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From:   Child Labour News Service [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
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Subject:        Child Labour News Service Release - January 1, 2001

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** WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR **
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CHILD LABOUR NEWS SERVICE

1 January 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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** INDIA MARCH TO PRESS FOR EDUCATION AS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

** EU: COMMISSION PROPOSES ACTION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN
BEING

** US GOES STRICT VS OUTFITS OPERATING IN SWEATSHOPS

** AMISH IN BATTLE TO KEEP CHILD LABOUR

** NEWS-IN-BRIEF
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INDIA MARCH TO PRESS FOR EDUCATION AS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

New Delhi: India will soon witness the National Movement in the
form of 'Shiksha Yatra' (Education March) organised by the South
Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS). This will be the
first march of its kind on an issue like education in history
of the country.

The main objective of Siksha Yatra is to ensure immediate passage
and implementation of the long due 83rd constitutional amendment
bill guaranteeing free, compulsory and meaningful education for
all children, especially girls, up to the age of 14 years.

In addition, the march will lobby for reducing the military expenditure
at national and international levels and imposition of special
education tax on foreign investors, multinational corporations
and local private investors.

The four legs of 'Shiksha Yatra' will cover a distance of 12,000
kilometres, moving through 20 states and 150 districts and reaching
out to over one million people.

The first leg will kick off from Kerala on January 21, 2001.
The others will start from Calcutta (West Bengal), Sabarmati
(Gujrat) and Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) on January 31, February
22 and March 8 respectively.

All the four legs, consisting of hundreds of core marchers and
several thousand supporters, will culminate in New Delhi on March
25, 2001.

Non governmental organisations, teachers associations, students
unions, trade unions, parliamentarians, panchayats, National
Cadet Corpse, National Service Schemes and Nehru Yuvak Kendras
in large numbers are supporting the march.

Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson SACCS, called it the second freedom
struggle to break the chains of illiteracy. "Education should
not be considered a charity but a basic fundamental right. It
is the only key to break the vicious circle of poverty, unemployment,
illiteracy and child labour" he opined.

"Where, on the one hand, India is known for its nuclear technology
and advancements in the field of information technology, on the
other, it has the dubious distinction of having over 120 million
children out of school and 320 million illiterates, 62% being
women" Satyarthi added.

Mr. Satyarthi has the unique distinction of leading several marches
against child labour, including the 80,000 kilometre long Global
March Against Child Labour, the single largest social mobilisation
around the world.

Creation of an 'Education Army' to provide education to the needy
is yet another unique feature of the march. It strives to tap
the spirit of volunteerism and during the course of the march
will enrol over 100,000 volunteers. The 'Education Army' is expected
to educate over 50 million children during the next five years.

# # #
(For further information please contact: RS Chaurasia, General
Secretary, SACCS; Tel.: (91 11) 622 4899, 647 5481; Fax: (91
11) 623 6818; Email: [log in to unmask])

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EU: COMMISSION PROPOSES ACTION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEING

The Commission proposed a package of measures to combat trafficking
in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children, as requested
by European leaders at the Tampere summit.

It sets out elements for a comprehensive strategy to tackle these
appalling and growing menaces.

These framework decisions will provide emphatic legal protection
for children as well as persons being trafficked into and within
the European Union for exploitative purposes.

Announcing the proposals, Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner
Antonio Vitorino said 'the decisions are an important step towards
eradicating from Europe the unscrupulous practices of trafficking
in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children. Because
of their very nature these problems recognise no national boundaries.
They infect the whole of Europe, and only a European solution
can effectively combat them.'

 It is estimated that between 700.000 to 2 million women and
girls each year are subjected to trafficking worldwide. In the
EU alone, this figure is estimated at 500,000.

Both decisions aim to develop effective co-operation across the
European Union in judicial procedures and law enforcement. The
Commission believes that common definitions and sanctions will
make an important contribution to achieving this objective.

The proposed measures to tackle trafficking in human beings include
common definitions of two criminal offences - trafficking in
human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation; and trafficking
in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation. The definitions
of both offences reflect the United Nations protocol 'To Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women
and Children', recently signed by the Commission at the Palermo
High-level Conference for the UN Convention against Transnational
Organised crime.

The Proposals to fight the sexual exploitation of children and
child pornography include common definitions of three criminal
offences - child prostitution, sexual exploitation of children
and child pornography (including child pornography on the Internet).

Both proposals provide common sanctions, which are effective,
proportionate and dissuasive, including by terms of imprisonment.

They also provide for an enhanced co-operation between Member
States.

Due to the international nature of the offences addressed by
these proposals, it is particularly important that Member States
establish jurisdiction and ensure prosecution when a person is
suspected of having committed an offence in a country other than
his own. This is particularly vital in order to effectively combat
child sex tourism.

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(From the files of Reuters News Service)

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US GOES STRICT VS OUTFITS OPERATING IN SWEATSHOPS

New York: Attacking the use of forced child labour, the U.S.
Customs Service has ordered that all men's and girl's clothing
manufactured by a Chinese-owned company in Mongolia, Dong Fang
International, be stopped at the US border.

A law passed in October 1999 and sponsored by anti-child labour
advocate Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) adds products made by children
under 14 to an existing ban on imports made by forced, convict
or indentured labour.

The factory is also being investigated for not paying overtime,
providing poor working conditions and requiring workers to work
14-hour shifts every day.

The action comes amid increasing scrutiny of sweatshop factories
abroad. During the prolonged debate about granting permanent-trading
rights to China earlier this year, the Clinton administration
promised to step up scrutiny of labour practices there to guard
against imports of goods made under oppressive conditions.

According to Customs, Dong Fang ships about $1.5 million in apparel
to the U.S. a year, about 90 percent of which is sold directly
to U.S. wholesalers under the Wuxi Guang Ming Overseas Fashion
Ltd. and High Fashions Overseas Ltd. names. The rest of its business
is with U.S. labels, principally with Guess and Phillips Van
Heusen, Customs said.

The only other import case brought under the Harkin law involved
hand-rolled beedis (cigarettes) from India.

The spokesman said the Dong Fang investigation should be completed
within a month. If the allegations aren't borne out, then the
import ban will be lifted.

A Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. spokesman said the company for six
months this year produced goods at the Dong Fang factory and
had not seen any signs of underage labourers or forced overtime.
He said the company in late 1999 reviewed the factory's workers
and human rights conditions and found some "problems that did
not include any evidence of underage workers, forced overtime
or anything of the sort."

The problems were rectified, PVH said, and the company began
producing some goods at the factory in March, but ceased to work
with the factory in August. It is not known why the company terminated
its relationship with the factory.

The company's Web site spells out detailed labour policies, which
include not using contractors who rely on child labour or forced
labour.

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(From the files of Associated Press)

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AMISH IN BATTLE TO KEEP CHILD LABOUR

The Amish, the Christian sect in Pennsylvania who ride around
in horse-drawn buggies and shun electricity, are fighting to
have their teenagers exempted from federal child-labour legislation
because they say it prevents them from instilling a strong work
ethic in their youth.

The Amish have begun a campaign to preserve their centuries-old
practice of putting their children to work in their early teens
after the Government fined workshops for employing under-age
labour.

At a meeting with lawmakers, one Amish man complained that he
was fined $8,000 (Pounds 5,300) because his 13-year-old daughter
was working at the cash register in his shop.

The sect, which arrived in America in about 1720, argues that
the federal law prohibiting children under 16 from working violates
its religious tradition of making youngsters learn by apprenticeship.

Since the Amish were originally an agrarian community, the law
did not create problems for many years because farms are exempt.
But with the growing costs of farming in the last decade, many
families have turned to woodworking and other small trades where
the legislation does apply.

Federal labour laws prohibit children younger than 16 from working
in manufacturing operations and children younger than 18 from
working in other hazardous occupations.

Joseph Pitts, the local Republican Congressman, has twice passed
legislation through the House of Representatives to allow Amish
youth to work in limited circumstances, but it has foundered
in the Senate.

"We do not want children running dangerous machinery," Mr Pitts
said. "This is about allowing youth to complete their classroom
education...and to continue their education as their fathers
did - as trade apprentices."

Legislation proposed by Pitts would let teenagers work in those
settings but would also require additional anti-noise and safety
features, including barriers to protect against flying debris.

Critics say the proposed child- labour exemption would still
put children in harm's way, with the Labour Department noting
that deaths and injuries at sawmills are as much as four times
the national average.

"While we respect deeply the culture and religious tradition
of the Amish and similar communities, we can't support a bill
that exposes young workers to serious hazards in the workplace,"
said John Fraser, a department official specialising in child-labour
laws.

"Whether you're Amish or 11 foot tall or green, if you are under
16 years, you can't work in a sawmill when there's a forklift
running around, " he added.

# # #
(U.S. Department of Labour: www.dol.gov)

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NEWS-IN-BRIEF

-- NATIONS SIGN ORGANISED CRIME CONVENTION AS CONFERENCE ENDS
In Palermo, Italy, 124 of the Organisation's 189 Member States
signed the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised
Crime. 80 of them also signed the treaty's two accompanying protocols
including the one to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking
in persons, especially women and children. Adopted by the UN
General Assembly on 15 November, the Convention will enter into
force after 40 countries have ratified it. UN Under-Secretary-General,
Pino Arlacchi, offered UN support to countries that needed help
in translating the new instruments into legislation.  Worldwide,
crime gangs make $7 billion from trafficking in humans, according
to UN estimates.

-- STABILITY PACT COUNTRIES SIGN "ANTI TRAFFICKING DECLARATION"
To step up the fight against trafficking in human beings in the
region, Government Ministers from the countries of the Stability
Pact for South Eastern Europe signed an Anti-Trafficking Declaration.
The Ministers agreed to nominate high-level co-ordinators for
co-ordinating national and regional activities, exchanging information
at a regional level, and follow up on decisions. Ministers from
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey,
the federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and representatives from
Kosovo and Montenegro signed the Declaration.

-- LABOUR VIOLATIONS ALLEGED AT ARBY'S
In a Federal lawsuit, the US Department of Labour has alleged
that Hank Aaron Enterprises Inc. repeatedly used illegal "oppressive
child labour" at its area Arby's restaurants. The firm is said
to improperly employ minors, 14 to 18 years of age, for hours
and periods not allowed by law and in hazardous occupations such
as operating power driven meat-processing machines in contravention
with the law. The firm was founded by former Braves and Brewers
baseball star Henry Aaron. The Department has assessed nine civil
penalties totalling $57,000 against the firm for allegedly employing
48 minors in violation of child labour provisions of law.

-- SUPERVALU, CUB STORES FINED FOR CHILD LABOUR VIOLATIONS
The US Department of Labour fined Supervalu Holdings Inc. and
its Cub Foods unit $97,900 for violating federal child labour
regulations at nine Cub stores in Minnesota.  According to the
Labour Department, 76 minors were illegally employed at stores
in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Cottage Grove, Crystal,
Eagan, Maple Grove, Plymouth and Rochester. The violations include
hour and time standards that restrict when and how much time
minors can work, underage employment and operation of power machinery,
including a paper compactor and a forklift.  The Labour Department
also fined a Columbia Heights McDonalds $31,100 for similar child
labour violations.

-- GROCERY STORE CHAIN PAYS OVER $41,000 FOR CHILD LABOUR VIOLATION
The US Department of Labour fined a Houston-based grocery store
chain $41,400 for allegedly violating child labour provisions
of the Fair Labour Standards Act. Gerland's Food Fair Inc., which
operates 16 stores in the Houston area, allowed 92 14- and 15-
year-olds to work more than 18 hours during a school week. Also,
the chain was found to have made illegal deductions that resulted
in their employees receiving less than the minimum wage for all
the hours they worked. A total of $37,738 in back wages was found
due to 320 employees. Gerland's has paid the fine and restored
the back wages to the employees.

-- IPEC FUNDING GETS BOOST FROM US
Before the 106th Congress adjourned, members approved a FY2001
spending bill for the Department of Labour that includes $45
million to fund programs under the ILO's International Program
on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). This is a 50% increase
over the previous year's appropriation. President Clinton noted
that "one of the relatively little noticed, but profoundly important
initiatives that this administration has undertaken is to try
to eliminate abusive child labour in the United States and everywhere
it exists in the world."

-- NEPAL JOINS CRACKDOWN ON CHILD TRAFFICKING
ILO-IPEC has launched a two-year programme to eliminate child
trafficking in Nepal. This is a part of an Asia-wide scheme already
adopted by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India and Pakistan are expected
to join shortly. ILO estimates nearly 1.7 million child labourers
in Nepal, with almost 250,000 working at risk. Many are bought
and sold as part of an international trade in child labour. Working
closely with the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare,
the scheme will target over 2,000 families and provide immediate
aid to some 400 children rescued from highly exploitative situations.
It will also look at ways to prevent child trafficking both within
and outside Nepal

-- GUATEMALA HAS HIGHEST RATE IN AMERICAS
More than a third of Guatemalan children work, the highest rate
in the Americas, according to a report released by the UN Verification
Mission in Guatemala. Between 1998 and 1999, 34.1% of children
aged 7 to 14 were working, compared to 28.6% in 1994. Most worked
as farmhands, construction workers, street vendors, maids or
in manufacturing. As a result of this widespread incidence of
child labour, 37.5% of workers aged 7 to 14 lacked proper schooling.

-- HARKIN SECURES FUNDING FOR CHILD LABOUR RESEARCH
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin has arranged for the University of Iowa
to get $900,000 this year to research abusive and exploitative
child labour in the global economy. University's Centre for Human
Rights will research on where and why children are forced to
work and what can be done to stop the practice. In addition,
Department of Labour has been allocated $1 million to support
projects that will promote student and faculty involvement in
the effort to end sweatshops around the world.

-- GIRLS OF SIX BROUGHT TO UK AS PROSTITUTES
Children as young as six are being smuggled into Britain to work
as slaves in a disturbing new growth area of the sex industry.
Children from developing countries are being sold by their families
and smuggled into the UK on planes and ferries. Bewildered and
unable to speak English, girls had been kept prisoners in brothels
and forced to have sex with businessmen. Although rumours have
been circulating for some time about the trend, police have been
unable to find evidence because the children are constantly supervised.

-- NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN SUDANESE CONFLICT ON THE RISE
Observers in Sudan warn that fighting in the country may increase
as the dry season begins and as the government continues to exploit
oil reserves in the south. If the fighting increases, so will
the number of children involved in the fighting. The Sudan People's
Liberation Army signed an agreement to demobilise child soldiers,
yet some worry that the mentality of war may be permanently imbedded
into the minds of the children. Unicef is working to help demobilise
Sudanese child soldiers, providing education and returning children
to their homes.

-- COLOMBIAN AUTHORITIES TO RESCUE WAR CHILDREN
Colombia is set to launch a campaign to rescue more than 6,000
children held by armed groups in the country. In co-operation
with Unicef and the Colombian Red Cross, the campaign will work
to return children to their home regions. Rebels and paramilitary
groups are accused of using children as soldiers. Reports have
also documented that most of the casualties in recent battles
between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia were children. The combined effort will also work to
accelerate fulfilment of government commitments made under the
auspices of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

-- UNICEF URGES REBELS, GOVERNMENT TO DEMILITARISE SCHOOLS
Unicef has appealed to the Sri Lankan government and the separatist
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, (LTTE), to declare schools
in Sri Lanka "zones of peace." Unicef urged the LTTE to stop
using schools as child solider recruitment centres in Sri Lanka's
northern Jaffna peninsula and Wanni region. Two years ago, the
LTTE promised the United Nations it would cease military recruitment
of children, but the Sri Lankan government charges that child
recruitment has continued. The fear of forced recruitment has
caused sharp increases in school dropout rates in the rebel-administered
northern Wanni region.

-- IPEC TO RESCUE 7,500 EMPLOYED CHILDREN
About 7,500 boys and girls working as child labour in five African
countries will soon be rescued and benefit from access to education,
vocational training as well as health service under the ILO's
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour. Countries
expected to benefit under the program are Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda,
Zambia and Malawi. The program would cost US$ 4.75 million and
could take three years. The US Department of Labour will donate
the fund. In addition, at least 15,000 children will be prevented
from prematurely joining the labour force,

-- 5,800 CHILDREN LIVE ON STREETS IN GREECESome 5,800 children
in Greece live on the streets and are forced to work by exploitative
adults who earn more than $2.6 million per month from their labour,
a Unicef report revealed. Unicef's investigation showed that
61% of the children are boys, and 10% are under the age of 5.
The "traffic light children," as they are called, stand on road
crossings and clean windshields or sell packs of tissues and
flowers to drivers. Unicef also found that 44.1% are Greek, while
the others are immigrants or refugees.

-- NETHERLANDS GRANTS $1.2 MILLION FOR CHILD PROTECTION
The Netherlands announced a $1.2 million grant for child protection
programs in Indonesia through Unicef. "This initiative is a key
activity in the fight for the rights of children in Indonesia,"
said Netherlands Ambassador Baron Schelto van Heemstra. Street
children and child workers must be given the opportunity to attend
school, van Heemstra said. Six million Indonesian children ages
7 to 15 dropped out of school following the 1997 economic crisis.
Some 70,000 of them, mostly girls, were pushed into prostitution,
according to Unicef. The grant allows the creation of child protection
bodies in several cities, provides funding for programs to assist
children and enables Unicef to organise a publicity campaign
to inform children of their rights and where to seek help

-- EDUCATION PROGRAM LAUNCHED TO COMBAT CHILD LABOUR IN INDONESIA
The Ministry of National Education and the ILO launched a program
titled "Integrated Approach of Non-Formal Education to Combat
Child Labour" to provide 19.2 million children with improved
basic education. The ministry data from 1994-1999 shows that
at least 11.7 million of the country's children are not yet completely
provided with education, formal or non-formal, with many of them
ending up in the work force. ILO estimates around six million
children, aged between seven and 15 years, in the labour force.
The objective of the project is to make non-formal education
system more suited to the needs of the working children. The
program will first start in the three provinces of West Java,
East Java and South Sulawesi.

 -- NORWAY TO ADVANCE GIRL'S EDUCATION IN AFRICA
Norway has donated $21.2 million to Unicef to support education
programmes for girls in Africa. Norway is the largest per capita
donor to Unicef. The donation is targeted at expanding access
to education, strengthening education systems, promoting advocacy
and social mobilisation, improving the quality of education and
promoting partnerships between civil society, government ministries
and the private sector.  Of the 625 million children of grade-school
age worldwide, 110 million are not attending school. Almost two-thirds
of these children are girls. The Government of Norway is the
largest donor to Unicef's multi-country programme on child labour.
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For comments or any further information please contact:

Upasana Choudhry
Editor, Child Labour News Service
c/o Global March Against Child Labour
L-6 Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019, INDIA
Tel     : (91 11) 622 4899, 647 5481
Fax     : (91 11) 623 6818
Email   : [log in to unmask];  [log in to unmask]
Website: http://www.globalmarch.org/

"A child in danger is a child that cannot wait" - Kofi Annan

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