Child labour: The worst forms

With removal from US watch list as goal, govt drive to end trafficking & forced labour of children (in seafood industry, as maids, in prostitution, pornography, working with boilers, heavy objects, metal pressing)

Thailand aims to stop worst child labour by Penchan Charoensuthipan

The Labour Ministry plans to declare a list of jobs considered too dangerous for children in the hope that the US will remove Thailand from a watch list.

The move aims mainly to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, said Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap yesterday.

The ministry will work with non-governmental organisations to draft a dangerous work list and forward it to the cabinet for approval, he said.

The drafting of the dangerous work list will be based on the child labour sections of the Labour Protection Act 1998, the Child Protection Act 2003, the International Labour Organisation's Convention No.182 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999, said Mr Padermchai.

A night shift job from 10pm to 6am, working in a slaughterhouse, working in an illegal gambling parlour, working on a scaffold 10m above the ground or higher and working on a fishing trawler are examples of dangerous jobs that children should be prohibited from doing. Working in certain adult entertainment venues such as discotheques and karaoke shops, production and supplying of fireworks or other explosive materials, working with boilers, begging for money, lewd shows, prostitution and drug trafficking are also considered dangerous for children.

The other dangerous jobs are those that require a child to lift, carry or push heavy objects (maximum weight for girls is 20kg, 25kg for boys) and metal pressing.

Since 2009, the US has placed Thailand on its Tier 2 Watch List because of insufficient efforts to tackle and prosecute human trafficking gangs.

According to the latest Washington report about human trafficking, Thailand is a source, destination and transit country for men, women and children who are subjected to forced labour in the seafood processing industry, fishing and domestic work.

Most of the trafficking victims identified within Thailand are migrants from neighbouring countries.

The US also keeps a close watch on four main areas of work that have child labour problems. The areas it monitors are shrimp factories, garment factories in the border areas, agriculture and the illegal business of producing pornographic materials.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Thailand aims to stop worst child labour, 5/02/2012, Penchan Charoensuthipan, link)

Child Labour Law Vocabulary

child labour - employing children in the same fulltime jobs that adults work in (not including work that children normally do such as household chores, working in a family shop or school-related work), child labour in the world decreased from 25% to 10% between 1960 and 2003, "Child labour was employed to varying extents through most of history, but entered public dispute with the advent of universal schooling, with changes in working conditions during the industrial revolution, and with the emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights. In many developed countries, it is considered inappropriate or exploitative if a child below a certain age works" (See Wikipedia)

exploit (verb) - to treat someone unfairly to gain some benefit for yourself

exploitative (adjective)

industrial revolution - the period during the 1800s in the UK when large factories and modern industrial processes first started to be used

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention - these worst forms include: "slavery... trafficking of children, meaning the recruitment of children to do work far away from home and from the care of their families, in circumstances within which they are exploited; debt bondage or any other form of bonded labour or serfdom; forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), including the use, procuring or offering of a child for: prostitution, or the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; use, procuring or offering of a child by others for illegal activities, also known as children used by adults in the commission of crime (CUBAC), including the trafficking or production of drugs," adopted by the International Labour Organization in 1999 as one of 8 fundamental conventions, when a country joins and ratifys this convention it "commits itself to taking immediate action to prohibit and eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The Convention is enjoying the fastest pace of ratifications in the ILO's history since 1919" (See Wikipedia)

International Labour Organization (ILO) - the UN agency working "to protect basic worker rights, enhance workers’ job security, and improve their terms of employment on a global scale" (international labour standards) (See Wikipedia)

International Labour Organisation's Convention No.182 - Same as "Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention"

drafting - writing

the drafting of the dangerous work list will be based on the child labour sections of the Labour Protection Act 1998, the Child Protection Act 2003, the International Labour Organisation's Convention No.182 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention 1999

aims to - has a goal to do

eliminate - end; to get rid of completely (so that it no longer exists) กำจัดหรือขจัดให้หมดไป

worst - most + bad

worst forms - the worst kinds or types of something

eliminate the worst forms - end the worst kinds of something

the move aims mainly to eliminate the worst forms of child labour

Thailand aims to stop worst child labour

human trafficking - "the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery" (See Wikipedia)

Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) - the US law passed in 2000 that began the process of the US State Department monitoring and acting against human trafficking around the world (See Wikipedia)

Tier 2 Watch List - "countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards AND: a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year" (See document at US Embassy Thailand)

Tier 1 - countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards

Tier 3 - countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so

remove - to take something away เอาออกจาก

remove Thailand from a watch list

the Labour Ministry plans to declare a list of jobs considered too dangerous for children in the hope that the US will remove Thailand from a watch list

insufficient - not sufficient, not enough ไม่พอ

efforts - the work done towards achieving some goal; people trying to accomplish something, achieve a goal ความพยายาม

insufficient efforts - did not work hard enough to do something

tackle - to make an organised and determined attempt to deal with a problem แก้ปัญหา จัดการกับปัญหา

prosecute - charge someone officially with a crime and put them on trial (that may result in fine or jail) ตั้งข้อหา to official accuse someone of a crime and to try to prove them guilty in a court of law ดำเนินคดี ฟ้องร้อง ซักฟอก

since 2009, the US has placed Thailand on its Tier 2 Watch List because of insufficient efforts to tackle and prosecute human trafficking gangs.

ministry - a government department dealing with an area of activity กระทรวง

non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - an organization that helps people in some way that is neither part of the government nor a pivate for-profit company (See Wikipedia)

draft - to write a document, plan, etc. that may be changed before it is finally accepted ร่าง

forward it to - send it to another person to read or approve

cabinet - a group of members of a government (ministers) chosen by the Prime Minister to give advice and be responsible for policy (politician MPs are also these positions as a reward for their political support in elections) (See Wikipedia)

approval - official permission การอนุมัต

forward it to the cabinet for approval

the ministry will work with non-governmental organisations to draft a dangerous work list and forward it to the cabinet for approval

shift - a period of work time in a factory, hospital or other place where some people work during the day and some work at night กะ หรือระยะเวลาทำงานเป็นช่วงๆ เช่น กะเช้า้ กะบ่าย กะกลางคืน; เวร

night shift - working at night

slaughterhouse - a factory where animals are killed and made into meat products to sell in stores and markets (See Wikipedia)

illegal - against the law ผิดกฎหมาย, นอกกฎหมาย

gambling - the activity of betting money, for example in a game or on a horse race การพนัน

gambling parlour - a place where people go to gamble

scaffold

working on a scaffold 10m above the ground or higher

fishing trawler - a fishing boat

prohibited - not allowed to do something (a rule or law says they cannot do the activity)

a night shift job from 10pm to 6am, working in a slaughterhouse, working in an illegal gambling parlour, working on a scaffold 10m above the ground or higher and working on a fishing trawler are examples of dangerous jobs that children should be prohibited from doing.

prostitution - the business of selling sex การค้าประเวณี

venues - places were public events or meetings take place สถานที่ชุมนุม พบปะสังสรรค์ สถานนี่จัดงาน

adult entertainment venues - places where adults go for entertainment usually at night (such as bars, discos, nightclubs)

fireworks - a bright display of many coloured explosions in the sky ดอกไม้ไฟ,ประทัด, ดอกไม้เพลิง

explosive materials - bombs and chemicals that can explode like a bomb and cause injury

boilers - large metal containers used to boil water in a factory

begging for money - staying at a place and asking people who walk by to give you money ขอทาน

lewd - involving sex or sexual organs, breasts, etc ลามก,กระตุ้นกำหนัด,เกี่ยวกับโลกีย์วิสัย,เลวทราม,ชั่วช้า,แพศยา, ที่แสดงถึงตัณหา, เต็มไปด้วยกิเลส

lewd shows - shows in which women or men have sex of show their sexual organs or breasts

drug trafficking - the business of transporting and selling of illegal drugs (See Wikipedia)

working in certain adult entertainment venues such as discotheques and karaoke shops, production and supplying of fireworks or other explosive materials, working with boilers, begging for money, lewd shows, prostitution and drug trafficking are also considered dangerous for children.

maximum - the most or greatest possible ที่สูงสุด ที่มากที่สุด

metal - ด้ามมีด

metal pressing - using machines in factories that press metal into different shapes

the other dangerous jobs are those that require a child to lift, carry or push heavy objects (maximum weight for girls is 20kg, 25kg for boys) and metal pressing

source - the place or person something comes from or starts at, or the cause of something ต้นกำเนิด, แหล่งกำเนิด

destination - the place where someone or something is going จุดหมายปลายทาง

transit - the act of moving from one place to another การเดินทางผ่าน

subjected to - have something bad happen to you (that you do not want to happen), being forced to do something

subjected to forced labour

seafood processing industry - a factory in which fish are cleaned and turned into meat products sold in stores

domestic work - working as a maid in a home

according to the latest Washington report about human trafficking, Thailand is a source, destination and transit country for men, women and children who are subjected to forced labour in the seafood processing industry, fishing and domestic work

victims - people who are killed injured or harmed in some way from an accident, natural disaster, crime, etc.

trafficking victims

identified - found and named ระบุชื่อ

migrants - people who travel to a different region or country to live and work ผู้อพยพ ในที่นี้หมายถึง คนต่างจังหวัดที่อพยพเข้ามาหางานทำที่กรุงเทพ

most of the trafficking victims identified within Thailand are migrants from neighbouring countries

keeps a close watch on

monitors - watches (to see of there are problems

garment - clothes

garment factories

garment factories in the border areas

border - the official line separating two areas, regions or countries เขตแดน อาณาเขต

border areas - the areas along the borders between two countries (example: Maesai and Chiangrai are located in Thailand's border area with Burma)

pornography (noun) - material such as photos, videos or writing that shows sexual activities or parts of the body in order to make people sexually excited (See Wikipedia)

pornographic (adjective)

pornographic materials - same as "pornography"

the US also keeps a close watch on four main areas of work that have child labour problems. The areas it monitors are shrimp factories, garment factories in the border areas, agriculture and the illegal business of producing pornographic materials