RI children facing deeper crisis<\/p>\n
By Reiner Simanjuntak<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia ratified the UN Convention on the
\nRights of the Child in 1990 but many still question the
\nimplementation of these rights in the country. The economic
\ncrisis is even more threatening to these rights. The Jakarta Post
\ninterviewed Arist Merdeka Sirait, a child rights activist with
\nthe Indonesian Committee for the Creative Education of Child
\nLabor Foundation, to share his views.<\/p>\n
Question: What's your assessment on the implementation of the
\nUN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Indonesia?<\/p>\n
Arist: It's very poor. Although the government has always been
\nmaking propaganda of its commitment on children's rights, the
\ntruth is that the four fundamental rights of children for
\neducation, protection, welfare and to grow and develop have never
\nreally been delivered.<\/p>\n
Although we have the National Education System Law, which
\nstipulates that every child is entitled to have at least a nine-
\nyear basic education level, the implementation is far from
\nsatisfying.<\/p>\n
Legally speaking, the rights of Indonesian children are weak;
\nIndonesia has no special law for child protection. And we also
\nhave no law on health. How can you provide protection and welfare
\nfor children when you don't have these basic laws? This is a
\nserious problem.<\/p>\n
President (B.J.) Habibie has instructed that Indonesian
\nchildren must continue to receive an education despite the
\ncurrent economic crisis by abolishing the enrollment fee. But
\nwithout any government regulation to support this, it would only
\nbe a mere appeal.<\/p>\n
From the political perspective, children's right to
\nparticipate in development is also very weak because it has never
\nbeen included in the country's five-year State Policy Guidelines.<\/p>\n
With such a condition, children have no place in the country's
\ndevelopment process.<\/p>\n
One example is that real estate developers have never put
\nchildren's playgrounds as a priority in designing their housing
\nprojects. This is against the UN Convention on the Rights of the
\nChild, which stipulates that playgrounds be given priority over
\nother facilities.<\/p>\n
It's so naive when the government keeps shouting that the
\nchildren are the nation's next generation while it has never
\ndelivered their rights. These all indicate that the children's
\nrights have never truly been appreciated.<\/p>\n
The poor realization of child rights in Indonesia was also the
\nresult of the government's economic policy, which has been biased
\ntoward large business groups by way of rampant nepotism,
\ncollusion and corruption. This has caused many poor families to
\nbecome even poorer, forcing their children to quit school and
\nwork either in the industrial sector or on the street. Child
\nexploitation in industry and on the street is very high.<\/p>\n
Q: Could you elaborate this?<\/p>\n
A: Sending children to work in factories is already considered as
\nexploitation because it's the adults who should be working there.
\nThis exploitation is strongly opposed by the convention.<\/p>\n
Children working in industry would suffer moral degradation
\nbecause they would get used to a cash economy.<\/p>\n
Their intelligence quality would also be eroded because
\nthey're instructed to perform the same duty every day. They would
\nlose creativity and initiative.<\/p>\n
In terms of IQ development, children working on the street are
\nmore creative because they're always demanded to create something
\nto make money with the very limited resources they have.<\/p>\n
Child labor, especially girls age 14 years to 15 years, is
\nalso vulnerable to sexual harassment because they're usually
\nworking till late in the evening. And most child laborers are
\ngirls.<\/p>\n
Q: Why?<\/p>\n
A: Most families tend to prioritize the education budget for the
\nboys and send the girls out to work. Girls are second-class
\nfamily members, including when it comes to food rationing. It's a
\ncultural thing. The industry also prefers the girls because
\nthey're considered more accurate (in working) compared to boys,
\nwho are more careless.<\/p>\n
Q: Why are children working in industry?<\/p>\n
A: The economic factor is the primary reason for families in
\nsending their children to factories to get additional cash to
\nsustain their daily livelihood.<\/p>\n
These industries prefer employing children because they don't
\njoin labor unions, don't need health insurance, are less
\ndemanding and can be paid lower wage but are able to perform the
\nwork of adults with the same working hours.<\/p>\n
The daily wage of a child working eight hours to 12 hours is
\nbetween Rp 3,000 to Rp 4,000, compared to more than Rp 5,000 for
\nan adult worker. A company employing 200 children would surely
\nbenefit from this.<\/p>\n
Government supervision on this issue is very weak, and it
\nkeeps saying that, administratively, there is no child labor in
\nthe industrial sector because all of the workers are over 18.<\/p>\n
This is because many child laborers have been forced by
\nworkplaces to fake their age when they submit their application
\nletters. They do this by bribing the local administration
\nofficials for a letter of recommendation. In our frequent
\ninformal gatherings with working children, they unanimously
\nclaimed that they're 18 although physically they look much
\nyounger.<\/p>\n
If the government doesn't admit this fact, don't expect a
\nspecial law for child protection to be issued. Sending children
\nto work is another form of modern slavery.<\/p>\n
Q: What's the impact of the current crisis on children?<\/p>\n
A: The economic crisis will send more children to the industrial
\nsector, the streets and into prostitution. Our estimation is that
\nthe number of working children, including in prostitution, has
\nsoared to 5.1 million since July, 1997, when the crisis started.
\nThis is a huge increase compared to 2.1 million in 1996,
\naccording to the Central Statistics Bureau.<\/p>\n
Sending children to work is the easiest alternative for
\nparents who have been out of work due the crisis. Many factories
\nare now downsizing or even closing their operations.<\/p>\n
Our findings show that many of the children now working have
\nparents who had previously worked in the construction sector,
\nwhich is the most badly hit by the economic downturn.<\/p>\n
Since these unemployed adults are already in the age bracket
\nof 40 years to 50 years, industries do not accept them to work at
\nthe plants. Instead, the industries prefer their young children,
\nwho can be paid lower wages.<\/p>\n
Many industries are now also in a very difficult situation.
\nThere is a trend now in that industries are displacing their
\nadult workers to be replaced with children as a cost-saving
\nmeasure. This includes exporters like textile, garment and
\nshoemakers which are now creating smaller home industries
\nemploying children.<\/p>\n
The number of street children is also increasing. What's
\nworrying is that more children are being sent into prostitution
\nbecause it's the only way for those who are unable to get formal
\njobs in the industrial sector. We anticipate that there will be
\nmany children sent to tourism destinations to become prostitutes.
\nThis includes young boys.<\/p>\n
It doesn't look worrying at the moment because the tourism
\nindustry has also dropped due to the current political
\ninstability. So we're grateful for this. But once tourism starts
\nto grow again, the problem will become severe.<\/p>\n
Q: How should the government anticipate this?<\/p>\n
A: In the very short term, the government must provide a crash
\nprogram to help the economy of the poor because it's the economic
\nfactor which is primarily causing children to work.<\/p>\n
The government must also be active in promoting child rights,
\nincluding pushing children back to school. Both formal and
\ninformal education is an effective tool in reducing child
\nexploitation.<\/p>\n
The government should also be more cooperative with non-
\ngovernment organizations (NGOs) by providing them with more space
\nin advocating for child rights. Don't treat us like the enemy.<\/p>\n
The control from the NGOs is not meant to lower the dignity of
\nthe bureaucracy. The government should be grateful that there is
\na control mechanism provided by the NGOs. A bureaucracy without
\noutside control would only lead to its destruction.<\/p>\n
The government must also stop plans to enact the 1997 Labor
\nLaw. Clause 95 stipulates that businesses are not allowed to
\nemploy children, but clause 96 says that children who \"must\" work
\nare allowed only for four hours a day.<\/p>\n
To me, a law product which has contradictory clauses cannot be
\naccepted. Also, the new law doesn't provide real protection for
\nlaborers. So how can the law protect child laborers?<\/p>",
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