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(纽约)-阿富汗政府违反本国劳工法,未保护成千上万小至五岁的儿童远离工作场所的危险条件。

赫拉尔,10岁,在喀布尔城外砖窰做制砖工人。他告诉人权观察,砖模很沉重,而且他的双手因为处理湿黏土而疼痛。赫拉尔为了工作无法继续上学。 © 2016 Bethany Matta/人权观察

这份31页的报告,《“他们受尽千辛万苦”:阿富汗儿童劳工身陷险境》,纪录阿富汗儿童劳工为何进入织毯工业从事危险工作、沦为砖窰中的抵债劳工以及金属工业劳工。由于危险的工作条件以及安全卫生标准执行不佳,他们可能因为工作导致疾病、伤害甚至死亡。许多儿童不仅要在这样的条件下工作,还要负担学校的作业,否则就得放弃学业。许多阿富汗儿童因劳动被迫永久辍学。从事童工的儿童只有一半继续求学。

“成千上万阿富汗儿童每天冒著失去健康和安全的风险,为家人牟取温饱,”人权观察亚洲区副主任林海(Phelim Kine)说。“阿富汗政府必须加强执法,禁止让儿童从事危险性工作,以保护该国儿童──也就是国家的未来。”

阅读这支影片的文字描述

Azizullah
12-year-old carpet weaver

My name is Azizullah. I’m 12.  I’ve been weaving carpets for about seven years. There are 11 of us brothers and sisters and we earn our living for our family through carpet weaving.


Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

About a quarter of all Afghan children are engaged in child labor. These children work as carpet weavers on looms at home, they work in the metal works industry, they work as shoe shiners, as street workers. They work as bonded labor in brick kilns. Many of them work long hours under difficult circumstances doing work that is injurious to their health and could also cause death.


Sajjad
13-year-old metal worker

My name is Sajjad.  I’m 13 years old. I get lots of cuts but one time the [metal] sheet cut my leg. The sheet was on the shop floor. When I was walking by, my leg got caught on it and I got a big gash.

Ali Eftekhari 
Spokesperson
Ministry of Labor

Government of Afghanistan Children under the age of 18 are forced to work because of poverty and unemployment [of their parents.] 36% of the population in Afghanistan lives under the poverty line. A more serious problem is the lack of awareness among the people about the rights of children.

Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

Under Afghan law, children between the ages of 15 and 17 are allowed to work provided that the work is less than 35 hours a week, represents a form of skilled training such as learning to be a tailor or metal smith, and the work is not physically harmful to the child. Children 14 or below working in any form of labor is illegal. But thousands of these children do work, often in circumstances that are harmful to their health and well-being.

Sayed Maroof Sadat
Principal
Muhammad Alam Faizzad High School, Kabul

Several years ago, one of our students worked as a mechanic. He was under a car when the jack gave way and he was killed instantly. His name was Haseeb. He was a graduate of year 12. These incidents happen, these accidents.


Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

The carpet sector has one of the highest rates of child participation, particularly girls because it is a home-based industry and so girls find it easier to be employed inside of their own houses. And because it is a home-based industry, it is more difficult to regulate for the government.


Azizullah
12-year-old carpet weaver

I start at 5 in the morning and work until 6 at night.

 

Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

Children working on the carpet looms face a lot of physical hazards. They risk having carpal tunnel syndrome, they risk diminishing vision, they risk cuts and injuries to their hands and to their eyes and they complain often of bodily ache because they sit in one straight posture for many long hours during the day.


Marina
15-year-old carpet weaver

Our eyes hurt and our hands also get injured.

 

Azizullah
12-year-old carpet weaver

My lower back hurts. It’s been seven years.

Marina
15-year-old carpet weaver

When I work too long, I inhale the dust so I get a cough.

Azizullah
12-year-old carpet weaver

When I breathe, the particles of yarn stick to my throat then I get a cough.


Ahmad Shuja
Researcher

Human Rights Watch
Children who work in brick kilns actually work in bonded conditions which means they have to work to pay off a debt that the family had incurred and often these children have absolutely no choice but to work on the brick kiln.

Rahimullah
15-year-old brickmaker

Every day we wake up with the mullah’s call to prayer. We start making bricks early in the morning and continue until evening.


Helal
10-year-old brickmaker
I don’t like making bricks. It hurts because the work is hard and the mold is heavy. We take chunks of clay from the mound and our hands hurt.

Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

Basically in brick kilns, as soon as a child is able to walk and do things, they’re enlisted to work.

Shafiullah
Brickmaker

By the grace of God, I have 11 children. This one brings us sand. This one turns over the bricks. When they turn five, they start working. That’s when they start. The point is everyone works.

Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

Children who work often are not able to go to school, and if they do go to school they’re forced to combine the difficult burden of labor and of education. Therefore, a lot of children are often forced to quit school because they work.

Helal
10-year-old brickmaker

There are schools but we don’t go to them. We make bricks here.

Arefa
19-year-old carpet weaver

We go to school about four or five hours. The rest of the day, we’re here. The stress from carpet weaving distracts us from our education. If you weren’t weaving carpets, what would you prefer to do?

Marina
15-year-old carpet weaver

I would continue my studies and attend courses.

Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

Children who work have the right to safety, physical well being, the right to emotional well-being, the right to an education. The Afghan government needs to implement its laws regulating children and prohibiting them from working under difficult and harmful circumstances. The government needs to hire more labor inspectors, needs to train them and to legally empower them, to identify and then to rectify instances of children involved in harmful work. The international community needs to help the Afghan government offer technical expertise to devise regulations, policies and laws to combat child labor and to offer the financial assistance to the government to run programs of social support for childrensuch as education, healthcare, counseling and legal aid.


Ali Eftekhari
Spokesperson
Ministry of Labor
Government of Afghanistan

Unfortunately, we don’t even have the minimum budget for social support programs. This is mostly because the national budget is spent on security and less on social issues such as vulnerable children. For example, if we prohibit children from working, we must at least have an alternative plan to support them [to say] for example, “you should not be working, we will support your family, either financially or by providing them jobs.” Unfortunately, we have a problem in this area.


Ahmad Shuja
Researcher
Human Rights Watch

If the Afghan government fails to address of child labor, a quarter of Afghan children is going to grow up with basically no or very little education so these children will not be able to escape the cycle of chronic poverty during their lifetime.

Rahimullah
15-year-old brickmaker

We want to go away from the brick kiln and go somewhere else and have a decent life. For my brothers and sisters to go to school. We want to go to school and learn a new skill. There is no future in brick making. 

 

人权观察指出,阿富汗政府没有落实禁止危险行业雇用儿童劳工的法律,并且一再拖延按照国际标准彻底检讨国内劳工法。负责执法的政府机构通常缺乏检查工作场所的能力,导致从事禁止童工职业的儿童既不受重视也不被保护。

2014年,阿富汗政府公布儿童不得从事的19种危险职业清单。这些职业包括织毯、金属和制砖行业。虽然资源短缺确实是危险行业持续使用童工的重要因素之一,但阿富汗政府也没有认真执行劳工法,既没有对违法业者开罚,也未曾拟定遏止剥削性劳动条件的策略。

喀布尔一座砖窰的经理告诉人权观察:“这里有儿童,从十岁、八岁到十五、六岁...他们凌晨3点醒来工作,直到傍晚...他们抱怨身体疼痛,但他们又能怎么办?这些孩子全靠这份工作维生。他们受尽千辛万苦,承担所有工作。”

极端贫穷常常将阿富汗儿童推向危险劳动。阿富汗迄今仍为全世界最贫穷的国家之一。失地、失学、失业和持续性的武装冲突则是造成长期贫穷,进而导致儿童劳动的最主要原因之一。

喀布尔的一名13岁金属工人说:“我的手指曾被金属的锐利边缘割伤,也曾被铁锤砸伤。我的手指还曾被卷进车边机。你的指甲如果被铁锤砸到,或被卷进机器,它会变成黑色,最后脱落。”

成千上万阿富汗儿童每天冒著失去健康和安全的风险,为家人牟取温饱。阿富汗政府必须加强执法,禁止让儿童从事危险性工作,以保护该国儿童──也就是国家的未来。
林海

亚洲区副主任

与儿童年龄相适应且符合健康安全条件的工作,虽然可能有助儿童发展,并让他们有机会供应家庭基本需求,但当工作影响儿童受教育或有害其健康或安全,通常被归类为“儿童劳工”而受到国际法禁止。

尽管延伸基层社区学校服务弱势儿童的试点计划颇值期待,但这些学校并未得到足够支持。只要极端贫穷持续存在,阿富汗的童工问题就不可能彻底解决,但政府及其捐助者仍可采取措施保护儿童,避免他们因特别危险或不健康的工作而面临风险。

可采取的措施包括:增加劳动检查员的人数,使其足以覆盖全国;以危险行业为监查重点;以及提供特定的技术援助,协助阿富汗政府拟定与执行防制儿童劳工的政策、准则与法规。阿富汗政府及其海外捐助者均应将更多资源用于扩增对所有劳动儿童的教育支持。

阿富汗政府在国际法之下负有法律义务,应立即采取行动消除危险性儿童劳工。阿国政府及其海外捐助者都应采取紧急措施保护儿童,避免他们因特别危险或不健康的工作而面临风险。

“当儿童届满法定年龄,并且在安全条件下工作,他们可以为许多阿富汗家庭提供不可或缺的生计支持,”林海说。“但阿富汗政府有义务落实执法,保护工作场所中的儿童,确保他们不需要为了撑持家计而牺牲学业或安全。”

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