Return to Transcripts main page
CNN World Report
Forced Labor Still a Reality in Many Nations
Aired June 10, 2001 - 14:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN ANCHOR: Now, in many countries, forced labor is a reality. Children are often the victims. In many conflicts, they're placed on the front lines, carrying guns into battle. On the other hand you have poor and uneducated adults who are placed into servitude. In most cases, they are overworked and underpaid.
We have two reports about such practices: one with a proposed solution; the other where victims see little hope. We start with ILO TV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREN SEKIGUCHI, ILO TV REPORTER: It could only be described as a journey to hell. Drawn from the mountains of Bolivia, these men are bound for the sugar cane harvest in fields a three-day drive away. They take their entire family with them, herded into trucks with little food or water, and the few belongings that must last them through the harvest.
At the end of the road, a straw hut with a dirt floor and no running water. For the next six months, this will be home to 60 families.
ABRAHAM ARABIYANO, CANE CUTTER: We have to gather a lot of sugar cane with your bare hands who can stand that for six months. It's very tough work.
SEKIGUCHI: It is one of the toughest jobs in the world, evoking images of plantation slavery. The sugar industry in Latin America and the Caribbean uses workers who have been often illegally recruited by a middle man. He tricks them into borrowing money, and to pay back the debt, they cut sugar cane for $3 a ton. By the end of the harvest, workers may owe more than when they started, and the cycle begins again.
A new report from the ILO says this system is a typical example of forced labor, and is widespread among the rural poor.
ANNE TREBILCOCK, EDITOR, ILO FORCED LABOR REPORT: People in rural areas tend to be isolated, they don't necessarily have good access to education, they don't know their rights, they are not close to trade unions to help them, they are very vulnerable.
SEKIGUCHI: For many families, forced labor is all they ever known. They see no way out of this cycle of debt bondage. Edilberto Jimenez has worked in these fields since he was a small boy.
EDILBERTO JIMINEZ, CANE CUTTER (through translator): It's a tough job, but we are used to. We have been working all our lives. We have no choice but to do this work since we have no money.
SEKIGUCHI: Radio broadcasts by local trade unions inform the workers of their rights as they prepare for another day in the fields. Union activists visit them, bringing aide and advice how to organize. It's a small step, but a vital one in the struggle to clear forced labor from these fields.
This report was prepared by Miguel Shapira and Karen Sekiguchi for the CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEMI HADJI, STAR TV REPORTER (voice-over): Children are the first to suffer in a war. Before they know what life is, they discover death and destruction. The participants of the "Conference on the Child: A Victim of War and a Messenger of Peace," organized by the Greek Foundation for the Child and the Family, discussed issues like the problem of child soldiers, education on the culture of peace, the peaceful intervention of cities in conflict areas, and the abolishment of nuclear weapons and the banning of land mines.
JODY WILLIAMS, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE: If ordinary citizens come together and work together on one issue, you can change the world.
HADJI: The Greek minister of defense, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, took part in the conference and pointed out that Greece has signed the treaty for banning anti-personnel mines.
AKIS TSOHATZOPOULOS, GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): This treaty obligates us to stop using anti-personnel land mines in our country in the future.
HADJI: There are more than 30 armed conflicts around the world, and it is estimated that over 90 percent of all casualties are now civilians.
(on camera): Three hundred thousand children around the world are fighting in armed conflict. But in war, children are not only threatened by guns, they often have to face poverty, disease, hunger and sexual exploitation.
MARIANNA VARDINOYIANNIS, GOODWILL AMBASSADOR (through translator): Girls and boys are used as soldiers. Girls are often in danger of falling victim to abuse, sexual harassment or rape. Modern lightweight weapons that are widely available make it possible for children to become ruthless killers. Children are often recruited or abducted in order to be used as spies, servants, slaves or fodder for land mines. HADJI: Children have to face the threat of modern guns that can kill, even after they have been used. It happened in Iraq, but governments didn't care. Depleted uranium ammunition was used again, this time in Kosovo.
DR. DOUG ROKKE, VICTIM OF DEPLETED URANIUM: The use of DU is a crime against God and humanity. It is a war crime, ladies and gentlemen.
HADJI: But governments around the world seem not to care about the health hazards or cleaning up these area so that civilians don't get sick or die. They only care about manufacturing and selling more weapons.
DR. KACEM BENSALAH, UNESCO (through translator): The construction for one missile costs as much as the education for 100,000 children for one year.
HADJI: During the conference, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a young man from Sierra Leone who works on the rehabilitation of former child soldiers through music and dance, was given the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) peace award and performed on stage.
(on camera): From Athens, Greece, this is Demi Hadji, Star Channel for CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
