Children Are At Risk Of Becoming Laborers Because Of The High Demand For Hand Sanitizers

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The British research institute, Verisk Maplecroft, said that the high demand for hand sanitizers can increase the number of child laborers in sugarcane plantations. Sugarcane is the raw material for making ethanol for hand sanitizer gel.

Verisk Maplecroft said that business actors in the 7 largest sugarcane producing countries often use child labor and even forced labor. Seven countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Thailand.

"Many structural problems facing sugarcane-producing countries ... are starting to be ignored due to the pandemic," said the head of Maplecroft's American unit, Jimena Blanco, as reported, Antara, Thursday, September 17.

After successfully reducing the number of child laborers for decades, the United Nations warns that millions of children around the world are vulnerable to being employed on plantations because schools are closed and their parents face financial difficulties. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an economic crisis in many countries.

The UN's special envoy for modern slavery, on Wednesday, September 16, said that the poor are vulnerable to forced labor. He said, companies that exploit workers to make medicines and medical devices to tackle COVID-19 must take responsibility.

The high demand for personal protective equipment, such as masks, has forced the government and business actors to compete to buy these items from a number of new suppliers.

"This urgent need forgets the social impact that followed," said Verisk Maplecroft human rights observer Victoria Gama. He also urged business actors to increase transparency in the global supply chain for goods.

He said his party could not yet estimate how much sugarcane production would be used for hand sanitizers, considering that this commodity is also used for many products such as sugar and biofuels.

Consumer pressure

In Mexico, the country most vulnerable to child labor, schools are closed during the pandemic and learning is being shifted from classrooms to television. However, many children in small towns do not have TVs at home.

The non-profit organization World Vision is currently working to ensure that children from migrant groups can attend school, prevent them from dropping out of school, and improve teacher training.

Project director Oscar Castillo worries that many children will be working on the plantations if schools don't reopen in January 2021.

"We need a holistic approach," said Castillo. He added that people also have to check the background of a product before buying.

"If you say I will no longer buy from you, it will add pressure to the industry, but you have not solved the problem."

The existence of the COVID-19 pandemic and budget cuts from the government have weakened supervision of workers. This condition can increase the number of violations against workers' rights.

Thus, Blanco, an observer from Verisk Maplecroft, said that pressure from consumers helped to have a positive impact on the fulfillment of labor rights.

"We can contribute more, although from a business perspective the violations against labor will not end, it has the potential to be even worse," he said.