According to a report released by Worker Health and Work Security Assembly, at least 59 child workers were killed from work-related injuries in 2013.
The report also cited that at least 1,235 workers were killed on the job in 2013 with child worker casualties making up the 4.7 of this toll.
“There are 144 deceased workers whose ages were undisclosed. As the report is drafted upon news articles and information from labor organizations appeared on the media, the toll may rise up 5.4 percent,” the report said.
Age groups
Out of 59 deceased child workers, 18 were aged below 14 and 41 between 15 and 17.
According to regulations in Turkey, anyone who has filled the age 14 and not yet turned 15 with elementary education are considered as child worker, the report cited.
“However,” it continued, “those who have yet to turn 18 are considered as young worker. On the other hand, International Declaration of Children Rights consider every child under 18 as child workers.”
Most casualties in agriculture
The distribution of deceased child workers according to sectors was listed as follows: Agriculture (25), metal (8), trade (8), construction (6), textile (4), food (2), chemistry (1), mining (1), cement (1), communication (1), general (1) and undisclosed (1).
It turned out that 25 children worked in agriculture, while 23 worked in industry and 10 in service sector.
Ahmet Yıldız case
The report also cited the case of Ahmet Yıldız (13), a chemistry-sector worker who was killed on the job by a plastic injection machine.
“The death of Yıldız was the highlight of the year as he was transferred to the hospital, saying that he had a traffic accident. Those who were found guilty in the case were ordered to a pay an amount of fine with 24 installments.
Working children
According to an annual report “National Children Rights Strategy Document” released by Family and Social Policies Ministry, there are currently 15,247,893 worker children between the ages of 6 and 17. The number of child workers between 6 and 14 turned out 292,000.
Official tolls
According Statisctics Institute of Turkey (TÜİK) for 2012 Child Work Force Index, there were 15,247,893 child workers between the ages of 6 and 17. The toll made up 20.6 percent of the entire population in Turkey.
The number of child workers turned out 292,000 for 6 and 14 years, 601,000 for 15 and 17 years.
According to this report, half of the child workers weren’t schooled.
Another report by TÜİK in 2013 cited that the percentage of those who had a work related accident in the past 12 month turned out 2.3 percent compared to the whole work force in Turkey.
“63.7 percent of these workers,” the report concluded, “have been out of work for an indefinite amount of time.”
Bu kişilerin yüzde 63,7’si geçirmiş olduğu kaza yüzünden belirli süre işinden uzak kaldı. (YY/BM)
* Click here to read the full report in Turkish.
