(The Guardian) – Children continue to be trapped in domestic servitude in Venezuela, taken into military service in Eritrea and made to labour in cotton fields in Uzbekistan, as 10% of the world’s children are forced to work. About 40% of countries surveyed are not doing enough to protect children from employment, according to a report released on Tuesday by the US department of labour. The study, which analysed more than 140 countries, showed that 168 million children are made to work. Children are employed in dangerous agricultural work, carpet weaving, stone quarrying, domestic work and scavenging on waste sites. Some are held in bonded labour and forced to serve in armed conflict or help traffic illicit drugs, while others are trafficked for commercial exploitation.
