Child labor is a crime anyway

First of all, it is possible to define all actions taken by children, whether by their own will or compulsion, as falling under the terms of violation of the rights of the child and stemming from human rights.
Child labor is not the result of a specific historical phase or society, but could exist in different forms and at multiple levels in all societies and through all historical phases.
It is an integrated system of violation of childhood with ready-made excuses that begin with material poverty and family breakdown, and do not end with sexual and military exploitation, which leads to the recruitment of children in the fields of terrorist actions.
Child labor does not stop at certain limits so that we can say that it can be dealt with and dealt with. Economically, it affects the family for which the child can be the breadwinner. It is reflected healthily when a child works in dangerous and unsafe conditions with direct damage to health. Educationally it is reflected by an increase in the rate of child labor. Dropping out of school and reluctance to enroll because of the financial return that becomes a priority for the child much more than the idea of ​​learning and education that requires spending a good amount of time waiting for future returns that may not come. , and he can turn into a person subject to multiple deviations, leading to homelessness, violence, addiction or involvement in criminal and even terrorist groups.
Child labor is where the child faces all forms of abuse and social injustice, but it can also be a wide door for the child to refuse to return to childhood due to some material temptations and some personal freedom, and perhaps as a result of being drawn into the adoption of behavior and practices that are no longer easy to give up.
The figures published by the bodies in charge of childhood show that child labor is becoming increasingly fierce and cruel in most countries of the world and that despite the signed international agreements and laws aimed at protecting the child’s right to a safe life and a minimum level of well-being that guarantees the child his social, health and psychological rights.
The numerous crises the world is going through seem to have directly contributed to fostering and increasing the spread of child labor, and figures after the first decade of the first centenary of the third millennium show that the Arab region witnessed movements calling for political freedom, work and dignity, and with the spread of these movements and the repression they faced and the intervention of foreign parties in these movements, which in some countries led to a cruel war, the first victims were children, women and the elderly, and with the emergence of terrorist organizations, children were recruited to become fighters in fierce wars in which they were the spark, fuel and firewood.
The continuation of asylum and internal and external migration, which deprived children of life in the protection of their families and homelands, made them in many cases a wide field for their trafficking, their exploitation in the sex trade, the sale of organs and their economic exploitation in hard and long-term work without guarantee, insurance or any basic rights.
Even the children who remained in their homelands, affected by wars and internal conflicts, became homeless, without education, without health and social care, and had no choice but to look for any opportunity to work, regardless of the nature and difficulty.
As for the children who found themselves in refugee camps, their condition was no better than that of their peers in their homeland, because there are families who lost the head of the family or breadwinner, and overnight the child became responsible for taking care of the family and ensuring its basic needs need.
Even in countries where there have been no wars and internal conflicts, despite their economic and social suffering, the levels of primary education have fallen and no longer meet the educational needs of children in quantity and quality. Along with the low level of health care provided to children, and the lack of opportunities for decent employment in these communities. And with the appearance of social habits that increase the moral and value decline of individuals, especially the so-called cyber generation, which are generations characterized by interaction with the whole world and direct social isolation from those closest to them. It also works to reshape a globalized personality with similar characteristics, interests and priorities.
Figures from international organizations that deal with children and their rights, the International Labor Organization, say that in 2015, 168 million children in the world languished under the yoke of child labor, and the world has changed for the worse in many of its aspects, especially in light of the outbreak of the global Covid epidemic -19, which paralyzed the world. The countries were negatively affected by the increase in the unemployment rate, the spread of social violence, the increase in the level of poverty and illiteracy, and the decline in basic health care. There are many countries where one in three children do not go to school, such as Central African countries, and figures show that 25% of children in low-income countries work, while rates decrease in middle- and high-income countries. of income, but this indicator is not indicative in itself or It is sufficient to determine that material need is the main reason for child labor. There are many indicators that should be paid attention to when analyzing child labor factors.
The world cannot establish one ruler for child labor and its results. Societies are diverse, and their customs and traditions differ based on the historical and demographic, ecological and economic composition of the society. There are societies based on family diseases, trades and professions, which are inherited from father to grandfather, and societies based on agriculture and tillage, which are trades that require synergy. The whole family is there for the purpose of doing work, so we see small children working with their parents, without the concepts of economic exploitation of the child or child labor or child trade in their heads. On the contrary, they see in his work with them that they are fulfilling their duty is imposed in the upbringing and upbringing of the child.
Child labor is a complex problem that has its roots in customs, traditions, culture and the level of economic and social development. There is no “uniform” definition that applies in all countries. However, “child labor” can be defined as any physical effort of a child that affects his physical, psychological or mental health and is in conflict with his basic education, as prescribed by the Convention of the International Labor Organization no. (138) for the year (1973) on the minimum age for employment and Convention of the International Labor Organization no. (182) for the year (1999) on the prohibition of the worst forms of child labor and urgent measures for its elimination.
The expression of the worst forms of child labor, as stated in Article (3) of Convention no. (182), includes the following:
1- All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt slavery and forced or compulsory labour, including the forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflicts.
2- Using, procuring or offering a child for the purpose of prostitution or for the production of pornographic works or performance of pornographic performances.
3- The use of a child, his employment or exposure to illegal activities, especially the production of drugs in the manner defined by international agreements related to drugs and their trafficking.
4- Work that, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is performed, could harm the health, safety or moral behavior of children.
There are three concepts related to children, including the concept of economically active children, which is broader and includes the concept of child labor, and which is also broader and includes the concept of the worst forms of child labor. This flexibility in definitions has allowed countries to actively participate in determining which acts and classifications they have, according to their social, economic and cultural contexts.
Children often work for economic and social reasons, since they belong to poor families. As for the reasons for family poverty, it is due to the lack of elements of the family to practice productive work, be it skills, work, money or land. Children work because they believe that the benefit of work is greater than the benefit of education or because the quality of education is low, and the influence of parents on the child is considered one of the important reasons for child labor, because parents prefer their children to join the labor market rather than stay in it. school, and stakeholders who employ children encourage the child and his parents to withdraw from education and employment.
The economic factor can be considered the main reason for the child’s orientation towards work. As for the other reasons, the most important of which are social and educational, they are second in importance.
As for the reality of child labor in Arab countries, it shows figures whose validity and accuracy cannot be trusted much, because there is a difference in defining the term child labor, and in determining the age of an individual who is considered child labor, as well as due to the lack of updated statistics , but it can be said that more Arab countries where child labor is widespread are Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, followed by Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Jordan and Lebanon. Child labor is in the Gulf countries generally reduced to almost non-existent, which confirms that the economic factor plays a major role in the spread of child labor.
The world counted on reaching a world without child labor by the end of 2025, but reality shows that this is difficult to achieve because child labor has increased alarmingly in the last five years, and this requires additional efforts and activities in various countries to combat child labor, this condemned act. By all accounts, the shame is on the front of humanity, which so far has not only managed to limit it, but not eliminate it.