“Do what is just and right. Do no wrong or violence “
[Dec.07.2021]UN special rapporteur said about 1 percent of Sri Lankan children are involved in some type of child labor.
Tomoyo Obokata, the UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, said on the 3rd December at the end of a mission to Sri Lanka that he hopes to submit a report to the UN Human Rights Council in September next year.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says contemporary forms of slavery include traditional slavery, forced labor, debt bondage, serfdom, children working in slavery or slavery-like conditions, domestic servitude, sexual slavery and servile forms of marriage.
He said about 1 percent of Sri Lankan children are involved in some type of child labor, most of it considered hazardous.
“Girls and boys work in the domestic sector, in hospitality, cleaning in the general service industry. Others are sexually exploited in the tourism sector,” he said.
Child labor is particularly severe in areas populated by ethnic minority Tamils, such as in tea and rubber planation regions where children are forced to support their families, he said.
Obokata said, “In particular, Malayaha Tamils, who were brought from India to work in the plantation sector 200 years ago, are not able to own land.
Five to 10 Malayaga Tamils are stuffed in tiny spaces. No proper kitchen or toilet or shower facilities, just appalling conditions. I have recommended to the government to do something about this,” Obokata said.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by contemporary forms of slavery.
In the plantation sector, women must meet daily targets to earn the minimum daily wage, Obokata said.
A report on Sri Lanka’s contemporary forms of slavery to the UN Human Rights Council in September next year (Source: Yon-hap News).
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor, the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place (Jeremiah 22:3).
God, please hear the cry of the vulnerable in Sri Lanka who are suffering and groaning from severe exploitation of labor and human rights violations. Please exercise Your justice upon those who loot and abuse the children who have been driven to work to support their families. May the government and the wicked in Sri Lanka repent and experience Your mercy and grace, that they will show the same grace to the weak and vulnerable in the nation.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
