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| Sunday, 12 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Childhood sacrificed Today is World Day Against Child Labour. And as all nations commemorate the day with appropriate statements about the importance of giving children the freedom to be children, Sri Lanka needs to re-draw its plans for the protection of children forced to give up their childhood due to overwhelming poverty, the conflict situation and the latest calamity, the tsunami that left many orphaned and destitute. by Ranga Jayasuriya
Nathan is a teenage employee at a retailer shop in the Manning Market. Clad in a dusty pair of shorts and a T shirt, the barefoot, boy says he is from Batticaloa. His features belies his age. Even though, he says he is sixteen years, he looks very much younger. He is evasive, when pressed with further questions. His friend, Kumar, is also from Batticaloa. Kumar ran into the shop as soon as Nathan introduced him. Nathan and his friend are two among the hundreds of children who have left their poverty stricken villages and come in search of employment to the Capital. These children are afraid to talk to any outsider. They just get about their business. The reluctance of these children to have a conversation with anyone, is because of their sense of insecurity. The small boys who are employed and their employers are well aware that child labour is illegal. The boys who are employed do not want to exchange this for anything else, because they are not sure what the future has in store for them. Aggressive awareness campaigns against child labour saw a dramatic decline in the number of children being employed as domestics and shop boys.
Increasing public awareness against child labour has indeed, had a positive impact- most employers are now aware that employing children under the age of 15 is illegal and punishable by law, which forces them to turn away a key source of cheap labour. According to the Census and Statistics Department, statistics in 1997, reveals that a total of 16,511 children in the 10-14 age group were employed. The group comprises 11,132 boys and 5,379 girls. The Sri Lankan country paper in 1999 of the International Labour Office, pointed out, that nearly 40,000 children in the same group were in employment, according to the statistics of the Labour Force Survey of 1998. As for tackling child labour, perhaps the most successful initiative is to campaign against the employment of children as domestics, an area that has been identified as the key sector for child employment. In a survey conducted in 1997, in some 700 urban households in the South, it has been revealed, that every household, out of twelve houses has employed an underage child as a domestic aide. It also pointed out that, one in every three domestic aides were underage children. (Prof. Harendra de Silva and others. UNICEF Report 1997) Recent statistics indicate, that this trend, which was once growing has been arrested through tough regulations and increasing public awareness against child labour. According to the Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority, Prof Harendra de Silva, the latest survey reveals, that the number of houses which employed under-age children has declined to one out of hundred or in some cases one out of two hundred. The progress is remarkable, but the tough regulations and public knowledge on the issue, alone cannot address the commercial exploitation of children. It is abject poverty in the country side, especially the least developed estate areas, that force children to leave families and come to the city to earn their livelihood. Forty per cent of children employed are Tamils of Indian origin and are from the Estate areas. Absence of employment opportunities, poor social infrastructure, high population growth, low income is a vicious circle which breeds child labour. Unless the regional inequality of development is addressed and affirmative actions are taken to empower the marginalised communities, poor villagers will continue to send their children out to earn and seek some form of employment. At the other end of the spectrum, there are at least 50,000 children, in the island affected by the conflict, according to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). The Army's Directorate of Military Intelligence estimates that at least 60 per cent of the LTTE's ranks are below the age of 18. "Even if, this is considered an exaggeration, the estimates of LTTE fighters killed in combat, reveal that at least 40 per cent of the fighting force consist of girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 18 a report prepared by the Army's Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, states. Save the Children, the international coalition against the exploitation of children, in its latest report, has identified a disturbing scenario of "a hidden army of girls". Some as young as eight, who are abducted against their will, to serve in the rebel armies ranging from Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, Maoists in Nepal, Chechens to most rebel movements in the Western and Sub Saharan Africa. The girls' role, vary from being actual combatants to serving as porters, cleaners, cooks and sometimes sex slaves and wives. An estimated one-third of all LTTE conscripts are females. The factors underpinning child combatants, to serve in a high risk place maybe varying from outright coercion from the rebel hierarchy, poverty, indoctrination and absence of parental protection. But, on most occasions, children have been abducted against their will and indoctrinated through a well coordinated program. The LTTE is a classic example of the hidden army of girls. At present, the Tigers have excelled the use of female cadres on the battle front, suicide operations, mortar and artillery units and VIP escorts. On face value, such achievements would sound great, given the fact that such a feat would be unprecedented in the backdrop of a conservative Tamil polity. The sordid truth, however, is that the vulnerability of the girl child, further aggravated by the unfolding war had been abused by the Tigers to fill their ranks, indoctrinate them and send them to the battle-front. Child soldiers, both boys and girls are used in all activities of armed combat except in leadership positions "They are at an age, where they are receptive to indoctrination, willing to engage in high risk operations, obedient and are eager to explore the use of weapons such as M-16, AK-47 and T-56 which are light in weight, easy to fire, maintain and require minimum training," states the report on the LTTE's child soldiers by the Army's Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. The history of the LTTE Baby Brigade, dates back to early 1984. In October 1987, the first major recruitment drive to attract children was launched to fight the then 100,000 strong Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Originally, the majority of child combatants between the ages of 10 to 16 years were from Batticaloa in the Eastern Province. However, since the split of the renegade Eastern commander, Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna - who disbanded his troops before he went underground, the LTTE is now dependent on the Wanni for new recruits. The LTTE has an unwritten law that every family should contribute at least one son or a daughter to the movement's cause. The families of child combatants are hailed as great hero families and receive special status wherever the LTTE is in control. They pay no ransoms, receive preferential status in job interviews and are also allocated special seats in all public functions organised by the LTTE in areas controlled by them. "A typical unit of child combatants is trained for four months in jungles. They receive short haircuts to ensure that deserters can be easily identified. Parents have no access to their children during training," says the report. The Tigers recently came under the criticism of the UNICEF for abducting tsunami orphans to their ranks. This has further increased the uncertainty of the future of tsunami ravaged children. Despite, the earlier promises by the LTTE leadership, the LTTE is still accused of continuing with child conscription. For a sense of security to dawn for the war battered children in the North-East, it will be paramount for the LTTE to give up its practice.
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But, still a sizeable group of children have been exploited in the lesser
developed neighbourhoods of Colombo. For instance shops in Slave Island, Sea
Street, Armour Street employ under-age boys and follow this practice.
Further complicating the problem, is an increasing number of under age
children coming from the war-ravaged North-East seeking employment in the
Capital and towns in the North-East. 
