November 20 is the day the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted. Every year this date is celebrated as “World Children's Rights Day”. But between the lines of this celebration, there is a reality that is ignored: Let's start by asking what is there to celebrate in the name of children when child labor continues to increase, when children's rights to be children have been taken away from them. In Erdoğan's last statement, he said that there are 4 million 33 thousand migrants in Turkey. Most recently, a 17-year-old Afghan child laborer lost his life while working.
Refugee child laborers.
Approximately in Turkey Nearly 3 million Syrians mülteci yaşıyor. Bu sayıların resmi olarak azaldığı iddia edilse de kayıt dışı Suriyeli mülteci sayısı net değil. Resmî olmayan tahminlere göre bunun 1 milyondan fazlası çocuk. Bu çocukların önemli bir kısmı eğitim sistemine dahil olamıyor. UNICEF verilerine göre Türkiye’de yaşayan Suriyeli çocukların yaklaşık %35’i okula gitmiyor. Ve bu çocukların büyük bölümü, aile gelirine katkı sağlamak için kayıt dışı, güvencesiz işlerde çalışıyor.
Textile workshops in Gaziantep, agricultural labor in Adana, industrial sites in Istanbul, Ankara Siteler furniture industrial site.....
Children as young as 10 and 12 years old work at the stalls early in the morning.
Their wages are often not even a third of that of an adult. No insurance, no security, no right to rest. But they all have the same burden: To survive. To run a household.
This picture is not only an economic problem; it is also the issue of human rights and children's rights. Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child reads as follows:
“The child has the right to protection against economic exploitation and hazardous work.”
And to whom does this right not apply?
For a child who crosses the border, who has no identity, whose mother tongue is different?
In reality, the concept of “refugee child labor” is often rendered invisible. Political parties say they will send migrants away during elections and then never mention them again. Trade unions, on the other hand, do not know about child laborers and do not even wonder who they are. Both local children and refugee children should be prioritized by states. Their basic needs should be met through public policies.
Food-education-housing-health etc. are neither fully covered in official statistics nor in the daily news flow. Yet this invisibility magnifies the problem itself. As we ignore it, the calluses on these children's hands and their silence become permanent. Every World Children's Rights Day, slogans, posters and campaigns are talked about. But there is a country that is left out of those posters: The country of refugee children, the children of this country grow up without being “children”. Perhaps the most meaningful way to celebrate this day is to see those children and talk about their rights. Because children's rights are universal.
Children should not be subjected to exploitation, not only in hazardous work but in any work. It is really a shame for children that the UN, which is made up of countries that are members and supporters of NATO, which is the cause of the wars that cause migration, has a say in children's rights.
I dedicate this article to all the children in the world, where we will meet in beautiful days when the only privileged group will be children. And of course my book too.
