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Montenegro children engaged in worst forms of child labor

Ilustracija

According to the Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which the U.S. Embassy published on its website, in 2017, Montenegro made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.

During the reporting period, the government trained labor inspectors on forced child labor, and many seminars on labor trafficking were organized, including for child victims, but the problem still exists.

“Victim identification remained an area requiring improvement in order for the government to combat human trafficking effectively. Research found no evidence of programs to systematically address child labor in street work, forced begging, or commercial sexual exploitation,” the Findings signal.

“Montenegro is a source, destination, and transit country for children trafficked for forced labor, including forced begging, especially among Roma children. Some Roma girls from Montenegro are sold into servile marriages in Montenegro and Kosovo, where they are also forced into domestic servitude. Children, especially girls, are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, internally and transnationally within the region and to Western Europe. Some Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian children experience challenges in attaining birth registration, which sometimes makes school enrollment difficult, increasing their vulnerability to engage in child labor. The higher rate of unregistered Montenegro children is mostly due to registration costs, parents’ lack of awareness of the importance of registration, and parents’ lack of identification documents.”

The Findings also say Montenegro has ratified all key international conventions concerning child labor, but still scrambles to enforce them due to many shortcomings.

 

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