Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 1997, Publicación: 86ª reunión CIT (1998)

The Committee notes the Government's 1996 report, which was received too late to be examined at its previous session. It also notes other available information relating to the implementation of the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), with which the Government has been working for several years and with which it has recently renewed its Memorandum of Understanding.

The Committee's previous comments have focused on the problems of the exploitation of forced child labour, in the form of child pornography and prostitution, as well as in factories, sweatshops and other workplaces. They have discussed the attendant problems of labour inspection, enforcement of criminal and labour legislation, and the adequacy of sanctions applied against employers for infringement of the legislation, as well as the need for an expanded educational system. The Committee has repeatedly emphasized that forced child labour is one of the worst forms of forced labour, and that it must be fought energetically and punished severely. It has stressed the importance of concrete and effective action to deal with this problem, which is of very large proportion in Thailand.

Legislation and policy

The Committee notes with interest the positive steps taken by the Government, some of them in cooperation with IPEC and with other international institutions, to adopt legislation and to put into place a coherent national policy framework for dealing with the question. While few concrete results are yet visible, it encourages the Government to continue along this path and to take effective action to implement the policies it adopts. A number of questions arise from the information available.

The Committee welcomes the adoption in late 1996, after the report was received, of the Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act. This Act stipulates punishment for those who procure or deceive a person to commit prostitution inside or outside the Kingdom with more severe penalties when the offence concerns persons under 15 years, or over the age of 15 but not over the age of 18 years (section 9). Parents or guardians who know or should have known that their ward is procured for prostitution are subject to penalties (section 10), and measures are provided to revoke guardianship for anyone who conspires to make a young person subject to prostitution (section 13). The Committee notes that a Committee for Protection and Vocational Development is to be set up at the central and provincial levels to enforce the Act, and that this Committee has taken various steps to coordinate various agencies including the police, prosecutors, courts and public welfare officials. The Government has also taken steps to make this legislation known to the public.

The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the practical steps taken to apply each of the provisions of this legislation (as this clearly involves forced prostitution of children), and to indicate the concrete results achieved including the number of prosecutions and the sanctions imposed.

The Committee notes that the Government has also provided information concerning the proposed Labour Protection Bill which would raise the general age of admission to employment or work beyond the present 13 years. Noting that this Bill has not yet been adopted, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate in its next report what progress has been made in this connection.

The Committee also notes that the Eighth National Economic and Social Development Plan of Thailand (1997-2001) covers the situation of children in especially difficult circumstances and mentions 12 indicators of development and improvement. These include several points relevant to the Convention, including the need to increase penalties on those abusing child labour.

Enforcement of laws

(a) Inspection.The Committee has noted frequently the need for the labour inspectorate and the police to enforce legislation against compulsory child labour. It notes that IPEC has been providing assistance for the training of labour inspectors and police officers as concerns forced child labour. According to the information in the report, during 1995 inspections were carried out in 49,623 of the total 291,931 enterprises in the country, of which 373 were found guilty of employing child labour. This covered 2,264,364 persons, of whom 12 were below 13 years old, 1,322 were between 13 and 15 years, and 5,252 were between 15 and 18 years old. This shows an increase of some 14,000 inspections over the previous period, but a decrease of 95 per cent of the number of children under 13 years discovered working compared with the previous period.

The Government has not provided the information requested by the Committee in its previous observation on the kinds of establishments inspected. There is still no indication of the number and kinds of cases handled by the police (who can deal with cases outside the legal mandate of the labour inspectorate), and the Government restricts itself in this regard to noting that the Crime Suppression Division has established a Coordinating Centre for the Prevention and Suppression of Child Prostitution and Child Labour. The Committee requests the Government to supply this information in its next report. It must also point out that all available information indicates that the amount of forced child labour in undertakings subject either to labour inspection or to police action remains very large, and asks the Government to indicate the measures it may have taken to target those undertakings where forced child labour is most likely to appear.

The Committee recalls that it had suggested in earlier comments that the Government consider assigning women police officers to investigations involving women and children. It welcomes the statement in the report that this has now been done under Police Department Order No. 514/2537 of 13 May 1994.

(b) Prosecution.The Committee has previously expressed serious concern about the lack of information on prosecutions, convictions and sanctions related to child labour. In its report the Government indicates the global number of prosecutions in cases involving children under 18, but in the more detailed statistics provided it is clear that no prosecutions were undertaken during the only period covered (July-October 1995) involving any offence for child prostitution or pornography, or other child labour exploitation. Recalling that the Government's own figures put the number of child prostitutes at between 20,000 and 40,000, though many estimates are higher, the Committee expresses strongly the hope that effective measures will be taken in this regard and that information on them will be included in the next report.

(c) Penalties.The Committee has previously expressed concern also that the penalties laid down in law for various violations of the national legislation under the Convention, and the way they are applied, did not appear to be in conformity with the Convention's requirement under Article 25 that the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour be punished as a penal offence, and that penalties be adequate and strictly enforced. The Committee notes the Government's indication in its report that various penalties have been reinforced, as well as its explanations of the way in which they may be applied.

As concerns the power to impose fines in lieu of prosecution, the Committee notes the Government's explanations that this power is used in child labour cases to speed up the handling of cases and to provide some monetary compensation for the victims. There is no indication in the report of the manner and frequency with which this power is used, its deterrent effect or the amount of compensation paid to victims, and the Committee requests the Government to provide information in this respect in its next report. It reiterates its concern about the conformity of this use of monetary penalties with the requirement for penal sanctions.

More generally, the Committee expresses concern that, regardless of the theoretical kind and level of penalties provided for in the law, there is little indication in the report of their actually being used to deter and punish forced child labour.

Preventive measures

(a) Community awareness raising.The Government has provided a good deal of information on the efforts undertaken to warn children and communities to beware of attempts to deceive and abduct children for forced labour, and to publicize agencies which provide assistance, especially in the north-eastern region of the country. It has also indicated measures to coordinate action among various governmental entities, and between them and the non-governmental community working on this problem, including trade unions. The Committee notes that much of this work has been conducted in cooperation with IPEC, and encourages the Government to continue along this path and to provide information on the efforts undertaken.

(b) Education. The Committee notes that the objective of the Government remains to extend compulsory education to nine years from its present level of six years, in order to eliminate one of the primary contributing factors to child labour, including forced child labour. It also notes various steps taken to increase the availability of educational facilities beyond the compulsory level, including setting up institutions and providing scholarships. The Committee encourages the Government to proceed as quickly as possible along this path. In the meantime, it would appreciate the Government furnishing in its next report an indication of the number and proportion of children actually in school at different ages, and of the progress achieved in increasing this number over several years.