Palestine: Children Laboring

This study delves into the mainstreaming of the concept of legal protection for child labor in Indonesia, drawing insights from the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. Child labor remains a global challenge, impacting the physical, psychological, and social development of children who engage in work during their school years. Beyond mere employment for wages, the issue involves elements of exploitation, hazardous working conditions, and restricted access to education. Certain forms of child labor even qualify as the most intolerable, necessitating urgent attention. The primary objective of this research is to analyze, identify, and compare the legal protection mechanisms for child labor in Indonesia based on the ILO Conventions. Employing a normative legal study methodology, the research employs a dual approach, combining comparative law study and statute analysis. By scrutinizing the legal protection practices within the context of Indonesian law and international law, the study aims to shed light on disparities, commonalities, and potential areas for improvement. Conducting an in-depth examination without relying on fieldwork, the study utilizes a literature review and document study, drawing on various sources from both online and printed materials. Through this comprehensive exploration, the research seeks to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the mainstreaming of legal protections for child labor in Indonesia. By highlighting key findings, this study aims to inform policy discussions, foster awareness, and facilitate the development of more effective measures to safeguard the rights and well-being of children involved in labor activities in the Indonesian context.

Child labour should be given legal protection, one form of protection for child labour is to impose a Burden of Proof (Burden of Proof) for child labour in accordance with the provisions of the ILO Convention (International Labor Organization) No. 138 of 1973 on the minimum age to be allowed to work and the ILO (International Labour Organization) Convention No. 183 then 1999 on the abolition of the worst forms of work for. This research aims to examine the philosophical foundation of the burden of proof in the Indonesian legal system and to examine the burden of proof implementation for child labour in Indonesia. This research is legal research using a normative juridical approach, the data used are primary data and secondary data analyzed using quantitative analysis. The results of the study are the first philosophical application of the principle of reverse burden of proof that has been regulated in various legal rules in Indonesia, including Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection, Law No. 40 of 2007 concerning limited Company legal No. 32 of 2009 on the protection and management of the environment and the provisions of the crime of corruption relating to the freezing, expropriation and confiscation of the perpetrators of the crime of corruption in accordance. Both countries have ratified ILO Convention No. 138 of 1973 on the Minimum age to be allowed to work and ILO Convention No. 182 of 1999 on the Prohibition and immediate action on the elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour which affirms the existence of a reverse proof for child labour.

The Adoption of International Labor Standards Conventions:Who, When, and Why? Nancy H. Chau and Ravi Kanbur In the empirical literature on labor standards and economic performance, the adoption of international labor standards is measured by the ratification of International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions and is treated as an exogenous variable that explains labor costs, growth, exports, or inward foreign direct investment. For example, OECD attempts to relate aggregate and labor intensive exports to the ratification of ILO conventions.1 No relationship is found, which is interpreted by some as suggesting that there are no economic costs to the adoption of labor standards. But Mah, who also investigates the role of labor standards on export performance, finds a negative association between the ratification of certain "core" ILO conventions and performance.2 Rodrik tries to explain manufacturing labor costs and finds that the number of conventions ratified is statistically significant.3 Palley finds a positive association between economic growth and the ratification of the Freedom of Association Convention.4 But Rama argues that the number of ILO conventions ratified is not significant as a determinant of growth performance in Latin America.5 Throughout this empirical literature, therefore, the ratification of ILO conventions is assumed to provide information on labor standards adopted and [End Page 113] implemented in a country. This paper's object is to investigate the determinants of ratification directly and, indirectly, the determinants of labor standards. It presents an empirical analysis of the time patterns and determinants of ratification. Despite the relative lack of emphasis on enforcement and punishments associated with these conventions, we find evidence suggesting a process of self-selection and matching in which the probability of ratification depends on country characteristics. For example, we find that peer effects are in play. For some conventions the probability of ratification depends on how many other countries in a peer group have already ratified that convention. Click for larger view View full resolution Table 1. Core ILO Conventions and Dates of Entry into Force The following section of this paper introduces the ILO core conventions that are the focus of interest, presents basic data on their ratification, and begins the discussion on basic time patterns in ratification. Next, the paper develops an analytical framework for the empirical analysis by considering the ratification decision and its determinants. This is followed by econometric results and a conclusion. ILO Core Conventions: Who Ratifies and When ILO conventions are international treaties, subject to ratification by member states. There are now more than 180 conventions on a wide array of subjects. But the ILO itself has established a set of core labor standards. These standards are laid out in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work under four main headings, as shown in table 1.6 These constitute the eight fundamental conventions of the ILO. [End Page 114] However, the decision to ratify any of these conventions remains the right of each member nation, and it reflects willingness on the part of the ratifying country to enact legislation, and put in place mechanisms that facilitate implementation in practice. On the part of the ILO, three types of mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance. First, systems of supervision are in place to improve transparency and to oversee compliance.7 A second component of ILO activities that facilitates improvements of labor standards takes the form of technical assistance and financial support, especially for the poorest countries. Finally, in cases of violation where recommendations are not responded to, Article 33 of the ILO constitution provides that the ILO Governing Body may recommend "action as it may deem wise and expedient to secure compliance therewith" against the violating country. These mechanisms outline the extent to which there may be explicit costs and benefits associated with ratifying ILO conventions. But what is repeatedly stressed in policy and popular writings is that sanctions against noncomplying members have very rarely been invoked. And it is generally agreed that the ILO lacks "teeth" to enforce implementation of conventions that have been ratified.8 Allegations have also been raised regarding the ILO supervisory system.9 In particular, as measures against violating countries are typically based either on complaints by...

Reflections on BDS

The article explores the genesis of the formation of international universal standards for the regulation of child labor. It is revealed that the international regulation of child labor began with the Berlin International Labor Conference (1890), which became the impetus for a number of subsequent important international events, as well as the establishment in 1900 of the International Labor Law Association to promote provisions on child labor as part of international labor law. The decisive role of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which was established after the First World War, is proven. In the first two years since its establishment, 16 International Conventions and 18 Recommendations were adopted, in particular, the first international standards covered working hours, unemployment, maternity protection, night work for women, the minimum age for employment, and night work for young people. It was found that the adopted ILO Convention No. 29 «On Forced or Compulsory Labor» contained many guarantees regarding the abolition and prevention of forced labor, therefore it is also important for underage workers, because in this historical period they were often involved in work from the age of 12-14. It is substantiated that the creation in 1992 of the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) as a separate department of the ILO, which aims to eradicate child labor, especially harmful ones, through programs in various countries of the world, is of great importance. The conclusions propose their own periodization of the genesis of international standards for the protection of minors and the prohibition of child labor, covering four periods from 1890 to the present day, namely: the initial stage is characterized by discussions at the international level about the need to regulate the labor of minors and prohibit their involvement in dangerous and heavy work, the second stage saw the creation of the ILO and the gradual restriction of the labor of minors, the third stage began with the adoption of the Convention on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment of 26.06.1973 No. 138 and lasted until the beginning of globalization processes, the modern stage, we date from 1999, it continues to this day and is characterized in the aspect of global justice by bringing law enforcement in all states to the requirements of universal international standards in order to eradicate all forms of child labor.

In Indonesia there now exist a lot of children who are forced work before their legal age allows so. With the number increasing, these children are mainly employed in the informal sector, which is not well-organized. It is estimated that there are some 2 to 4 million 14 – year-old children who are forced and moral condition. Child labour is almost always associated with poverty that widely prevails. Social welfare system devised by the government has not yet fully met the existing challenges. Protection towards children, which constitutes an important element of social welfare, is actually ensured by both the national and international labour law. The United Nations Organizations dealing with labour is the International Labour Organization, which-since its birt-has aimed to solve child labour problems. The problems identified are as follows, how is the legal protection towards children who forced to work, what is the employer’s responsibility towards child labour to ensure their work safety and health, and how is the supervition and control condacted by Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child labour in the attempt to improve their safety and health. Legal protection provided by the government and employer towards children working at the Cibaduyut-based shoe-making industry is lacking, and children’s parents or poroxiest can not do anything to ensure that the children’s rights are fulfilled. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. As far as work break is concerned, some employers grand it to the child labour, while some others don’t. While the child labour are at work, the labour law states that day should be supervised by their parents or proxies, but in reality they are only watched by the employer. Supervision and control from the Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child is apparently inadequate.

In Indonesia there now exist a lot of children who are forced work before their legal age allows so. With the number increasing, these children are mainly employed in the informal sector, which is not well-organized. It is estimated that there are some 2 to 4 million 14 – year-old children who are forced and moral condition. Child labour is almost always associated with poverty that widely prevails. Social welfare system devised by the government has not yet fully met the existing challenges. Protection towards children, which constitutes an important element of social welfare, is actually ensured by both the national and international labour law. The United Nations Organizations dealing with labour is the International Labour Organization, which-since its birt-has aimed to solve child labour problems. The problems identified are as follows, how is the legal protection towards children who forced to work, what is the employer’s responsibility towards child labour to ensure their work safety and health, and how is the supervition and control condacted by Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child labour in the attempt to improve their safety and health. Legal protection provided by the government and employer towards children working at the Cibaduyut-based shoe-making industry is lacking, and children’s parents or poroxiest can not do anything to ensure that the children’s rights are fulfilled. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. As far as work break is concerned, some employers grand it to the child labour, while some others don’t. While the child labour are at work, the labour law states that day should be supervised by their parents or proxies, but in reality they are only watched by the employer. Supervision and control from the Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child is apparently inadequate.

Child labour has posed a challenge to the society since the industrial revolution. It is considered as an economic necessity. Child labour destroys the physical and mental development as a result of untimely employment, which snatches away leisure, playtime and a carefree life. As early as 1959, the General Assembly of United Nations Organisation adopted the declaration of the rights of the child. This declaration provided for special protection and care to a child in order to develop in an atmosphere of freedom and dignity. However, even after four decades, much remains to be achieved. Unprecedented attention was drawn to the problems of child labour with the declaration of the year 1979, as the year of the Child. The general awareness created on the causes, employment relations, problems of child labour has resulted in legislation by a number of countries. This paper examines the problems and causes of child labour, which exist to a large extent in third world countries and to some extent in developed countries. The article also focuses on the employment relations and the legislation introduced by various countries to prohibit and reduce child labour. According to the estimates made by the International Labour Organisation in 1980, a year after the declaration of the 'International year of the Child', the number of working children reached an alarming proportion of 50 million around the world. The highest rate of child labour is found in less developed nations like Africa, followed by Asia and Latin America. In these countries child labour is rampant both in the organised and unorganised sectors. It is found in rural as well as urban areas. However, most child labour is found in family or traditional sectors, where children work without any payment. Every third household in India has a working child. Most of the t hird world countries have made an attempt to combat child labour through legislation. However, child labour continues to exist, because a majority of these legislation deal with the regulation and prohibition of child labour and do not focus on the abolition of child labour.

The Threat of BDS

Populists are trying to take down the global economic order and its institutions. While some of those forces are fueled by racism, they are also motivated by legitimate social concerns that include massive plant closings and deindustrialization, inadequate skills programs, and lack of decent jobs. Some of these problems also concern the Global South, as workers there face exploitation, unhealthy working conditions, and other social ills caused by global capitalism. In light of these problems, this article argues that the International Labor Organization (ILO) should design new conventions on lead firm liability and mass layoffs. While other scholars and policymakers have already argued that lead firms should shoulder employer responsibilities of their suppliers, contractors, and franchisees, this is the first law article that calls for an ILO convention that can diffuse such rules globally. The article also calls on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to advise the ILO on these labor-protective conventions. The WTO, as an expert trade body, can better ensure stakeholders that these new conventions will comply with international trade law and policy, including with WTO public morals exception rules and with rules on technical barriers on trade and tax and subsidies. In doing so, the WTO can guarantee that the new conventions, far from hurting trade, will help to enhance the global trade regime. Moreover, the WTO, through its peer review practice, where stakeholders can discuss how to create and implement new labor and trade policies, can help coordinate a much-needed global dialogue for a more inclusive globalization. This is also true of the ILO conventions that we advocate for here. We conclude by addressing likely arguments against our proposal, including from scholars and policymakers skeptical of the role that international law can have on the current political turmoil. After addressing those objections to our proposal, we maintain that collaboration between the ILO and the WTO, while certainly not the panacea for all the complex and daunting problems of our times, remains critical to restore legitimacy to the global economic order in a post-populist era.

Child labour has always been one of the core concerns of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In this paper, we investigate whether ILO conventions have contributed to reducing the scale of the problem. We use two approaches to answering the question. Evidence based on country-level data shows that, by 1990, countries having ratified ILO conventions were in no different position concerning child labour than nonratifying states. Using individual-level data on school attendance from the 1990s, there is little evidence for an increase in school attendance for children protected by ILO convention No. 138 as compared to unprotected children.

Israel's occupation of the West Bank is literally changing before our eyes. What began as a form of military control with marginal, messianic undertones, has transformed into a fully fledged sovereign endeavour, which has two central pillars. The first relates to the Palestinian population and aims to restrict their access to land and to development in the West bank. The second focuses on the seam between Jews and Palestinians and may be termed the policy of separation. The settlement division of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), a non-governmental body that served for many years as the main channel for the foundation of settlements and the direction of state funds for this purpose, prepared a master plan for the Samaria Regional Council in the West Bank in 1983. Of the objectives stated by the plan, those that stand out are 'limiting the dispersion of Arab buildings' and 'preventing the creation of blocks of Arab communities'. The plan emphasised that insofar as areas adjacent to the 1948/49 armistice Green Line were concerned, 'immediate action on the subject of planning is essential both within and outside the area' (WZO, 1983, 7-8). Such candour is quite rare, and it is probably no coincidence that no government document expresses Israel's planning objectives in the West Bank in such forthright a manner. However, the WZO's professed aim, along with its central role in the planning and development of the West Bank, provides the necessary structure through which Israel's actions may be understood, especially during the last 15 years. The separation principle, epitomised in (then) Prime Minister's Ehud Barak's quip: 'Us here, them there', has become a governing policy of Israel's control of the West Bank. Spatially, the principle consists of two kinds of separations - first, between Israel and the West Bank; and, second, between Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Palestinian villages and inhabitants. Although this perception serves now as a paradigm for Israeli rule in the West Bank, it is a relatively recent one. Separation has supplemented, and then supplanted, the effort to control and manage the lives of Palestinian population. Through the deployment of planning and legal instruments, Israel reorganised its use of power, thus continuing the occupation by other means (Gordon, 2008; Dayan, 2009). Understanding these means requires clarifying the regime within which Israel operates in the West Bank. Immediately following the occupation of the West Bank, Israel began, in a calculated and strategic fashion, to settle the land. Over the years, 120 settlements and 100 outposts were erected, most as a government initiative, and some as part of the settler movement. The dispersing of the settlements resembled the work of a farmer scattering his seeds throughout his plot, hoping and intending that the crop will cover it all (see Figure 1). The location of the settlements and the system of control that derives from it was decisive in times of tension and conflict (e.g. the first and second Intifida), but is also important in times of calm, thus enabling and motivating the construction of bypass roads that created a new grid of restriction and control (B'Tselem, 2004; Dayan, 2009). Following the 1995 Oslo Accords, as amended in a series of later agreements, the West Bank was divided into three administrative zones: in terms of the division of powers between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with respect to physical planning, Areas A and B, which amounted to 40% of the West Bank's land and 96% of the Palestinian population, are identical. In these regions the Palestinian Authority was awarded planning and building powers. In Area C, which covers 60% of the West Bank (3.4 million dunams or 340,000 hectares) and 150,000 Palestinians (4% of the population), Israel retained responsibility not only for issues of security and public order, but also for civil issues relating to territory, such as planning, zoning and archaeology. …

MotivationChild labour persists in the global South. After ratifying the International Labour Organization's Convention No. 138, on “the minimum age for admission to employment and work,” many southern countries have legislated minimum age criteria to fulfil their International Labour Organizations obligations. Often, however, making law has neither significantly reduced child labour nor boosted school attendance—largely because of states' inability to ensure compliance.PurposeWe investigate, using the case of Nepal, whether legal knowledge about minimum age standards among parents supplying, and employers demanding, child labour makes a difference to child labour.Methods and approachDrawing on data from communities in the Terai of Nepal, we use mixed methods to find correlations between legal knowledge, compliance with child labour laws, and prevalence of child labour. We draw on two novel data sets: a large household survey of parents and children, and a small census of owners of brick kilns, where child labour is often seen. We also make use of qualitative interviews with citizens in one community in the Terai.FindingsWe show that when parents and employers know the law on child labour, they are more likely to comply with it. Perceptions of the law also matter, independently of legal knowledge. When individuals know the legal working age and believe it is appropriate, we see even more compliance.Policy implicationsThese findings suggest that, even when enforcing the law may be difficult and costly, informing and educating parents and employers may be a less costly way to reduce child labour. Such measures would be even more effective if paired with efforts to change perceptions of the law.

This paper examines core conventions of the International Labour Organization with possible effects on Nigerian Labour Law. The paper highlights the reasons why the ILO was established, one of which the author states as dealing with social welfare policies on employment of children, among others. The author adopts a theoretical approach, the structural functionalist theory by Talcott Parson to explain the dynamics of the international labour organization. The paper further identifies some of the ILO core Conventions to include, forced labour convention No.29 of 1930, Freedom of Association and protection of the right to organize convention No. 87 of 1948, Right to organize a Collective Bargaining Convention No. 98 of 1949, Occupational Safety and Health No. 155 of 1981 and so on. The paper associates the origin of the Nigerian Labour Law with some of the ILO ratified Legislation which took the form of recommendations. ILO expects member nations that have ratified its conventions to be bound by them. But in international law, it is not an easy thing. In a country like Nigeria with a dualist system any international treaty or law or legislation must be domesticated by the National Assembly before it can be enforced in Nigeria. Backing this up the paper cites section 12 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, which is a ground norm. Therefore, an ILO Convention that has not been passed into Law in Nigeria cannot be legally enforced. The paper maintains that this explains why some treaties, legislation or laws that have not been domesticated have failed to be enforced in Nigeria.  The author finally concludes that in spite of all these that ILO is a dynamic organization that plays diversified roles in international labour matters. That it’s operation at global level should be supported and encouraged to better the life of numerous workers across the member nations.

To determine the prevalence of psychological morbidity among Palestinian children living in the southern Bethlehem District of the West Bank during July 2000. We undertook a descriptive study using the Rutter A2 (parent) Scale to determine psychological morbidity. This questionnaire comprises 31 questions that were answered by a parent of the 206 subject children (ages 6 to 13 years). We selected subjects based on a multistage, randomized selection of 8 Palestinian villages and their households in the southern region of Bethlehem, West Bank. We used the Gaza Socioeconomic Adversities Questionnaire to determine differences in economic status among families. For all families interviewed, the father was employed, none were receiving financial assistance, and all but 1 owned their own house. The results of the Rutter A2 Scale revealed a rate of psychological morbidity ("caseness") of 42.3% among Palestinian children. The rate for boys was 46.3% and for girls, 37.8%. The prevalence of psychological morbidity among Palestinian children in the West Bank was significantly higher (factor of 2; chi2 = 23.26, df 1, P < 0.001), relative to the level of psychological morbidity determined independently for children in Gaza during 2000. We predict that these rates will have increased substantially owing to the escalated violence that began in this region 2 months after we conducted our study. We further predict that children in Israeli settlements in the West Bank will also exhibit elevated levels of psychological morbidity, relative to their counterparts in Israel.