Cablegate: Indonesia: 2006 Child Labor Update for Trade And

VZCZCXRO7214
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHJO
DE RUEHJA #3503/01 3520116
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 180116Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2491
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0234
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 7472

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 JAKARTA 013503

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR DRL/IL
STATE ALSO FOR G/TIP, EAP/IET, EAP/RSP
USAID FOR ANE
DEPT LABOR FOR ILAB/BRANDIE SASSER
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR ICITAP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD EAID PHUM PGOV SOCI KCRM KJUS
ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA: 2006 CHILD LABOR UPDATE FOR TRADE AND
DEVELOPMENT ACT REPORTING

REF: A. STATE 184972- REQUEST FOR UPDATE

B. JAKARTA 2849- TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 2006
C. 05 JAKARTA 12001- CHILD LABOR REPORT 2005
D. 04 JAKARTA 8500- CHILD LABOR REPORT 2004
E. 03 JAKARTA 9517- CHILD LABOR REPORT 2003
F. 02 JAKARTA 5172- CHILD LABOR REPORT 2002
G. 01 JAKARTA 3733- CHILD LABOR REPORT 2001

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SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION
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1. This report provides updated information on Indonesia's
efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor, for the
period August 2005 to November 2006. This message updates
Jakarta's 2005 report (ref c) and draws in places on
Jakarta's March 2006 trafficking in persons report (ref b)
and the 2005 Human Rights Report.

2. Children working in the worst forms of child labor
constitute a serious humanitarian, legal and societal problem
in Indonesia. The Indonesian Government (GOI) recognizes the
problem and has the legal foundations for combating the worst
forms of child labor. During this reporting period, the GOI
did not enact any additional national legislation or new
significant regulations although new policy was instituted at
local levels. Existing laws, such as the Child Protection
Act and the Manpower Development and Protection Act (the
Manpower Act), contain significant criminal sanctions to
deter child labor violations, but the GOI did not enforce
these laws in an effective manner. Formal mechanisms exist
at the provincial and local levels for uncovering and
addressing the worst forms of child labor, but the GOI did
not provide statistics on investigations related to child
labor. Police increased law enforcement actions to combat
child trafficking for prostitution and to protect against
export of child labor overseas.

3. The GOI took more steps to provide basic education to
poor students. The GOI has a comprehensive policy for
eliminating the worst forms of child labor in the form of a
National Action Plan. Most activities carried out in support
of the action plan have been small-scale and limited to
select communities. International organizations and NGOs,
often supported by U.S. funding, conducted many of these
projects. Indonesia remained open and cooperative toward
outside assistance in combating the worst forms of child
labor, and the U.S. Government remained the most prominent
donor.
End Summary and Introduction.

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SOURCES
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4. Sources of information for this report include: the
Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, the Coordinating
Ministry for People,s Social Welfare, the Ministry for
Women,s Empowerment, local governments, ILO, UNICEF, the
AFL-CIO,s American Center for International Labor Solidarity
(the Solidarity Center), the International Catholic Migration
Commission (ICMC), Save the Children, and local NGOs.

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CATEGORIES OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
--------------------------------------------

5. The lack of accurate and comprehensive data frustrates
attempts to determine trends in child labor. GOI statistics
do not provide a firm basis for drawing conclusions. A 2004
GOI survey found 2.86 million children employed in the 10 to
17 years age group. Informal ILO estimates of economically
active children are four times higher. More recent
statistics are not available.

6. Recent information from the the East Java Provincial
Planning and Development Board is indicative of the problem:
East Javanese children are used in some of the most dangerous
jobs in the province including: sex workers, illegal drug

JAKARTA 00013503 002 OF 004

agents and distributors, beggars, house maids, fishermen and
mine workers. An official 2005 survey found child employment
in East Java centered on house maids, construction laborers,
migrant farm workers, beggars, cigarette rollers, street
vendors, sex workers, handicraft workers, and furniture lathe
workers. In Malang Regency, thousands of children work in
small cigarette factories rolling cigarettes. The average
wage paid is 65 cents per day and is based on the number of
cigarettes rolled.

--------------------------------------------- -
LAWS AND REGULATIONS PROSCRIBING THE WORST
FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
--------------------------------------------- -

7. Indonesia did not develop additional national laws or
significant new regulations regarding child labor during this
reporting period. The anti-trafficking bill, pending before
Parliament, provides for jail sentences ranging from 3 to 10
years for trafficking acts, and increased sentences if these
involve women (4 to 15 years) or children (5 to 20 years).
Indonesia ratified ILO Convention No. 182, concerning the
prohibition and immediate action to eliminate the worst forms
of child labor, in March 2000 with Act No. 1/2000.
Indonesia also ratified ILO Convention No. 138 concerning the
minimum employment
age with Act No. 20 of 1999, which stipulates a minimum age
for employment of 15 years.

8. The Government of Indonesia through the Ministry of
Manpower and Transmigration is currently preparing a draft
law on protection of domestic workers which will also cover
the issue of employment of children under 18 as domestic
workers. Current Indonesian labor law allows employment of
children age 13-15 for light work that does not stunt
physical development, with written permission from parents or
guardians and a contract, for a maximum three-hour work day
that does not interfere with the child's education schedule.
Children age 14 may be employed at a workplace as part of the
school curriculum or in training permitted by authorizies.
However, NGOs agree that large numbers of children under age
16 work long hours in the informal sector, primarily as
domestic workers. There are no accurate figures on the
number of such child workers.

--------------------------------------------- --------
REGULATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT
OF PROSCRIPTIONS AGAINST THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
--------------------------------------------- --------

9. Indonesian authorities generally apply the Penal Code
and, more recently, the 2003 Child Protection Act, for cases
involving the protection of children. The Child Protection
Act provides for criminal sanctions and lengthy jail terms
for persons who violate children,s rights, including
economic and sexual exploitation. Over the two years,
Indonesian authorities increasingly used the Child Protection
Act to prosecute traffickers of children, including eight
convictions in 2005 and five convictions in 2006,based on
unofficial and partial tracking of cases. The 2003 Manpower
Act and its implementing decree further improved the legal
basis for enforcing proscriptions against the worst forms of
child labor. The Manpower Act provides for criminal
penalties for child labor violations and strengthens
investigative authority for labor inspectors.

10. Indonesian local governments implemented new local
regulations to protect child laborers. In 2006, the East
Lombok provincial legislature passed the province,s first
local bylaw on Migrant Worker Protection, which extends and
expands protection to child workers. At the district level,
Indramayu district in West Java enacted a law in 2005 on
Prevention and Prohibition of Trafficking of Children for
Sexual Purposes. In 2004, the Mojokerto District in East
Java issued a decree on Child Protection. The Kutai
Kertanegara District in East Kalimantan enacted a 2004 law on
Child Labor Free Zone.

--------------------------------------------- ------

JAKARTA 00013503 003 OF 004

IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL PROGRAMS TO PREVENT AN
WITHDRAW CHILDREN FOM THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD QBQR

----------------------(---------------------- ------

11. Indonesia,s Constitution, as amended in 2002,
stipulates that the Government dedicate 20 percent of the
national budget to education. While the budget has fallen
far short of this goal, President Yudhoyono in his 2007
budget proposed an education budget of 51.3 trillion rupiah
(USD 5.7 billion), an increase of 18.5 percent over the 2006
state budget of 43.3 trillion rupiah (USD 4.8 billion). The
Indonesian Government works with USAID to implement President
Bush's $157 million 6-year Education Initiative.

12. The GOI, in cooperation with the World Bank, started a
pilot project in 2006 to fund impoverished children laborers
to return to school, beginning in six provinces. In 2005,
the GOI introduced a program to provide free education to
primary and junior high school students from oor families to
ensure that all children go throgh a minimum nine years of"
schooling. In 2006, the GOI provided this assistance to 39.9
million students. The Ministry of National Education
developed various programs to reach child labor workers and
other marginalized children: through open junior schools,
non-formal education approaches, and remedial programs.

13. In the context of Indonesia's on-going decentralization,
some provinces and regencies have embarked on their own
prorams to combat child labor. The East Java provincal
governme t allocated 36.7 trillion rupiah (USD 4.1 billion),or
19 percent of its 2005 provincial budget for education.

---------------------------------------------
COMPREHENSIVE POLICY AIMED AT THE ELIMINATION
OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
---------------------------------------------

14. Indonesia has a comprehensive policy to eliminate the
worst forms of child labor, represented by a National Action
Plans for eliminating trafficking in women and children and
commercial sexual exploitation of children (both launched in
December 2002) and the 20-year National Plan of Action on the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. However,
implementation and coordination of the plans remained
difficult and inadequate. The 20-year Plan of Action is
currently in its first five-year phase (2002-2006). The
first phase focuses on mapping child labor problems, raising
awareness, and eliminating five priority worst forms of child
labor, which include: off-shore fishing and diving;
trafficking for purposes of prostitution; mining; footwear
production; and drug trafficking. In 2006, action committees
were established in 10 provinces and 41 districts.

-------------------------------------
CONTINUAL PROGRESS TOWARD ELIMINATING
THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
-------------------------------------

15. The GOI and observers agree that the prevalence of the
worst forms of child labor remains a serious problem for
Indonesia, though lack of accurate and sufficiently
comprehensive data frustrates the determination of trends.
The GOI recognizes that no adequate estimates exist on the
number of children nationwide employed in the worst forms of
child labor.

16. Indonesia,s efforts to implement activities to combat
the worst forms of child labor remain limited. International
funding continues to play an important role. The U.S.
Department of Labor, the Department of State and USAID are
main sources of funding for Indonesia in the area of child
labor and trafficking in persons. The ILO, UNICEF, the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and
international NGOs, such as ICMC, the Solidarity Center, and
Save the Children implement activities to combat the worst
forms of child labor and child trafficking, often supporting
GOI programs and local NGOs. The Indonesian Government
remains very open to outside assistance in eliminating the
worst forms of child labor and child trafficking.

JAKARTA 00013503 004 OF 004

17. Provincial governments continued their efforts to combat
the worst forms of child labor. Several new East Java
programs to remove children from dangerous employment
situations and to prevent child labor through counseling are
administered by the provincial and regency Integrated Service
Centers and by NGOs. During 2006, East Java started a
telephone hotline service to provide advocacy and counseling
services for children. A forum involving child protection
NGO Abdi Asih Foundation, social leaders, police, pimps, and
related governmental departments was established in Surabaya
in March 2006. It will supervise the work of local networks
established previously in 2005 to promote the elimination of
child prostitution. The Surabaya city government is
providing non-formal education programs for those who cannot
afford formal education. Starting May 2006, the NGO Alit
Foundation began providing education for street children in
five different locations in Surabaya. Currently, 100 street
children participate in the program.

18. During 2006, the East Java Government implemented a new
program to provide vocational skill training for 865 child
laborers and entrepreneurship training for the parents of the
child laborers. The East Java government also provided
vocational training centers (BLK) in many of its regencies.
The BLKs provide training for minors in the automotive,
furniture, and batik industries.

19. Central Java started distributing 225 scholarships in
2006 to children in 15 regencies to defray the costs of low
income children attending public schools and help keep them
out of the workforce. Yogyakarta provided 650 low income
child scholarships to public schools during 2006 and also
provided entrepreneurship training to 540 parents of child
laborers. Central Sulawesi provided mobile education
programs to provide free education to children in villages
that do not have access to formal schools. Bali provided
training for 200 former child laborers in the hospitality
industry, providing an opportunity to leave more dangerous
forms of child employment. In 2002, Kutai Kertanegara
District in East Kalimantan established the Child Labor Free
Zone and issued a 2004 local regulation that provided
criminal sanctions for parents who allow children under the
age of 15 years to work. The program has successfully
reduced the number of child laborers from 11,623 child
workers in 2002 to only 1500 child workers in 2006, a
decrease of 88 percent.
HEFFERN

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