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Viewing cable 09COLOMBO424, SRI LANKA: INFORMATION ON FORCED LABOR AND EXPLOITATIVE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09COLOMBO424 2009-04-16 11:27 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Colombo
VZCZCXRO1375
OO RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0424/01 1061127
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 161127Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9804
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3417
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2913
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1559
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 8550
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 6787
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 9192
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000424 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS AND DRL/ILCSR FOR MARK MITTLEHAUSER 
STATE FOR G/TIP STEVE STEINER 
DOL/ILAB FOR LEYLA STROTKAMP 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: INFORMATION ON FORCED LABOR AND EXPLOITATIVE 
CHILD LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS FOR MANDATORY CONGRESSIONAL 
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
REF: (a) STATE 21472 
(b) COLOMBO 63 
 
1.  (U) Summary: Post is not aware of forced labor in the production 
of goods in Sri Lanka.  Exploitative child labor may exist in the 
brick industry.  Children working in the fireworks industry work at 
home and are engaged in non-hazardous forms of work.  End Summary. 
 
------------ 
Forced Labor 
------------ 
 
2. (U) Forced Labor:  Post is not aware of forced labor or forced 
child labor in the production of goods in Sri Lanka. 
 
------------------------ 
Exploitative child labor 
------------------------ 
 
3.  (SBU) Good:  Bricks 
 
-(Note:  The SBU classification on this paragraph relates only to 
discussion of the unreleased list of hazardous forms of child labor. 
End note.) 
 
-Type of exploitation found in the production of good:  hazardous 
form of child labor with children being exposed to dust, lifting of 
heavy weights, and kiln work. 
 
-Sources of information:  Report on Child Labor in Agriculture 
Sector (ROCLA), implemented by Social Policy Analysis & Research 
Center, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka for ILO-IPEC (March 2008), 
as well as field researchers who conducted this study. 
 
-Brick manufacturing is listed as a hazardous form of child labor in 
the "list of hazardous forms of child labor" adopted by the National 
Labor Advisory Council; this list, created in 2004, has not been 
officially released.  The list identifies ergonomic problems, 
exposure to dust, and accidents as hazards in brick making and 
recommends conditional prohibition of child labor in the industry. 
 
 
-ROCLA reports that children employed in brick making were exposed 
to dust.  The report does not provide further information regarding 
children in the brick industry.  According to a member of the 
research team, in the surveyed areas, the brick industry is a 
family-based, non-formal industry.  The entire family tends to be 
involved in the industry.  They observed children carrying heavy 
loads and working in kilns, in addition to being exposed to dust. 
 
 
-Incidence:  ROCLA covered three agricultural districts in Sri Lanka 
and reported few incidences of children below 18 years being 
employed in brick making.  In the two districts of Monaragala and 
Polonnaruwa, where the report is based on a limited sample survey, 
only 18 child laborers (in all industries) were found in a randomly 
selected sample of 600 households, or a child labor incidence of 3%. 
 The survery found no children working in the brick industry in 
Monaragala district.  In Polonnaruwa district only 6.7% of the 
working children were engaged in brick making.  There was no sample 
survey in Ampara district. 
 
-ROCLA did not do an in-depth study of children in the brick 
industry.  Post is not aware of recent studies on child labor in the 
brick industry. 
 
4. (U) Good: Fireworks 
 
-Type of exploitation found in the production of good:  possible 
exposure to gun powder and chemicals. 
 
-Sources of information: Situation Report on Child Labor (Fireworks) 
implemented by the Social Policy Analysis & Research Center, 
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka for ILO-IPEC (2008) and field 
researchers of this study. 
 
 
COLOMBO 00000424  002 OF 002 
 
 
-Employment of children in the fireworks industry is categorized as 
a hazardous form of child labor in the "list of hazardous forms of 
child labor" adopted by the National Labor Advisory Council, which 
has not been officially released.  Fire and explosion risk and 
exposure to chemicals are categorized as hazards in the industry. 
 
-The Situation Report on Child Labor (Fireworks) implemented by the 
Social Policy Analysis & Research Center, University of Colombo, Sri 
Lanka for ILO-IPEC (2008), which covered child labor in the 
fireworks industry in two of the three districts where the fireworks 
industry is concentrated, did not find hazardous forms of child 
labor in the industry.  The study was based on a household survey 
and case studies.  Activities that are not considered risky, such as 
preparation of paper or cardboard cases for firecrackers, are done 
at the household level.  Hazardous work such as filling the 
firecracker cases with gun powder is done at factories.  There were 
no reports of employment of children at fireworks factories. 
 
-However, the study reports that during festive seasons employers 
put up temporary work stations or "cracker huts" and encourage 
children to work in these huts.  While the report does not elaborate 
on the kind of work done in cracker huts, a member of the research 
team said they believe that the entire process of firecracker 
production is done in cracker huts, including filling cardboard with 
gun powder and chemicals.  As such, children who go to work in 
cracker huts face the risk of exposure to various hazards.  The 
research team was not allowed inside cracker huts. 
 
-Incidence:  The study on child labor in the fireworks industry was 
done in two of the three districts where the fireworks industry is 
concentrated.  The industry is limited to certain villages in these 
districts; the surveys were done in those villages.  The survey 
found a total of 29 children employed in the fireworks industry out 
of a total of 185 children aged 5-17 living in the surveyed 
households.  Out of these 29 children, 24 were students and hence 
classified as part-time employees.  All the 29 children were working 
at home. 
 
-The research team noted that a survey of firework factories would 
have been better to study the issue of child labor in the firework 
industry. 
 
5. (U) Host government efforts to combat exploitative child labor: 
The government of Sri Lanka's National Labor Advisory Council has 
adopted a list of hazardous forms of child labor.  The government is 
in the process of restricting or prohibiting child labor in the 
selected industries.   For further details please see ref (b). 
 
6. (U) Post has e-mailed copies of the following reports to Charita 
Castro and Leyla Strotkap: 
- Report on Child Labor in Agriculture Sector (ROCLA), implemented 
by Social Policy Analysis & Research Center, University of Colombo, 
Sri Lanka for ILO-IPEC (March 2008) 
- Situation Report on Child Labor (Fireworks) implemented by the 
Social Policy Analysis & Research Center, University of Colombo, Sri 
Lanka for ILO-IPEC 
- List of hazardous forms of child labor adopted by the National 
Labor Advisory Council. 
 
BLAKE