Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

1. Exploitation of children employed as domestic servants known as “restaveks”. For a number of years now, the Committee has been commenting on the working conditions of children employed as domestic servants, who are known in Creole as “restaveks” from the French “rester avec” or “to stay with”. A report submitted to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights and concordant comments received in 2002 from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU, now the International Trade Union Confederation, ITUC) and the Coordination Syndicale Haïtienne (CSH) described the practice. This practice involves poor families sending or selling their children to city-dwelling, generally more affluent families, to work as domestic servants in exchange for room and board, and education. In reality, many of these children are victims of exploitation; they are forced to work long hours without remuneration; they are discriminated against in relation to other members of the family; they are poorly housed, poorly fed and are sometimes ill-treated; very few of them receive any schooling (according to the ICFTU, only 20 per cent of “restaveks” go to school and less than 1 per cent reach secondary school level). Moreover, it has been emphasized that although placing children in families to work as domestic servants is only authorized under the Labour Code (section 341) from the age of 12 onwards, many children are placed in families before reaching this age.

The Committee emphasized that domestic work carried out by children is not necessarily forced labour. Nevertheless, the Committee was concerned about the exploitative conditions of which the children employed as domestic servants, within a framework of a relationship of total dependency, are victims. Taking into account the conditions in which such work may be carried out, their young age, and the fact that it is impossible for them to leave their work and the family in which they have been placed, such labour may come under the definition of forced labour provided for in the Convention. The Committee asked the Government to respond to these allegations and urged it to take the necessary action without delay, and also to provide information on the measures taken to ensure the effective implementation of the existing repressive provisions in this area.

The Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations concerning Haiti, published in March 2003 (CRC/C/15/Add.202), is deeply concerned about the situation of child domestic workers. The UN Committee notes with concern that these children, most of them girls, are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions and without any financial gains, and are subjected to ill treatment and abuse, including sexual abuse. The UN Committee recommends most notably the adoption of a comprehensive strategy.

The Committee notes that the Government, in its last two reports, reaffirms its commitment to protect vulnerable children and notably those working as domestic servants. The Government confirms that, children who are placed in families in big cities in the hope of being well fed and of having the opportunity to go to school, often end up in families living in precarious conditions, and are, on the contrary, ill-treated, beaten and abused. The Government undertook to strengthen the Social Welfare and Research Institution (IBESR) which, over the last few years, has been able to monitor a considerable number of children who were victims of rape and ill treatment while in domestic service. The Government also refers, to certain steps that it has taken, such as:

–           the validation in October 2006 of a National Protection Plan;

–           the implementation in 2007 of a number of training activities for officials of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour who are involved in the area of child protection;

–           the repeal of section IX of the Labour Code on “children in service” by the Act on the Prohibition and Elimination of All Forms of Abuse, Violence, Ill Treatment or Inhuman Treatment against Children, of 5 June 2003; and

–           the programme entitled “Education for All”, which targets vulnerable children, particularly those from poor families in rural areas, who, in search of an education, have been sent to work as domestic servants in large cities, so that they can attend schools in those areas.

The Committee notes with interest that the abovementioned Act of 2003 prohibits abuse and violence of any kind against children, as well as child exploitation, including work which, by its very nature or because of the conditions in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of the child. The Committee also notes that by repealing section IX of the Labour Code which relates to children in service, the Act has abolished section 341 which allowed a child, from the age of 12 onwards, to be entrusted to a family for the purposes of carrying out domestic work. The Act has also repealed the Labour Code provisions relating to the host family’s obligation to obtain a permit and comply with the conditions required by the IBESR. Henceforth, pursuant to section 3 of the Act, a child may be entrusted to a host family within the context of a relationship of assistance and solidarity. He or she must be treated as a member of the family and enjoy the same privileges and prerogatives as the other children in the family. Any report of an abused or ill-treated child is addressed to the Ministry of Social Affairs which may refer the matter to the competent judicial authority (section 4 of the Act).

The Government also states that it is not able to provide exhaustive data and that it will do its utmost to make up for this lack of information and documentation in its next report.

The Committee notes all this information. It is aware of the economic difficulties facing the country and notes the Government’s reaffirmed willingness to protect vulnerable children, particularly child domestic workers. The Committee hopes that the Government will, as it promised in its last report, be able to provide information on the concrete measures adopted to combat the exploitation of numerous children placed in families and on the National Protection Plan adopted in 2006. In this regard, the Committee would like the Government to communicate detailed information on the following points:

–      measures taken to assess the extent and the characteristics of the phenomenon. The Committee considers that the general term “restavek” covers a number of different situations and believes that the phenomenon of child domestic labour should be more accurately targeted in order to find effective solutions to the problem. The Committee would like the Government to provide information on the number of child domestic workers placed in host families, indicating their age and in particular the percentage of children who have not reached the minimum employment age and yet are employed as domestic workers;

–      measures taken to ensure that regular inspection visits are made to the host family. The Committee would like the Government to specify how, in practice, the authorities ensure that host families do not exploit the children entrusted to them (competent authorities, types of checks carried out, etc.);

–      measures taken to ensure that penalties are imposed in the event of the exploitation of child domestic workers. The Committee would like the Government to specify the extent to which the violations observed result in an investigation being carried out and the extent to which they are brought before the competent jurisdiction: labour courts or criminal courts depending on the gravity of the violation observed. The Committee notes that the abovementioned Act of 2003 does not provide for penalties against persons responsible for the abuse, ill treatment or inhuman treatment that it prohibits. In this regard, the Committee emphasizes that the penalties imposed for exacting forced labour must be of a dissuasive nature. It recalls that, under Article 25 of the Convention, the penalties imposed shall be really adequate and strictly enforced. The Committee would like the Government to indicate whether proceedings have been brought against persons who exploit child domestic workers and, if so, the penalties imposed. Furthermore, the Committee would like the Government to communicate information on the measures taken or envisaged to protect, help and reintegrate child victims of exploitation.

2. Trafficking in persons, including children. The Committee notes that the Act on the Prohibition and Elimination of All Forms of Abuse, Violence, Ill Treatment or Inhuman Treatment against Children of 2003 cites, among other examples of ill treatment, inhuman treatment or exploitation, the sale and trafficking of children and the offering, recruitment, transfer, harbouring, receipt or use of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, prostitution or pornography.

The Committee notes that, in its abovementioned concluding observations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is deeply concerned at the high incidence of trafficking in children from Haiti to the Dominican Republic. The UN Committee notes that these children, once separated from their families, are forced to beg or work in the Dominican Republic. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on this phenomenon and on the measures taken to combat it.

The Committee has also noted the report by the Research Mission of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) on the situation regarding people trafficking in Haiti (September 2006). This mission concluded that “the analysis of the quantitive and qualitative data shows a trend towards the systematization trafficking in persons in Haiti. This trend can be explained by the deterioration of the socio-economic and political situation in the country over recent years which precludes an effective response to the basic needs of the population and opens the way for an increase in all forms of human exploitation and unlawful economic activity”. The Committee would like the Government to provide information on the measures taken to combat the trafficking in persons to the Dominican Republic and other neighbouring countries, both at the legislative (adoption of a text incriminating trafficking in persons) and judicial (arrest and punishment of the guilty parties) levels and in terms of raising public awareness, in particular that of persons exposed to this risk.