Labor Ministry Unable to Count Child Worker Death Tolls

Responding to an official inquiry, Labor Minister Faruk Çelik answered CHP deputy Rıza Türmen that only three boys aged 15 and 17 lost their lives because of an industrial accident in 2012.

He stated in the response no data of 2013 is available as they are released at the end of the year.

Rıza Türmen inquired about the efforts of Child Labors Branch Office founded in 1992 within the scope of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Considering the norms of International Labour Organization (ILO), the main purpose of the Branch was to solve the problem of forced child workers, as part of the adaptation efforts to EU. Presenting the branch does not carry out the efforts as required and the last data was recorded with an ascription to Address Based Population Registration System Results in 2008, Türkmen stated no other quantitative effort was conducted and posed 12 questions. Instead of answering one by one to all questions, the ministry explained with a 2-page text the plans, purposes and efforts are carried. The reply to the question “How many child worker did die in 2012 and 2013?” was the most interesting part of the response. The ministry had counted 3 deaths in 2012 but no data was available for 2013, yet.

İSİG data

Istanbul Work Heath and Security Assembly (İSİG) stated on last June 12, the World Day against Child Labor, 1235 workers lost their lives in 2013, 59 of them were children. It also stood out in the first four months of 2014, 396 workers died and 17 of them were children.

According to İSİG data, the number of child labor that lost their lives in 2012 is 34.

Child labor and death increases during summertime. (YY/MEV/BM)

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