Pakistan has yet to submit the Periodic report on compliance of United Nations Child Rights Committee (UNCRC) due in December 2012 which is obligatory for all member states after every two-years. Talking to APP here on Sunday, National Manager, Child Labour Program, Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC) Rashid Aziz said Pakistan ratified UNCRC in 1990 and is bound to submit report on steps taken for safe guarding and securing children rights but the current report has not sent to the committee yet.
He further informed that around 40 cases of heinous crimes on child domestic labourers were reported after the issue was highlighted due to the death of Shazia, a teen age domestic worker who died on January 22, 2010. "Recently one case of domestic child labour were reported each from Lahore, Gujranwala and Sailkot in which two children were murdered and one lost her leg due to violence and torture by the owners".
This year, he added, `the International Day Against Child Labour' which is observed around the globe on June 12 is focussed to spotlight child labour in domestic work and it is time for taking action for protecting lives of children. He stated that Pakistan adopted "Employment of Children act" in 1991 and after the introduction of article 25-A, `the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2012', every child from the age of 5-15 has constitutional right to get free education.
He urged to ban child domestic labour to protect our future generation. He further said, "India banned child domestic labour in 1996 and now it is imperative for us to focus on the issue and prepare a concrete strategy for eradicating this menace from the society".
Arshad further said these children live a life of slaves who do not have fix working hours, deprived of proper food and living conditions which are against basic human rights. He also pointed out that `Child Protection Policy' which was presented in cabinet in 2009 for approval is still in doldrums, adding that almost 50 percent of our population consists of children below age of 18 and ignoring their rights will result in severe consequences.
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