Despite national laws to prohibit child labor, bonded child labor is still a serious problem in South Asian nations. There
exists a wide gay in the entrancement of laws that forbid bondage and in the laws that prohibit children''s welfare.
Of the estimated 1.98 child laborers in Nepal, more than 33,000 are bonded, while numbers cross 5.4 million in India. Although there is no official record about their number in Pakistan, some 3.3 million children are said to be child laborer there. There is no official record of bonded laborers in Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives.
South Asian countries have already signed and ratified the United Nation convention on the rights of the child and several other
international instruments on human rights and child rights which specifically require every signatory to respect these treaties to guarantee the rights of the child and protect the children from discrimination and exploitation. Despite this, many children of these countries are still deprived of their rights. This is evident from the fact that the violent
conflict over the last few decades in some countries of this region was the worst as for as the rights of the child are concerned.
In the past few years, the international media began to publish different figures relating to child, resulting in confusion about the problem. The discussion about physical, mental, social and psychological consequences for economically active children has increased international awareness about child workers especially in Asia.
Set up in 1985, Child Workers in Asia (CWA, Task Force of Bonded Child Laborers) aims at eliminating child labor in Asia. It has been expected that CWA will help ensure that recent gains in the global advocacy work or child labor are transferred into concrete and external benefits for the present and future child workers. To help collaborative action among partners and greater sharing of strengths and capacities the main mode of implementation of the CWA program is through mobilizing Task Forces on focused sub-regional action.
The Task Force has plan to recommend the formation of National Commission on Child Labor that will give priority to the identification, release and rehabilitation of child laborers. However, that plan should be translated into reality.
It is essential that all the governments of South Asia should ratify and implement the convention on the worst forms of the child labor and ILO Convention on Minimum Age. For this, the Task Force should consult all countries of this region.
The beginning of this new millennium is a time of great hope for working children. The child labor issue has gained the attention of the world''s leaders and millions of citizens.
Resulting from many campaigns and by the unanimous adoption of the ILO Convention on the worst forms of child labor in 1999, efforts, time and financial resources have been allocated to eliminate child labor. However, there has been no substantial improvement in this sector.
It is a time of great challenge for child workers in Asia to work as a network of non-governmental organizations. They have been at the core of the grass roots work with child workers before the international community recognized the right of child workers.
Out of those too poor to go to school, millions of children are engaged in labor in South Asia. Many of them are maimed, blinded and struck with lung diseases and brain deformities related with poisonous emission and physical hazards at work places.
Although international and regional actions take place, millions of children are still working under miserable conditions. They are not yet reached by effort. It is the demand of time to bring about improvement in this sector.
Bonded child labor is related to migration and trafficking of women and children. Each year thousands of teen girls are trafficked to foreign land for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Although figures for children working as domestic laborers are difficulget, ILO research indicated that more girls under 16 are involved in domestic services than in any other kinds of work. Attention should be paid to check such bad practices.
While many children in South Asia are in the doldrums of uncertainty due to political insurgency, many are in the horns of the dilemma for social and economic measures. Today millions of children of this region are engaged in the arduous task that comprises long hours of tiresome work. They have little or no time for educational or personal development.
In a bid to eliminate child labor through a global movement, ILO embarked on a World Day against child labor in 2002. However, it points out that statistics and attributes regarding child labor are by no means optimistic.
Children are the center of our hope and our bond to the future. However, they are in a far worse condition. Therefore, it is imperative to provide them the best possible life allowing them to develop their full potential. Apart from this, it is necessary to protect them from physical hazard and to provide them the basic amenities of life.
Bonded child labor is not only a violation of ILO Convention on Minimum Age but also a gross refusal of human rights. Therefore, it is high time now to eliminate such labor from South Asia. For this there should be a close cooperation among the nations of this region.