Wednesday, May 23, 2012

What did they fight and die for?

14 year old Dat says: "My working day goes from 6a.m. until late at night around 11.30p.m. with a two-hour rest in the afternoon. I go to the market, wash dishes, keep an eye on customers' vehicles, clean tables, run around to serve customers food and beer and then anything else asked by customers. Even drinking with them is a task of mine in this restaurant." He adds: "Working in a beer restaurant also means usually getting scolded or beaten by drunk customers for no reason. Although I feel scared, I have managed to work here and earn money for nearly two years since I left my village for Ha Noi. I give my mother most of the money I earn to raise my sisters and pay the hospital costs for my sick father," he says, adding that he is paid VND1.2 million (US$57) a month.

Dat is among more than 26,000 child labourers in Vietnam.

Nguyen Trong An
, deputy head of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs' Child Care and Protection Department says many are involved in dangerous jobs such as collecting waste in industrial parks, collecting rubber sap in rubber forests, working in mines, textile and garment factories or plastic production workshops where they come into direct contact with toxic chemicals. He says such unhealthy and cruel working environments expose child labourers to hazardous substances, extreme temperatures, dust, noise levels or vibrations damaging to their health. "We know that addressing the issue of child labour requires an understanding of its causes. The main cause for child labour in the country is poverty, which leads parents to make these decisions that put their children at risk."

Maria Luisa Rodriguez Campos
, a Chief Technical Adviser of a Child Labour Project from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Office in Viet Nam says: "Most children said they want to go to school, but many of them have no chance as they have to work to support their families."
Source

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