Child labour in quarries

A photo of a group of children working at a quarry in Bholanath, Sylhet published in this newspaper  yesterday paints a sordid picture of child labour in our country. More than 500 children—some as young as 10—are engaged in hazardous tasks in dangerous conditions. 

The children are, unsurprisingly, out of school. It is a shame that whereas we take enormous pride in the progress we have made in the area of social development, a right as basic as education is an unaffordable luxury to these child workers. 

Bangladesh has signed a number of international instruments and updated domestic laws that seek to protect child rights. However, given that more than 90 percent of child workers are employed in informal sectors, it is impossible for the government to implement the laws, according to experts. But the open employment of children, as in the Bholanath quarry, which severely hampers a child's attendance in school and interferes with his or her mental and physical development, can and must be prevented. 

Such prevalence of child labour despite the existence of domestic laws consistent with international standards points to what many experts say the lack of mechanisms to enforce the law. In order to protect the rights of our children, one of the most vulnerable segments of society, we urge the Bangladesh government to establish a proper enforcement apparatus to eradicate the practice of child labour.