VZCZCXRO4693
PP RUEHAP RUEHKN RUEHKR RUEHMJ RUEHPB
DE RUEHSV #0021/01 0321947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011947Z FEB 10 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1617
RUEHC/DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2428
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0108
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 1846
RUEHMJ/AMEMBASSY MAJURO 0901
RUEHKN/AMEMBASSY KOLONIA 0473
RUEHKR/AMEMBASSY KOROR 0352
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0301
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0305
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0286
RUEHAP/AMEMBASSY APIA 0399
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0460
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0099
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0563
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SUVA 000021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR: DOL/ILAB FOR LEYLA STROTKAMP, RACHEL RIGBY AND TINA MCCARTER, 
STATE DRL/ILCSR FOR SARAH MORGAN AND G/TIP FOR LUIS CDEBACA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD KTIP PHUM SOCI USAID FJ
 
SUBJECT: FIJI: DOL CHILD LABOR REPORT INFORMATION 
 
SUVA 00000021  001.10 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  Tasking 1: Exploitive child labor happened in the agricultural 
sector, particularly in sugar cane farming.  The Fiji Times reported 
on a 13-year-old boy who has been cutting sugar cane since leaving 
school at the age of 11.  Two government labor inspectors and two 
union officials have confirmed that children work in cane growing 
and cutting, sometimes leaving school, or spreading potentially 
dangerous agricultural chemicals without proper safety equipment or 
adequate supervision.  Children involved are mostly boys, age 10-18, 
who have family working in sugar cane farming or cutting.  This 
takes place primarily in small farming communities in sugar-growing 
areas of Fiji, primarily the Western Division.   Post has found no 
reports of trafficking, debt bondage, or other coercive employment 
situations.  Exploitive child labor is reported where children 
involved in legal agricultural work with their families are given 
excessive hours or hazardous work in violation of child labor laws. 
Hazardous work includes handling pesticides and fertilizers, using 
heavy farm equipment with little or no supervision, and harvesting 
sugar cane with machetes.  One instance of exploitive child labor 
was confirmed by the Fiji Times, and several people in the Ministry 
of Labour and sugar growers unions say they have seen the practice, 
but no information on prevalence is available.  Everyone consulted 
said they believed excessive or hazardous child labor was rare, 
although legal agricultural work performed by children aged 14-18 
was common.  Inspectors employed by the Ministry of Labour are aware 
of the problem, and make an effort to address it through 
awareness-raising among farm families. 
 
¶2.  Tasking 2A): Prevalence and Sectoral Distribution of Exploitive 
Child Labor 
- 1. Children in Fiji work in the informal sector; selling food such 
as fish and fruit, 
shining shoes, and pushing wheelbarrows at the market.  Some 
children work in traditional Fijian "meke" dance troupes, providing 
entertainment at tourist resorts.  Children are subjected to 
commercial sexual exploitation, primarily through prostitution, but 
also through pornography and sex tourism. 
- 2. The government of Fiji did not collect information on this in 
¶2009. 
 
¶3.  Tasking 2B): Laws and Regulations 
- 1.  The new Crimes Decree, created in 2009 and due to be 
implemented in February 2010, expands the offense of Trafficking in 
Persons to include trafficking within the country of Fiji, 
establishes a gender-neutral standard for trafficking and sexual 
exploitation of children, and has stiff penalties for subjecting 
children to trafficking, forced labor, or debt bondage.  These laws, 
if enforced can significantly improve the government's ability to 
address child labor. 
- 2.  Fiji's child labor laws are largely consistent with 
-Qlwinternational standards.  Some problematic areas include the lack of 
a clear definition of either "light work" or "hazardous work", and 
laws against prostitution and sexual abuse that leave inadequate 
protection for boys.  According to Director of Labour Compliance, 
Sadrugu Ramagimagi, the definitions of light and hazardous work will 
be codified in 2010, and the Crimes Decree should come into effect 
during the month of February. 
 
¶4.  Tasking 2C): Institutions and Mechanisms for Enforcement 
- 1.  Responsibility for enforcement of laws against hazardous child 
labor has rested largely with the Ministry of Labour, however the 
police have some enforcement responsibilities. 
- 2.  There are not any current mechanisms to coordinate between 
agencies.  The Ministry of Labour has started a Child Labour 
Advisory Board to develop a better mechanism for addressing child 
labor.  This board is developing a strategy for coordination. 
- 3.  The labor inspectors run by the Ministry of Labour are 
authorized to receive complaints from anyone observing child labor. 
In 2009, they did not officially document any instances of child 
labor.  The Department of Public Prosecutions is also not aware of 
any child labor cases. 
- 4.  Funding information was not available. 
 
SUVA 00000021  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
- 5.  The government employs 20 labor inspectors in Fiji.  This 
number is insufficient to effectively address child labor issues. 
Labor inspectors are stationed in the larger towns, and have 
difficulty getting out to the smaller rural communities and outer 
islands. 
- 6.  No information was available on the number of inspections. 
- 7.  No children were removed or officially assisted as the result 
of inspections.  Labor officers report unofficially assisting 
children, by raising awareness of the law, by providing warnings to 
employers who are not fully compliant, and by encouraging their 
parents to apply to social welfare for help. 
- 8.  No cases were opened. 
- 9.  No cases were resolved. 
- 10.  No violations were found or convictions reached. 
- 11.  No cases were opened or resolved. 
- 12.  No violations were found. 
- 13.  There is an inadequate effort to combat child labor. 
Considerable evidence shows that child labor does happen in Fiji, so 
a complete lack of reported cases demonstrates a failure to 
systematically address the problem and track results. 
- 14.  In September 2009, the Ministry of Labour offered a short 
training for labor inspectors on this issue, the first the 
government has conducted.  The feedback from the labor officers 
contributed to Ministry of Labour plans to more effectively address 
this issue. 
 
¶5.  Tasking 2D):  Institutional Mechanisms for Effective 
Enforcement 
- 2D, Section I: Child Trafficking 
--1.  Enforcement of laws on child trafficking is divided between 
the police, the Ministry of Immigration, and the Department of 
Public Prosecution.  No officials were dedicated to enforcement in 
¶2009.  The police formed a task force to develop strategies to 
address trafficking in persons, including child trafficking.  All 
police officers, labor inspectors, and immigration officials 
theoretically had responsibility to address child trafficking, 
however the pervasive lack of awareness hampered efforts. 
-- 2.  Total funding information is not available.  No funding was 
allocated specifically for these tasks. 
-- 3.  There was no hotline or dedicated mechanism to receive 
complaints. 
-- 4.  No investigations were opened.  This is inadequate, based on 
the evidence, and stems from the pervasive lack of awareness.   Most 
officials were only aware of the issue of international trafficking, 
and cross-border trafficking of children in Fiji is extremely rare. 
Currently, the government is working to address this problem with 
new laws, and substantive awareness-raising and training efforts. 
-- 5.  No children were rescued. 
-- 6.  No arrests were made. 
-- 7.  No cases were closed or resolved. 
--  8.  No convictions happened. 
-- 9.  This is not applicable.  See previous responses. 
--10.  Not applicable. 
-- 11.  No cases were resolved. 
-- 12.  The government conducted three conferences addressing this 
issue.  The police and DPP have formed task forces, and are 
developing cooperative efforts with the NGO community.  New laws 
have been promulgated, to better allow for trafficking offenses to 
be prosecuted. 
-- 13.  There were no reports of child soldiers in 2009. 
 
¶6.  Tasking 2D, Section II: CSEC 
- 1.  Enforcement of laws on CSEC is the responsibility of the 
police.  No officials were dedicated to enforcement of CSEC in 2009. 
 The police formed a task force to develop strategies to address 
trafficking in persons, including child sex trafficking.  There were 
four members of the unit responsible for sexual crimes against 
children. 
- 2.  Total funding information is not available.  No funding was 
allocated specifically for these tasks. 
- 3.  There was no hotline or dedicated mechanism to receive 
 
SUVA 00000021  003 OF 004 
 
 
complaints. 
- 4.  Two cases suspected of involving trafficking and CSEC are 
being prosecuted under the defilement statute.  Prior to the 
implementation of the Crimes Decree in February 2010, it was 
difficult to apply criminal charges for CSEC, and prosecutions were 
rare, leading to inadequate efforts to address this problem. 
- 5.  No child rescues were reported. 
- 6.  No arrests were made. 
- 7.  No cases were closed or resolved. 
- 8.  No convictions happened. 
- 9.  This is not applicable.  See previous responses. 
- 10.  Not applicable. 
- 11.  No cases were resolved. 
- 12.  The government conducted three conferences addressing this 
issue.  The police and DPP have formed task forces, and are 
developing cooperative efforts with the NGO community.  The 
government is cooperating with the ILO on the TACKLE project, which 
addresses CSEC and other forms of exploitive child labor.  New laws 
have been promulgated, to better allow for trafficking offenses to 
be prosecuted. 
- 13.  There were no reports of child soldiers in 2009. 
 
¶7.  Tasking 2D, Section III: Use of Children in Illicit Activities 
- 1.  Enforcement of laws on the use of children in illicit 
activities is the responsibility of the police.  No officials were 
dedicated to enforcement of these laws in 2009. 
- 2.  Total funding information is not available.  No funding was 
allocated specifically for these tasks. 
- 3.  There was no hotline or dedicated mechanism to receive 
complaints. 
- 4.  No investigations were opened.  This is inadequate. 
- 5.  No children were rescued. 
- 6.  No arrests were made. 
- 7.  No cases were closed or resolved. 
- 8.  No convictions happened. 
- 9.  This is not applicable.  See previous responses. 
- 10.  Not applicable. 
- 11.  No cases were resolved. 
- 12.  No steps have been taken to address these issues. 
- 13.  There were no reports of child soldiers in 2009. 
 
¶8.  Tasking 2E): Government policies on child labor 
- 1.  The government has not had a specific policy or plan to 
address exploitive child labor.  A coordinated plan is being 
developed by the Ministry of Labour for 2010. 
- 2.  This issue was included in the Employment Relations 
Promulgation. 
- 3.  No plan exists to be funded. 
- 4.  No plan exists to be supported.  The government is working to 
develop a plan. 
- 5.  The government cooperated with the ILO on the TACKLE project 
to research the problem of child labor and create a plan to address 
it.  The study has not yet been released, and the Ministry of Labour 
is in the process of developing a national plan, with the goal of 
beginning to take action in March 2010. 
- 6.  The government worked on the TACKLE project with the ILO to 
address child labor.  Results are not yet available. 
- 7.  No agreements or conventions were signed in 2009 
 
¶9.  Tasking 2F): Social Programs to eliminate or prevent child 
labor 
- 1.  No programs were implemented specifically to address this 
issue. 
- 2.  Efforts to address poverty included, but did not specifically 
address child labor.   Labor inspectors referred families to poverty 
alleviation efforts of the Ministry of Social Welfare. 
- 3.  No programs exist. 
- 4.  No programs exist. 
- 5.  The government implemented a plan to help children in need get 
free bus fare to improve school attendance, and general anti-poverty 
efforts.  No formal efforts were made to address child labor. 
 
SUVA 00000021  004 OF 004 
 
 
- 6.  The government did not sign any agreements in 2009.  The laws 
of Fiji are consistent with all ILO accords signed, however 
enforcement remains inadequate. 
 
¶10.  Tasking 2G): Continual Progress 
Despite poor performance, the government made progress in combating 
exploitive child labor in 2009.  Efforts to address child labor in 
Fiji are starting from a very low level of awareness and capacity. 
The government has begun work to develop the official framework to 
implement existing child labor laws, which should lead to meaningful 
improvements.  While there were no prosecutions, work has begun on 
training, and laying the implementing framework to perform more 
effectively in 2010. 
 
MCGANN