U.S. senators worried over domestic child labor
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fifteen U.S. senators from the Republican and Democrat Parties have written to Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris this week, conveying their concerns over child domestic labor in Indonesia.
In the letter made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, the senators urged the government to immediately enforce the Child Protection Law and the 2003 Ministerial Decree, which sets the minimum working age at 15 and prohibits children under the age of 18 from performing hazardous work.
"Additionally, we are pleased to learn that you are considering drafting new national legislation to address the plight of child domestic workers," the senators wrote.
They cited this year's report of Human Rights Watch, an international organization, which among others revealed how girls as young as 12 were made to work seven days a week, 14 to 18 hours a day. The HRW report said the child domestics work "in virtual slavery." A report in 2002 by the International Labor Organization said there were 680,000 children working as domestic workers.
"Many girls were subjected to sexual, physical or psychological abuse. Some children described being denied food, being beaten, and instances of sexual assault, including rape by male employers," the letter said, quoting the reports.
They also cited the U.S. State Department's annual "Trafficking in Persons Reports" which notes the "extensive internal trafficking within Indonesia, primarily from rural to urban areas for involuntary domestic servitude. Children are often lured into labor through deceptive promises of decent wages, good working conditions, and the opportunity to attend school, the senators added.
The senators commended the government for establishing a National Action Plan to implement ILO Convention 182, "On the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor," which Indonesia ratified in March 2000.
They wrote they were "confident" that Minister Fahmi would "be able to use your position of leadership to bring about concrete improvements to the lives of exploited child domestic workers."
The senators were Tom Harkin, Mike DeWine and Charles Schumer; Tom Coburn, Mark Dayton and Rick Santorum; Elizabeth Dole and Richard Durbin. Others were Christopher Dodd, Jon Corzine, Maria Cantwell, Mary Landrieu, Daniel Akaka and Tim Johnson and Jeff Bingaman.
Activists have pointed out that child domestics are particularly vulnerable since even adult domestics, mostly women from poor rural families, are considered part of the informal sector and are as yet not regulated.
The senators said they welcomed the Minister's consideration of drafting new legislation to address the plight of child domestic workers.