VZCZCXRO0454
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0105/01 0200927
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200927Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1272
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3547
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 3449
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2615
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 1581
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1581
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5858
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2982
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 5354
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7861
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 JAKARTA 000105 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, DRL/IL - TU DANG 
PASS TO LABOR/ILAB - TINA MCCARTER 
NSC FOR EPHU 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PREL PHUM ID
SUBJECT: 2008 CHILD LABOR UPDATE FOR INDONESIA 
 
REF: A)08 STATE 127448 
     B)08 JAKARTA 1097 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  The GOI has a strong legal framework in 
place in order to prevent the Worst Form of Child Labor (WFCL). 
Implementation of safeguards is lacking but improving, however.  The 
number of child workers has decreased following the ratification of 
the 2007 Child Protection Act.  Matters that need to be addressed 
include child exploitation in domestic servitude, forced 
prostitution through debt bondage, and WFCL practices in cottage 
industries and farming.  There are an estimated 2.1 million child 
laborers in Indonesia, according to official figures, but civil 
society suspects the numbers are higher.   END SUMMARY. 
 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
 
¶2.  (U) Indonesia is making progress related to child labor.  The 
legal framework relating to working children has changed 
significantly in recent years and a number of important pieces of 
legislation have either been enacted or are presently in the 
pipeline.  Taken together this new body of law represents an 
important step forward.  The reforms in part constitute part of a 
wider process underway in Indonesia in which the GOI has indicated 
its commitment to an approach to labor policy consistent with 
International Labor Organization (ILO) standards.  The major 
challenge now facing the GOI is to effectively socialize and enforce 
the new legal framework. 
 
¶3.  (U) In 1989, Indonesia adopted the UN Convention on the Rights 
of the Child.  In March 2000, Indonesia ratified ILO Convention No. 
182 (Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for 
the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor).  Indonesia has 
also ratified the main ILO Conventions relating to child labor.  ILO 
Convention No. 138 (Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to 
Employment) was ratified in June 1999. 
 
¶4.  (U) The minimum age for work is 15.  The law contains an 
exception for employing children aged 13-15 to perform light work 
that does not disrupt their physical, mental, and social 
development.  A set of requirements is outlined for employment of 
children in this age range, including a maximum of 3 hours of work 
per day, parental permission, and no disruption of schooling. 
 
¶5.  (U) Indonesia has ratified ILO Convention 182 and Law No. 13 of 
2003 reiterates the convention's articles on hazardous labor while 
Minister of Manpower Decree No. 235 of 2003 defines types of work 
that are hazardous to children.  Under Law No. 235 of 2003, 
employing and involving children under 18 in the worst forms of 
child labor (WFCL) or economic exploitation are prohibited under the 
law; failure to comply can result in criminal sanctions of 2 to 5 
years of imprisonment. 
 
¶6.  (U) The law defines WFCL as slavery; use of children in 
prostitution, pornography and gambling; use of children for the 
production and trade of alcohol, narcotics, and addictive 
substances; and all types of work harmful to the health, safety and 
morals of children.  The law identifies a list of such harmful 
activities and provides detailed descriptions and examples of these 
activities.  These include jobs requiring children to work with 
machines; jobs where physical, chemical, or biological hazards are 
present; jobs with inherent hazards such as construction, offshore 
fishing, lifting heavy loads etc; and jobs that harm the morals of 
the children including working in bars, massage parlors, 
discotheques, or promoting alcohol or drugs to arouse sexual desire. 
 Persons who expose children to such hazardous activities are liable 
to terms of up to 5 years of imprisonment or a fine. 
 
¶7.  (U) An Indonesian decree calls for programs to ban and abolish 
WFCL and improve family income, as well as specific programs for 
non-formal education and returning children to school by providing 
scholarships.  Additional specific legal sanctions are laid out 
against offenses of commercial sexual exploitation, child 
trafficking, involving children in the production or distribution of 
alcohol or narcotics, and involving children in armed conflict. 
Anyone exercising legal custody of a child under 12 years for the 
purpose of providing that child to another person, knowing that the 
child will be used for the purposes of begging, harmful work, or 
 
JAKARTA 00000105  002 OF 006 
 
 
work that affects the child's health, faces up to four years 
imprisonment.  The law also prohibits sexual intercourse outside of 
marriage with a female recognized to be less than 15 years, engaging 
in an obscene act with a person under 15 years, and forcing or 
allowing sexual abuse of a child, with maximum penalties ranging 
from 7 to 12 years of imprisonment. 
 
¶8.  (U) The minimum age for recruitment or enlistment into the armed 
forces is 18 years.  Indonesian law also protects children in 
emergencies, including natural disasters. 
 
FIGHTING TRAFFICKING 
 
¶9.  (U) Indonesia has ratified almost all major conventions relating 
to trafficking.  In addition to those referred to above, Indonesia 
has ratified ILO Convention 29 on Forced Labor, the UN Convention on 
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and has signed the 
optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 
the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. 
Indonesia has also signed the UN Convention against Transnational 
Organized Crime and its supplemental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress 
and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. 
 
¶10.  (U) In 2007, the GOI passed a comprehensive anti-trafficking 
law.  The law meets international standards re preventing and 
outlawing trafficking, and includes a comprehensive legal mandate 
for rescue and rehabilitation of victims.  The law outlaws all forms 
of trafficking including debt bondage and sexual exploitation.  It 
also provides stiff penalties for complicity in trafficking by 
officials and labor agents, which include harsh prison sentences. 
Penalties for trafficking of a child, under 18 years, range from 3 
to 15 years in prison, with penalties for officials higher by 
one-third, and fines of between $12,000 and $60,000.  The GOI has 
trained thousands of law enforcement officials on fighting 
trafficking.  The numbers of special anti-trafficking police and 
prosecutors has increased significantly.  Police targeted operations 
trafficking children domestically and internationally in 2008, 
breaking up several large syndicates, rescuing hundreds of children 
and arresting traffickers.  Authorities convicted 27 persons for 
trafficking of children in 2007, along with steep increases of 
arrests, prosecution and conviction of traffickers overall. 
 
ENFORCEMENT 
 
¶11.  (U) More progress is needed re enforcement.  As of the end of 
2008, there were 24 Provincial Action Committees and 92 
District/Municipality Action Committees for the elimination of WFCL. 
 To further encourage provincial and district government to 
establish the committees, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a 
Ministerial Decree on the establishment of District Action 
Committees, District Plan of Action, and community empowerment in 
combating worst forms of child labor. 
 
¶12.  (U) There are currently 1,969 labor inspectors across Indonesia 
with responsibility for child labor protection. Inspectors withdraw 
the children from work and return them to school.  Parents are given 
business training and funds  to increase self-reliance.  In 2008, 
the ILO trained labor inspectors from seven provinces, funded by the 
Manpower Ministry. 
 
RECENT LOCAL ADVANCES TO COMBAT WFCL 
 
¶13.  (U) New local regulations include: 
 
--The Central Java Government launched the Provincial Action Plan on 
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor through Governor's 
Regulation No. 23/2008 in March 2008.  Central Java also endorsed a 
provincial regulation on Eliminating Child Labor in 2007. 
 
--Sukabumi District, West Java, endorsed in January 2008 a district 
regulation on prevention of trafficking in women and children. 
 
--The government of Tanjung Balai District in North Sumatra endorsed 
a District Regulation on the Elimination of WFCL in August 2008. 
 
--Several districts in North Sumatra in late 2007 established 
District Action Committees for combating WFCL. 
 
JAKARTA 00000105  003 OF 006 
 
 
 
--The East Java Manpower Department held an anti-child labor 
campaign among companies allegedly employing child workers, 
including outreach to affected families. 
 
--Local governments in East Java, in cooperation with ILO and NGOs, 
conducted vocational training and workshops to prevent child labor 
for underage workers. 
 
--The Surabaya Social Department rescued domestic workers under 15 
years old, placing them in shelters and providing vocational 
training, in cooperation with Save the Children which trained social 
workers. 
 
--East Java Manpower Department conducted an anti-child labor 
campaign in 2008.  Working with a local NGO, the joint effort worked 
with street children and child labor to provide vocational training 
and legal protection for underage workers and street children. 
Children were also returned to their home villages. 
 
SOCIAL PROGRAMS 
 
¶14.  (U) Indonesia's Constitution, as amended in 2002, stipulates 
that the Government dedicate 20 percent of the national budget for 
education.  In 2009, the education budget was set at about 20 
percent including teacher salaries. 
 
¶15.  (U) The GOI in 2008 implemented the "Family Hope Program," a 
Conditional Cash Transfer (CTF) to the poor.  The program has 
increased school participation at elementary and secondary levels 
(ages 6-15), particularly out-of-school children, including those in 
child labor.  CTF includes operates in 13 provinces (West Sumatera, 
Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, East Nusa 
Tenggara, Aceh, North Sumatera, Banten, Yogyakarta, West Nusa 
Tenggara and South Kalimantan).  Reaching 500,000 impoverished 
households to date, the goal is to reach 6.5 million households by 
¶2015.  The program requires that households send their children aged 
6 to 15 years back to school.  Social workers verify children's 
attendance.  In collaboration with stakeholders, the GOI provides 
services such as remedial education and counseling to keep children 
in school. 
 
¶16.  (U) In August 2008, the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration 
launched a program to support CTF, targeting 5,000 child laborers to 
be taken out of the workforce and referring them to education 
services, funded at USD4.5 million. 
 
¶17.  (U) The GOI built nearly 1,260 new schools in 2008 and 11,069 
new classrooms, accommodating 963,891 children aged 13-15 who did 
not have access to junior high school. 
 
¶18.  (U) To keep children in school, the government continued the 
Open Junior High School program for disadvantaged primary school 
graduates unable to attend conventional junior high schools.  In 
2008, the government had established 2,576 Open Junior High Schools 
across the country, with higher concentrations in areas with large 
numbers of child workers to address the issue of child workers.  The 
schools feature flexible study time and location, agreed to by 
tutors, students and parents. This enabled child workers to study 
while employed.  The number of students attending such schools in 
2008 totaled 306,498, with 16,684 teachers and 30,776 tutors in 
10,368 learning centers. 
 
¶19.  (U) A major program to assist students from poor families to 
stay in school is the School Operational Assistance (BOS) program, 
introduced in 2005.  The BOS program strives to improve access to 
quality education for all children of aged 7-15 by strengthening 
school based management and community participation as well as by 
reducing school expenses. 
 
¶20.  (U) The West Sumbawa regency administration has carried out a 
free education program since 2006 exempting all students from school 
fees up to the university level 
 
COMPREHENSIVE POLICY 
 
¶21.  (U) The 20-year National Action Plan for the Elimination of 
 
JAKARTA 00000105  004 OF 006 
 
 
Worst Forms of Child Labor completed its first 5-year phase in 2007. 
 The first phase, established by Presidential Decree No. 59/2002, 
focused on mapping child labor problems, raising awareness, and 
eliminating five priority worst forms of child labor: offshore 
fishing and diving; trafficking for purposes of prostitution; 
mining; footwear production; and drug trafficking.  These were 
conducted in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, North Sumatera and East 
Kalimantan. 
 
¶22.  (U) The Manpower Ministry chairs a National Action Committee 
for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which 
coordinates child labor elimination efforts throughout the country 
and produces annual reports on the implementation of the National 
Plan of Action.  According to the Manpower Ministry, during the 
first phase of the project 2,154 children were taken out of the 
worst forms of labor and 27,078 others were prevented from going to 
work. 
 
¶23.  (U) In July 2008, the Indonesian government launched the second 
phase of a five-year project to support the National Action Plan on 
the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.  Under this 
project, the government hopes to remove as many as 22,000 children 
from hard labor and provide assistance to 2,000 poor families by 
¶2011.  The first part of the strategy will focus on continuing to 
promote national and local policies to tackle child labor.  The 
second part of the strategy will involve direct, targeted 
interventions in four sectors: child domestic labor in Jakarta, West 
Java, East Java and Lampung; children in plantations in East Java, 
Lampung and North Sumatra; trafficking of children for sexual 
exploitation in Jakarta, West Java, East Java, and North Sumatra; 
and street children at risk of trafficking and drug trafficking in 
Jakarta.  The project will remove children from WFCL and prevent 
others from entering such work.  Children will be assisted through 
educational and other services, including linkage with the 
Government's Conditional Cash Transfer program.  Many families and 
communities will benefit from socio-economic programs supported by 
the project. 
 
¶24.  (U) The National Plan of Action of Human Rights in Indonesia 
(2004-2009) contains a specific objective on protecting the rights 
of the child, with a series of activities aimed at combating 
trafficking and protecting against sexual exploitation, pornography, 
and worst forms of child labor.  The NPA to Combat the Trafficking 
of Women and Children and the NPA Combat Commercial Sexual 
Exploitation are in place to help reduce the trafficking and 
commercial sexual exploitation of children.  The NPA to Combat 
Trafficking expired at the end of 2007 and a new one is being 
formulated. 
 
PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS 
 
¶25.  (U) The majority of child work in Indonesia occurs in rural 
areas.  Children work in agriculture primarily on palm oil, tobacco, 
farming, rubber, tea, and marijuana plantations.  Children also work 
in fisheries, construction, manufacturing (such as cottage factory 
footwear production, textiles, cottage factory cigarette production, 
and food processing), logging, and small-scale mining sector.  Other 
children work in the informal sector selling newspapers, shining 
shoes, street vending, scavenging, and working beside their parents 
in family businesses or cottage industries.  There are also large 
numbers of street children.  Children, primarily females, also are 
exploited in domestic service and are often subject to forced labor, 
as well as prostitution.  There were 2.1 million child workers in 
2007, according to the National Statistical Bureau, although the 
National Child Protection Commission believes that this figure 
understates the magnitude of the problem.  UNICEF estimated the 
number at 3 million in 2005. 
 
¶26.  (U) Ongoing WFCL problems reported in 2008 included: 
 
--In Ciomas Village, West Java, a cottage shoe industry encompassing 
20 villages manufactures sandals in households.  Children from age 
14 regularly work 16-hour days for low pay, using toxic glue and 
sitting on the floor.  ILO has worked with Manpower and other 
agencies to address this problem. 
 
--Children in a North Sumatra seaport town, mostly aged 14-17, and 
 
JAKARTA 00000105  005 OF 006 
 
 
some under age 10, sort and clean fresh fish working long hours for 
low pay. 
 
--Children age 12-17 work in furniture and woodcarving cottage 
industries in one district of Central Java, working long hours for 
low pay under unhealthy and unsafe work conditions. 
 
--Children in Malang, East Java, work in informal sector small scale 
industries (under 20 employees) such as cigarette, textile, and shoe 
industries.  Several larger companies also reportedly employ child 
labor. Boys mostly work in construction and girls work in cottage 
cigarette manufacturing. 
 
--In Tulungagung, East Java, children work in the marble industry. 
 
--In Banyuwangi, East Java, hundreds of children age 15-17 work on 
plantations harvesting chilies, tomatoes, and other vegetables for 
sale to a an export company. 
 
TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN AND DEBT BONDAGE 
 
¶27.  (U) Indonesia is primarily a source, and to a lesser extent 
destination, country for individuals trafficked internationally and 
internally, including children.  Children, primarily girls, are 
trafficked internationally from Indonesia primarily to Malaysia, 
Saudi Arabia, and a number of other countries in the Middle East and 
Asia, as well as to Europe and the U.S., according to 2007 NGO and 
official findings.  Trafficking of young girls from one urban area 
to another across the archipelago by syndicates is a common practice 
and aided and abetted by officials.   Children also are exploited in 
the production of pornography.  Girls also are trafficked into 
Indonesia, mainly from China and Eastern Europe.  Girls are 
primarily trafficked both internationally and domestically for 
commercial sexual exploitation, domestic work and in restaurants and 
hotels, whereas boys are trafficked to work in construction and on 
plantations. 
 
¶28.  (U) In 2008, an NGO Indonesian researcher went undercover to a 
jungle lumber camp in West Kalimantan, witnessing girls age 13-17 
trafficked into a lumber camp brothel.  Jakarta NGO Child Care 
accused police and military of complicity in the trafficking based 
on this investigation.  Families rescued some of the children while 
most were moved to another location by traffickers. 
 
¶29.  (U) Children are trafficked to work in organized begging rings. 
 Children also are known to be involved in the production, 
trafficking, and/or sale of drugs, both manufactured drugs and 
marijuana, according to reliable NGO studies. 
 
CHILD LABOR INSPECTIONS 
 
¶30.  (U) Ministry of Manpower authorities at the provincial and 
district levels enforce child labor laws.  Manpower has demonstrated 
strong political will to protect children from WFCL.  However, 
Indonesia's Child Protection law is oftentimes not enforced; for 
example, there have been no documented cases of prosecution for 
exploitation of child domestic workers. Labor inspectors' 
involvement in child labor issues is limited.  Inspectors work with 
inadequate human and financial resources.  As they cannot inspect 
all workplaces, they give priority to large enterprises and 
consequently leave out the unregulated informal sector where most 
child laborers are found.  There also are indications that 
decentralization has had a negative impact on the overall 
effectiveness of the labor inspectorate.  However, Parliament 
ratified ILO Convention 81 in 2007 on Labor Inspection.  This 
Convention includes provisions on the need for inspection services 
to cover children and young workers which, when implemented, could 
improve enforcement of child work protection laws. 
 
NEEDED POLICY REFORMS 
 
¶31.  (U) According to the Child Protection Commission, a 
comprehensive national enforcement policy is needed, including clear 
policy instructions on labor inspection and child labor, which would 
include: 
 
--Establishing priorities for the most hazardous or abusive 
 
JAKARTA 00000105  006 OF 006 
 
 
situations; 
 
--Defining clear objectives for interventions, including elimination 
of illegal employment of children; and, 
 
--Preventive measures to improve the conditions of children who are 
legally employed and to extend intervention to all types of 
workplaces. 
 
¶32.  (U) Sources for this report include:  Ministry of Education, 
Ministry for Women's Empowerment, Ministry of Manpower, UNICEF, ILO, 
IOM, Save the Children, American Center for International Labor 
Solidarity, International Catholic Migration Commission, National 
Child Protection Commission, local NGOs, and USAID. 
 
HUME