The New Nation - Internet Edition

ACCORDING to a US government report, Bangladesh along with India, Myanmar, Brazil, China and the Philippines has been placed in the 'top six countries' linked to individual products that use child for forced labour.

Children and forced labourers are mining gold, sewing clothing and harvesting cocoa around the world, and India is the source for the biggest number of products made by these workers, the Reuters report says. The department of labour for the first time released a list of goods produced by child or forced labourer in foreign countries after the US Congress asked for its compilation. The department looked at 122 products in 58 countries.

In the new US report, India was linked to the highest number of products made with child labour or forced labour including soccer balls and clothing. Myanmar was noted the most often for forced labour in products like rice, sugarcane and rubber. The purpose for doing this is to 'shine a spotlight' so more activities can take place that target these problems, a senior official for international affairs in the US department of labour is quoted to have said. Child labour laws vary widely and the practice is banned in many countries nowadays.

An international convention ratified by 154 countries requires them to set 'a minimum working age' and work towards eradicating child labour. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has found that 69 per cent of child labour worldwide is in agriculture. The most common agricultural goods produced by child or forced labour are cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, rice and cocoa. Both forms of labour for cotton production were found in countries including China, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The listing of specific goods and countries, however, does not mean that total production of specific products involve forced or child labour.