The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commemorates the 2015 World Day against Child Labour today. This year’s focus is on the importance of quality education as an important step in confronting child labour; hence its theme: ‘No to Child Labour. Yes to Quality Education’.

Child labour is a global issue and is regarded as a form of child abuse and exploitation as well as a deplorable human rights violation. Child labour is defined as work that is harmful to the physical and mental development of children and/or deprives children of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedoms, thus violating their fundamental human rights.

The commission explains that activities such as assisting their parents around the home, helping in a family business or earning pocket money during school holidays, which are common to Malaysian culture are not to be confused as forms of child labour.

The commission recalls reports on child labour in the country’s palm oil industry as identified in 2014 by the United States Department of Labour’s Bureau of International Labour Affairs (Ilab).

The commission stresses that child labour violates the principles laid down in the Convention on the Rights of a Child, and International Labour Organisation (ILO) instruments, mainly Convention No 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973 and Convention No 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999, both which Malaysia ratified in 1997 and 2000 respectively; as well as the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No 29).

The commission therefore urges all stakeholders to honour the rights embodied in these conventions as well as for education to be recognised as a fundamental human right and as a basis for guaranteeing the realisation of all other human rights at all levels of society. This includes refugee, migrant and trafficked children.

HASMY AGAM is chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).