically or sexually abused. Some of the girls who were "sold" as domestics at a young age did not know their family name or where their families lived and, thus, were unable to return to their homes. Many of the children presently living in the streets of Port-of-Prince had fled restavek situations, preferring a life without shelter or food to a life of servitude and abuse. The practice of restavek was openly compared to slavery in Haiti.

In presenting the report, the observer also alleged that while there were exceptions, the restavek children were very rarely treated like adoptive members of the restavek family. Usually there was a clear distinction between a restavek family's natural children and the restavek child, with the restavek children taking orders from the other children. Restavek children were not fed the same food as the restavek family, worked long hours for no pay both inside and outside the home and often were not housed in the main dwelling, but in a separate shed or shade. Few were sent to school or otherwise educated. If a runaway was found by the restavek family, the child could be forced to return.

The Committee has noted these allegations. It also has taken note of sections 341 to 355 of the Labour Code of Haiti which contain detailed provisions for the protection of children employed as domestic servants and prohibit such employment of children below the age of 12.

The Committee hopes that the Government will supply information in answer to the allegations referred to above; in particular, the Government is requested to supply full particulars on all measures taken to ensure the observance of the provisions of sections 341 to 355 of the Labour Code, including data on the action of the Social Welfare and Research Institute (IBESR), municipal authorities and the Labour Courts. [The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 77th Session.]