RI must eliminate child labor: ILO

P.C. Naommy, Jakarta

Indonesian child domestic workers asked the government on Monday to give them a better future by providing access to education and protecting them from abuse and exploitation.

"The government should ensure our right to have time to rest, because it's impossible for us to work 24 hours a day," said Sherly, a housemaid under 18 years old.

Sherly addressed her plea to participants of a public hearing focusing on child domestic workers held by the International Labor Organization-International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) at the auditorium of the National Library to commemorate the World Day Against Child Labor which fell on June 12.

The latest survey conducted by the ILO in 2003 showed that there are 2.6 million domestic workers in Indonesia, 700,000 of them children under the age of 18. The number is the highest among developing countries, with Brazil recording 559,000, Pakistan 264,000, Haiti 250,000, Kenya 200,000 and Sri Lanka 100,000.

Deputy of child protection at the Office of the State Minister for Women's Empowerment Rahmat Santika said that the number was high due to lack of law enforcement in the country.

"A survey showed that 63.8 percent of Indonesian workers had fake identity cards made in order to get jobs. The high rate of fake IDs is possible because 26 percent of 90.2 million Indonesian children have no birth certificate," said Rahmat.

Director of the ILO Alan Boulton said that the government needed to prohibit the employment of children under the age of 15 as domestic workers. Indonesia currently has 200,000 child domestic workers under 15 years of age.

"It doesn't mean that they can't help out, but being in a full-time job will mean they have no opportunity to go to school, to play, and enjoy life," he said.

Working children of the ages 15 to 18 are also prone to sexual abuse, physical exploitation, and discrimination, so they will need extra protection, said Boulton.

ILO set up a pilot project for child domestic worker empowerment in Bekasi and Tangerang in 2002, with the help of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as the Children's Welfare Foundation (YKAI), Network for Child Labor (JARAK), and Rumpun Gema Perempuan.

In the pilot project, child domestic workers who obtain permission from their employers are able to develop their abilities and creativity in classes conducted by the NGOs.

The NGOs train the children to sew or make other saleable products, such as ornaments. Head of the research and development division at YKAI, Tata Sudrajat, said that the training sessions took place twice a week or effectively three hours a day.

ILO also supports one day off for children who work as domestic workers, and the policy may become an administrative regulation.

"We have asked their employers to provide one day off for the children, so they would have time to do other activities, such as play with their friends or just take a break," said Tata.

According to the survey, some 79.3 percent of employers agreed with the idea, and the rest said no, especially if the policy were to become a regulation.

Also attending the public hearing was vice presidential candidate Siswono Yudohusodho. During the discussion, Siswono said that if their situation was such that the children had to work, they should not be required to do heavy work.

He added that if he were elected he would advocate the establishment of a regulation requiring people who employed children as domestic workers to send them to school.