In a bid to protect child labourers, Myanmar government has decided to release a list of jobs which are unsuitable for children and prevent them from working in hazardous condition.
The move was aimed at helping protect the children’s right to survive, labour rights and right to education, among others.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) regards those aged between five and 18 as children and there are around 1.2 million laborers of this age in Myanmar, 80 percent of them are from rural areas.
Some 1.2 million children aged five and above are trapped in the country’s illegal labour market, with some toiling for up to 14 hours a day.
According to report Children were often subjected to shouting, scolding, and cursing by employers and older employees, which could hinder the mental development of children.
Myanmar’s labour laws state that only children engaged in factory work can be classed as child labour.
It is estimated that there are over 11,000 children working in teashops and restaurants in Burma.
Myanmar signed the ILO Convention 182—the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention—on Dec. 18, 2013, and put forward an implementation report in September 2015.
The government has been reviewing domestic laws related to labour rights to be in line with international norms and labour rights practices. Myanmar’s parliament recently amended the country’s labour laws and passed new ones.