On World Day Against Child Labor, the organization began collecting signatures for a petition against the exploitation of minors in prisons, colonies and specialised institutions of the country. The problem is determined because children got injures in the workplace, they destroy their health by inhaling harmful substances, and all this is not compensated by money. And for refusing to work, boys and girls are tortured.

We have already told you that product catalogues are posted on the websites of closed schools for difficult teenagers. We also demonstrated the facts of the use of child labour in the Mogilev specialised school of closed type and the Petrikov Special School of the textile industry. Young students of the educational colony No. 2 in Bobruisk are forced to extract metal cord from tires without protective equipment. And the girls in the juvenile unit of the women’s penal institution No. 4, who live with adult prisoners, must work on making washcloths and sewing clothes for the security forces. The income from child labour goes to the pocket of officials and the Interior Ministry staff.

A petition to stop child labour in Belarus will be sent to UNICEF, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the International Labour Organization and the Council of Europe. We believe that the whole world will get information about the torture of teenagers in Belarusian prisons. Only publicity will help to stop the exploitation of minors in harmful industries, to learn about what is happening in Belarusian colonies and special institutions, and finally, to increase external pressure on Lukashenka’s regime. Children who stumble once will not be the victims of labour slavery.

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