In the Dominican Republic, “children are subjected to the worst forms of child labor”

Miami – The exploitation of child labor in global supply chains has spread “alarmingly” to every region of the world, affecting some 160 million children, with Asia the largest regional concentration, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Seat & Toil” report released Thursday.

According to the report, child labor is in gold mining occurs in most countries (26), followed by making brick (18), work in sugar cane fields (18), coffee plantations (17), and tobacco (17).
As for forced child labor, it affects almost 28 million childrenwith textile workshops in 10 countries taking first place.

The construction sector (9 countries), cotton mills (7) and fisheries (6) follow, warn the reports ‘2024: List of Goods Produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour’ and ‘2023: Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour’.

The latest list of goods produced by child labor or forced labor includes 204 goods from 82 countries that the U.S. believes were produced by child labor or forced labor. violation of international standards.
This edition contains 72 additions, including 37 goods not previously included, such as jujube, lead, nickel, polyvinyl chloride and cuttlefish. It removes Argentinean blueberries, Cambodian salt, Thai shrimp and Mongolian fluorspar off the list.

“These reports provide important guidance as we seek to strategically eradicate the scandalous practices of child and forced labor globally,” said Acting Labor Minister Julie Su.
She acknowledged that the United States is “not immune” to these abuses while the number of children working illegally in the country is increasing significantly.

She stressed that the administration will use its full power to “hold American employers accountable and work with global partners to eradicate the scourge of child and forced labor wherever it exists.”
The report also includes several studies that track goods contaminated with forced labor or child labor through complex global supply chains, such as cotton textile products from China and Vietnam made of Chinese cotton.
Or sugar products linked to forced labor in the sugar cane industry in the Dominican Republicamong other things.

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation

As for the worst forms of child labour, which affect 131 countries, the report includes human trafficking, debt slaveryforced labour, hazardous work, commercial sexual exploitation and the use of children in armed conflict or illegal activities.
The analysis yields almost 1,900 country specific recommendations to put an end to these plagues.
The main areas of focus cover numerous industries, including consumer goods, electronics, clothing, textiles and the manufacturing, mining and metals sectors.

This includes ‘aluminium from China (forced labour), gold from the Central African Republic (child labour), Chad (forced labour) or Venezuela (child labour).

The report highlights 12 new additions from China, where state sponsored forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghurs Autonomous Region “continues to impact major supply chains.”
The report warns that some minerals, such as cobalt, copper and zinc, are produced by children in artisanal and small-scale mines; other key minerals, such as indium, are obtained from ores mined by children.

In 2023, countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico made “significant progress” against child labor in Latin Americawhile Peru showed “moderate progress.”
The US Department of Labor has warned that children in Mexico are involved in the harvesting of products that are later used to make medicine.

The report warned that “Many children are also involved in harvesting crops used for the production of substances – poppies for opium and heroin in Mexico.”
The report also found that 20% and 40% of children work in sectors such as construction in Mexico and Colombia.