2004 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Falkland Islands (territory of the United Kingdom)

Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Falkland Islands (territory of the United Kingdom), United States Department of Labor, 22 September 2005, https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/usdol/2005/en/61913 [accessed 19 April 2024]
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There is limited information regarding the extent and nature of child labor and the quality and provision of education in non-independent countries and territories eligible for GSP, AGOA, and CBTPA benefits. These countries and territories generally are not eligible to become members of the ILO, so ILO Conventions 138 and 182 do not apply to any of them.[4357] Territories are subject to laws of the sovereign country.

Statistics on the number of children working under the age of 15 are unavailable.[4376] According to the Government of the Falkland Islands, in 2002 – the most recent year a report from the government was received – there were no children below compulsory school age working full time and there have been no recent cases involving the commercial sexual exploitation of children.[4377] In addition, the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom received no reports or complaints of child labor violations in 2004.[4378] Education is free and compulsory from 5 years of age until the end of the academic year when a child reaches 16 years of age. In 2002, the government reported that all children between the ages of 5 and 16 in the Falkland Islands were enrolled in the education system.[4379] Enrollment is based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore does not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. Recent primary school attendance statistics are not available for the Falkland Islands.

The Employment of Children Ordinance prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14. Children 16 and under cannot work during school hours, before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on any day, for more than 2 hours on a school day or on Sundays.[4380] The Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance of 1967 prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in industrial establishments.[4381]

The sale, trafficking, and abduction of children under the age of 16 years is an offense in the Falkland Islands. The United Kingdom's Sexual Offenses Act of 1956 also prohibits the sale, trafficking, and abduction of children between the ages of 16 and 18 years.[4382] The government is not currently implementing any policies or programs to address child labor, as this is not perceived to be a problem, because of the 100 percent school enrollment rate and the restrictions on employment in the Children's Ordinance.[4383] The government has yet to establish an independent mechanism to review complaints from children concerning violations of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.[4384]

[4357] ILO official, electronic communication to USDOL official, January 31, 2002. Most of the areas covered in this summary report are considered by the ILO to be non-metropolitan territories and therefore, are ineligible to become members of the ILO. An ILO member can submit a declaration to the ILO requesting that these conventions apply to their non-metropolitan territories. See Constitution; available from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/about/iloconst.htm.

[4376] ILO, LABORSTAT.

[4377] The government reported that it has no records of how many children between the ages of 14 and 18 are working on a part-time basis. See Alison A.M. Inglis, Crown Counsel, electronic communication to USDOL official, September 11, 2002.

[4378] U.S. Department of State official, email communication to USDOL official, May 24, 2005.

[4379] Inglis, electronic communication, September 11, 2002.

[4380] Ibid.

[4381] Rosalind Cheek, Crown Counsel, Attorney General's Chambers, electronic communication to USDOL official, December 21, 2000.

[4382] Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of the Convention: Initial Reports of States Parties due in 1996 – Addendum, CRC/C/41/Add.9, Geneva, May 29, 2000, para. 180; available from http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(symbol)/CRC.C.41.Add.9.En?OpenDocument.

[4383] Inglis, electronic communication, September 11, 2002.

[4384] Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations, para. 15.

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