Child Labour News Service (New Delhi)
5 June 2001
New Delhi — Malawi's tobacco industry has become a haven for child labourers supplementing their parents' income, chief executive of the International Tobacco Growers in Africa revealed.
Admitting that the industry employs children, Garbett Thyangathyanga said many of the youngsters were employed by tobacco estates or in selling cigarettes at market places and bars. "The problem is that most of the children working at the tobacco estates do so because their parents insist they should supplement the family's income," Thyangathyanga told.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Gender and Youth, Filimino Chalira, said his ministry was aware of the situation and warned that new measures in the pipeline would empower the ministry to prosecute those employing children.
For further information contact Toko Tomita, Global March Against Child Labour; Tel: (91 11) 622 4899; E-mail: yatra@del2.vsnl.net.in, Website: www.globalmarch.org
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