Myanmar: the number of children forced to work to help their families is growing, especially in the poorest regions

ROME – More than 70 percent of Myanmar’s children are forced to work, often long hours, in dangerous conditions and for starvation wages, to help their families. A new dossier from theInternational Labor Organization (ILO). The issue of child labor has always been topical in the country, but since COVID onwards, or since schools have been closed for long periods, it has become a real scourge. Poverty grows and so parents are forced to send their children to work, preferring a small immediate economic benefit to a long-term investment such as that of studying. Which many, by the way, cannot afford.

Child exploitation. Agriculture, construction, the domestic sector: these are the fields in which the child labor force is particularly employed, with general impunity. Many employers – denounces the ILO – most often do not even know the labor laws of their country. Others, interviewed for the research, candidly admitted that they prefer children’s work because the youngest are more controllable, cost less and complain less. Yet the children interviewed confessed that if they could, they would prefer to go to school to study and try to make their dreams come true. Forced to work for many hours in the sun and without a moment’s break, many of the children interviewed reported having suffered personal injuries related to working conditions.

Schools closed for a long time. As in other places in the world, schools in Myanmar have also been closed for a long time to try to curb the contagion during the pandemic, which has had a devastating impact on the already fragile economy of the Asian country, since it has practically wiped out various productive sectors, such as tourism and transport. In the specific case of Myanmar, there are also issues related to public order, given the increase in demonstrations and clashes against the military junta that currently has control of the country. In this social and economic context, many families, in addition to actually needing their children’s work, have preferred not to let them return to school for safety reasons.