EU signboard removed from Adana workshop where child worker died

After the death of 11-year-old child worker Ahmet A. the previous day at the Dağ Tekstil Business Center in Adana Seyhan, Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) and European Union (EU) project signs were removed from the building.

At the entrance of the building, there were signs for the EU-funded “Employment Support Project for Syrians under Temporary Protection and Turkish Citizens” and “İŞKUR on-the-job training program”.

Reached by bianet, United Textile, Weaving and Leather Workers Union (BİRTEK-SEN) Adana Representative Tugay Bek said, “They may have wanted to hide the fact that children and Syrian refugees/migrants are working unregistered under the supervision of the state.”

Bek also said that the employer pressured Ahmet A.'s family and employees to testify that the child worker did not work there. Stating that the incident should be thoroughly investigated, Bek added that they have filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office.

He said that Ahmet A. worked as a middleman (a person who undertakes the transfer of work from different departments in the garment industry) in the company.

"In Adana, from June to September, when schools are closed, child laborers are employed in workshops in large numbers. The whole city knows this fact. The state and the Ministry of Labor know it too. But everyone turns a blind eye."

61 children die at work every year

According to the report published by the Worker Health and Worker Safety Assembly (İSİG) on June 12, the World Day for the Elimination of Child Labor, at least 695 child workers have lost their lives in the last 11 years. An average of 61 child workers die every year.

Child labor deaths start at the age of 4. Of the child laborers who died in the last 11 years, 240 were between the ages of 5-14 and 455 were between the ages of 15-17. 80 of the child laborers were refugee/immigrant child laborers.

(HA/DT)