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DE RUEHDG #0887/01 1561841
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041841Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0857
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 4823
RUCOWCV/CUSTOMS CARIBBEAN ATTACHE MIAMI FL
RHEFHLC/HQS DHS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 SANTO DOMINGO 000887 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR RRIGBY, DRL/ILSCR FOR MMITTELHAUSER, G/TIP FOR 
SSTEINER, STATE FOR WHA/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC RESPONSE: FORCED LABOR AND 
CHILD LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 43120 
     ¶B. 07 SANTO DOMINGO 1119 
 
¶1. This is in response to a Department of Labor request for a 
list of goods that may have been produced with child or 
forced labor in the Dominican Republic as mandated by the 
Trafficking in Victims Protection Act. 
 
¶2. Post reports that the following goods, listed in paragraph 
four, are alleged to be produced with child or forced labor 
in the Dominican Republic.  There are no exact figures of the 
scope and extent of child labor in the Dominican Republic, as 
the last comprehensive report regarding child labor, the 
National Survey of Child Labor in the Dominican Republic 
(ENTI), was done in 2000 by the International Labor 
Organization ) International Program for the Elimination of 
Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).  The ENTI highlighted that over 
436,000 children were then involved in child labor, 
representing about eighteen percent of the population aged 
between 5 and 17 (approximately 2.4 million children.)  In 
stark contrast, a Dominican Central Bank Director informed 
PolOff in January 2008 that there were 149,487 children 
engaged in some form of labor activity.  These children were 
involved in various sectors of the economy such as 
construction, hotel and tourism, transportation, and 
agriculture.  ILO-IPEC considers the involvement of children 
in agriculture as meeting the definition of exploitive child 
labor because of their exposure to farm pesticides and 
chemicals, sharp tools and heavy machinery, harsh working 
conditions, and long hours.  In many cases, children's 
involvement in agricultural work replaces their school 
attendance.  The Ministry of Education asserted that in areas 
where there is a high inidence of child labor, close to 
fifty-two percen of children abandon school. 
 
¶3. In the area of ugar production, there was some suggestion 
that he conditions of Haitian migrant workers constitute 
forced labor.  Up until 2005, a non-Dominican activist 
advocating on behalf of cane workers and an NGO, the Center 
for Legal Counseling and Research (CEDAIL), stated that 
Haitians were being smuggled into sugar cane plantations, 
held in locked enclosures, had their movement restricted by 
armed guards, and had documents confiscated (if they had 
any).  However, after 2005, sugar companies stated that they 
stopped the practice of recruiting workers from Haiti, 
holding workers in locked enclosed areas, employing armed 
guards to restrict worker movement, and withholding 
documentation.  The same non-Dominican activist also 
confirmed that the sugar companies no longer engaged in these 
practices.  An official from one of the sugar companies 
explained that they no longer engage in the practice of 
importing new workers from Haiti as mechanization has reduced 
their demand for workers, and government crackdowns on 
migration have reduced Haitian traffic into the country.  He 
added that the sugar company relies on a group of workers 
already in the country, most who live in community 
settlements on their property termed "bateyes."  Various NGOs 
report that the majority of these workers are illegal 
migrants or the Dominican-born descendents of illegal 
migrants and that they remain without government issued 
documentation.  As a consequence, they are wary of moving 
outside of their communities for fear of being deported. 
 
¶4. Following are a list of those products alleged to be 
produced with child or forced labor, as suggested by the 
ILO-IPEC and others: 
 
-------------- 
Garlic, potato 
-------------- 
 
¶A. Region 
Constanza 
 
¶B. Type of exploitation 
Exploitive child labor 
 
¶C. Sources 
-"Best Practices, Stopping Child Labor," ILO-IPEC 
publication, 2002 - 2006; 
-Interview with Aida Consuelo Hernandez, Executive Director, 
Action for Basic Education (EDUCA), May 2008; 
-Interview with Dr. Anina Del Castillo, Sub-secretary, 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000887  002 OF 006 
 
 
Ministry of Labor, April 2008; 
-Interview with Elias Dinzey, Country Coordinator, ILO-IPEC, 
May 2008; 
-"Haitian Labor in 90% of Agriculture," Listin Diario 
newspaper, February 13, 2007. 
 
¶D. Narrative 
An ILO-IPEC publication highlighting best practices in child 
labor eradication programs from 2002 - 2006 stated that in 
Constanza about 1,027 children between 5 to 14 years old and 
1,376 youths between 15 to 17 years old engaged in labor 
activity of which eighty three percent were engaged in 
agricultural work.  The child labor population in Constanza 
was described as eighty percent male; sixty two percent under 
fourteen years old, with twenty five percent between five and 
nine years old.  Eleven percent of the children were noted to 
be immigrants, defined as not born in Constanza.  Listin 
Diario, a local newspaper, reported in February 2007 that 
close to ninety percent of agricultural workers are Haitians. 
 Though most may have come to the country illegally, a number 
came legally with work permits or with de facto government 
consent. 
 
Aida Hernandez, the Executive Director of Action for Basic 
Education (EDUCA), an NGO that implements programs in the 
region, stated that child labor currently occurs in garlic 
and potato production.  While working, children are often 
exposed to pesticides, sharp or heavy farm tools, harsh and 
hazardous working conditions, excessive exposure to the sun, 
and long hours.  She highlighted the example of 
"buscatierras" or "earth finders," children who pick up 
potatoes behind farm machinery that unearths the field, as an 
example of exploitive child labor. 
 
¶E. Incidence 
Though EDUCA stated that though their program removed and 
prevented some children from engaging in child labor, child 
labor in agriculture may still be found in Constanza.  Dr. 
Anina Del Castillo stated that child labor occurs in garlic 
production in Constanza. 
 
 
------ 
Coffee 
------ 
 
¶A. Region 
San Jose de Ocoa 
 
¶B. Type of exploitation 
Exploitive child labor 
 
¶C. Sources 
-"Best Practices, Stopping Child Labor," ILO-IPEC 
publication, 2002 ) 2006; 
-Interview with Aida Consuelo Hernandez, Executive Director, 
Action for Basic Education (EDUCA), May 2008; 
-Interview with Dr. Anina Del Castillo, Sub-secretary, 
Ministry of Labor, April 2008; 
-Interview with Elias Dinzey, Country Coordinator, ILO-IPEC, 
May 2008; 
-Interview with Isabel Tejada, Coordinator Child Labor 
Programs, Solidarity Center, Dominican Republic, May 2008; 
-"Haitian Labor in 90% of Agriculture," Listin Diario 
newspaper, February 13, 2007. 
 
¶D. Narrative 
An ILO-IPEC publication highlighted that some families and 
small producers worked for large plantations for subsistence 
income generation or to pay family debts.  About eighty 
percent of these small parcels were only about an acre.  In 
many cases, every member of the family needed to be involved 
for the plantation to be viable. In the coffee producing 
regions of San Jose de Ocoa, over eighty percent of children 
were found to be working, with eighty three percent of them 
between the ages of five to nine years old. About sixty three 
percent of child workers alleged that they worked to help pay 
the family debt. 
 
Although eighty two percent of children in the region are 
enrolled in school, the absenteeism rate is historically very 
high, especially during harvest season.  The ILO-IPEC 
publication reported that the absenteeism rate for one season 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000887  003 OF 006 
 
 
was sixty three percent in October, seventy percent in 
November and culminated in eighty one percent in December, 
the peak month of the coffee harvest.  Isabel Tejada from the 
Solidarity Center stated the Ministry of Education at one 
point modified the school year to accommodate the coffee 
harvest. 
 
¶E. Incidence 
Tejada stated that child labor is a current practice in both 
large coffee plantations, as well as in small to medium sized 
farms.  Hernandez of EDUCA and Del Castillo of the Ministry 
of Labor also mentioned that child labor may be found in 
coffee producing regions. 
 
 
------ 
Tomato 
------ 
 
¶A. Region 
Azua 
 
¶B. Type of exploitation 
Exploitive child labor 
 
¶C. Sources 
-"Best Practices, Stopping Child Labor," ILO-IPEC 
publication, 2002 ) 2006; 
-Interview with Aida Consuelo Hernandez, Executive Director, 
Action for Basic Education (EDUCA), May 2008; 
-Interview with Elias Dinzey, Country Coordinator, ILO-IPEC, 
May 2008; 
-Interview with Dr. Anina Del Castillo, Sub-secretary, 
Ministry of Labor, April 2008; 
-Interview with Jose Sergio Abreu and Juana Diaz, Office of 
Child Welfare and Justice Promotion, World Vision, Dominican 
Republic, May 2008. 
 
¶D. Narrative 
The province of Azua has over 208,857 people. Thirty two 
percent are between five to seventeen years old with half of 
these children living in rural areas.  Azua is also 
considered one of the poorest regions in the country, with 
fifty-three percent of families considered "poor" and twenty 
one percent considered "extremely poor." 
 
Azua produces sixty seven-percent of the tomato crop in the 
country.  Though large plantations produce most of the 
tomatoes, some plantations sub-contract production to medium 
and small producers who, according to the ILO-IPEC 
publication, typically integrate whole families in 
production, including children.  Some producers reportedly 
consider children to be valuable to tomato production as 
children's small hands make them more adept at planting and 
harvesting (Ref B). 
 
The tomato production season, between October and March, 
coincides with the school year (September to June).  ILO-IPEC 
has noted that during the planting season (October to 
November) the school absenteeism rate is close to forty five 
percent.  From January to February, during harvest season, 
the school absenteeism rate is over fifty percent.  Repeat 
rates of up to twenty percent in some schools in this region 
are thought to be linked to high absenteeism, as frequently 
absent children often lack the skills necessary to continue 
to the next grade. 
 
¶E. Incidence 
Juana Diaz of World Vision admits that, despite her 
organization's intervention in Azua, some children simply 
return to working in tomato production after the intervention 
period due to economic need.  Hernandez, Dinzey, and Del 
Castillo also mentioned that child labor in tomato production 
still occurs. 
 
---- 
Rice 
---- 
 
¶A. Region 
Duarte and Maria Trinidad Sanchez 
 
Exploitive child labor 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000887  004 OF 006 
 
 
¶C. Sources 
-"Program for the Prevention and Eradication of the Worst 
Forms of Child Labor in the Dominican Republic, Achievements 
and Accomplishments 2001 - 2006," ILO-IPEC publication, 2002 
) 2006; 
-Interview with Aida Consuelo Hernandez, Executive Director, 
Action for Basic Education (EDUCA), May 2008; 
-Interview with Dr. Anina Del Castillo, Sub-secretary, 
Ministry of Labor, April 2008; 
-Interview with Elias Dinzey, Country Coordinator, ILO-IPEC, 
May 2008; 
-Interview with Isabel Tejada, Coordinator Child Labor 
Programs, Solidarity Center, Dominican Republic, May 2008; 
-"Haitian Labor in 90% of Agriculture," Listin Diario 
newspaper, February 13, 2007. 
 
¶D. Narrative 
According to the ILO-IPEC, child labor occurred through at 
least 2006 in the rice producing regions in the provinces of 
Duarte, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, and San Francisco de Macoris, 
located in the Cibao valley in the north of the country. 
Tejada stated children continue to work in rice production; 
some as young as eight years old.  Though Listin Diario 
reported that over 88,200 workers in rice production are 
Haitians, according to Tejada most of the child laborers are 
children of Dominicans who farm small to medium sized farms. 
Though children participate in secondary education in the 
rice producing regions, school-hours are reportedly limited, 
attendance is poor, and grade repeat-rates are high. 
 
¶E. Incidence 
Tejada stated that though there have been interventions in 
the rice producing regions, children return to child labor 
after the interventions due to economic necessity. 
 
----- 
Sugar 
----- 
 
¶A. Region 
San Pedro de Macoris, Barahona 
 
¶B. Type of exploitation 
Exploitive child labor, forced labor 
 
--Source 
-Interview with Dr. Washington Gonzalez, Director of Labor, 
Ministry of Labor, September 2007; 
-Interview with Campos de Moya, Public Relations Director, 
Sugar Consortium of Industrial Companies (CAEI), July 2007; 
-Interview with Noemi Mendez, Staff Attorney, CEDAIL, August 
2007; 
-Interview with Jose Sergio Abreu, Juana Diaz, Office of 
Child Welfare and Justice Promotion, World Vision, Dominican 
Republic, May 2008; 
-Interview with Bridget Wooding, Research Associate, Latin 
American Faculty of Social Science (FLACSO), May 2008. 
 
 
¶D. Narrative 
A non-Dominican activist, who has since left the country, 
stated in 2005 that child labor that had occurred in the 
Sugar Consortium of Industrial Companies (CAEI) sugar 
plantations had ended; as noted below; he now relays 
allegations of others claiming the opposite.  In discussing 
this issue, Juana Diaz of World Vision stated that large 
sugar cane plantations usually do not employ children, though 
inevitably some children would support their parents in the 
field by collecting cut cane or clearing brush.  Diaz added 
that in small family owned plots, children may clear land and 
sow plants for future harvests.  Campos de Moya, a 
spokesperson for CAEI, unequivocally stated that child labor 
no longer occurs on any of their property.  Washington 
Gonzalez, a Director of Labor from the Ministry of Labor, 
stated that through regular labor inspections, the Ministry 
of Labor has certified that child labor has been eliminated 
in CAEI properties.  However, CEDAIL and the non-Dominican 
activist allege that child labor in the CAEI property has not 
been completely eliminated. 
 
The same non-Dominican activist asserted that forced labor 
also occurs in sugar plantations in San Pedro de Macoris and 
San Cristobal.  He stated that prior to 2005, sugar 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000887  005 OF 006 
 
 
plantations would recruit workers from Haiti, who upon their 
arrival in the plantations were held in locked enclosures, 
restricted in movement by armed guards, and had documents 
taken or removed.  However, after 2005, these practices were 
stopped, though workers from Haiti continue to be smuggled 
into the country, the activist alleged.  A Dominican 
government crackdown on Haitian immigration, increased 
military attention to the Dominican-Haitian border, (most 
recently the deployment of a Specialized Border Security 
Corps (CESFRONT)), and efforts at increasing mechanization 
are all factors contributing to the declining use of Haitian 
workers in sugar.  Many sugar cane workers remain in worker 
camps known as bateyes as most are fearful of deportation for 
lack of documentation. 
 
¶E. Incidence 
Diaz stated that in Barahona, most child labor occurs in 
small, family owned parcels.  Both boys and girls would be 
involved in the practice, and some are children of Haitian or 
Dominico-Haitian workers.  Diaz added that though most 
children are enrolled in school, school hours are limited, 
attendance rates low, and repeat rates are high.  The 
Ministry of Labor has confirmed through regular inspections 
that child labor no longer occurs in CAEI plantations in San 
Pedro de Macoris; however, NGOs and an activist allege that 
child labor in sugar plantations in this part of the country 
continues. 
 
Though labor conditions in sugar cane plantations remain 
harsh, there was no reported evidence in any of the 
plantations of locked enclosures in work camps or armed 
guards to restrict worker movement.  Listin Diario noted that 
sugar companies employ fifty-five thousand Haitians, ninety 
percent of their workforce; some ostensibly are without 
proper documentation leading them to remain in their work 
camps for fear of being caught in arbitrary repatriation 
sweeps throughout the country. 
 
 
¶5. Following is an additional product that credible sources 
reported to be produced with child or forced labor: 
 
Though the ILO-IPEC country coordinator mentioned that there 
"may be instances of child labor in mining," the ILO-IPEC in 
the ENTI did not indicate what, if any, products may be made 
with child labor.  Still, various NGOs have commented that 
child labor occurs in the production of the following product 
in mining. 
 
------- 
Larimar 
------- 
 
¶A. Region 
Barahona 
 
--Source 
-Interview with Elias Dinzey, Country Coordinator, ILO-IPEC, 
May 2008; 
-Interview with Aida Consuelo Hernandez, Executive Director, 
Action for Basic Education (EDUCA), May 2008; 
-Interview with Jose Sergio Abreu, Juana Diaz, Office of 
Child Welfare and Justice Promotion, World Vision, Dominican 
Republic, May 2008; 
-Interview with Isabel Tejada, Coordinator Child Labor 
Programs, Solidarity Center, Dominican Republic, May 2008. 
 
 
¶D. Narrative 
Though there is very limited data about incidence of child 
labor in mining, three NGOs informed PolOff in separate 
interviews that exploitive child labor occurs in mining 
larimar, a stone used for jewelry, in the Barahona region of 
the country.  Diaz of World Vision stated that though they do 
not have intervention programs in larimar mining, they have 
received reports of children working in larimar mines. 
Hernandez of EDUCA mentioned that child labor in larimar 
mining was discovered by accident when the media reported 
children injured while mining for the stone.  Tejada of the 
Solidarity Center alleged that mostly male children worked in 
the mines.  She stated that children have an advantage in 
working in the mines as they can enter and fit small spaces 
and mine the larimar much quicker than adults. She added that 
 
SANTO DOMI 00000887  006 OF 006 
 
 
most children accompany their parents during mining, and 
similar to other areas where child labor occurs, some 
children are enrolled in school.  However, most schools have 
limited hours, low attendance rates, and high repeat rates. 
 
¶E. Incidence 
Though there is no exact information regarding the incidence 
of child labor in larimar mining, Hernandez believes the 
number of children in involved in larimar mining is low, 
three credible NGOs have received reports of it occurring. 
 
FANNIN