Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Lao People's Democratic Republic (Ratification: 2005)

Articles 3(a) and (b), 5 and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour, monitoring mechanisms and penalties. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee notes from the Government’s report submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that, in 2021, the courts adjudicated three human trafficking cases, involving 11 victims including seven girls, in which four women were convicted (CRC/C/LAO/7, 19 July 2024, para. 192). The Committee further notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the following concerns: (1) that trafficking in women and children, including for purposes of sexual exploitation, is increasing; and (2) the low number of prosecutions of perpetrators of trafficking and the inadequate human, technical and financial resources allocated to the implementation of the laws and policies to combat trafficking in persons (CEDAW/C/LAO/CO/10, 30 October 2024, para. 28). The Committee urges the Government to take all necessary measures to combat the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children, by ensuring that the perpetrators are held accountable through thorough investigations and prosecutions, as well as through the imposition of sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties. It once again requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken to this end, including through the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to follow-up on complaints filed and investigations carried out; and (ii) the application in practice of the relevant provisions of the Anti-Human Trafficking Law and of the Penal Code, indicating in particular the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed for the offences of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children under 18 years of age.

Article 7(2)(a) and (b). Effective and time-bound measures. Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and removing them from such worst forms of labour. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Committee notes from the Government’s report to the CRC, that: (1) trainings were organized in eight provinces for police officers, border officers, consular officials, labour inspectors and social workers on the identification of child victims of human trafficking, for a total of 277 participants; (2) Guidelines for the Protection, Assistance and Referral for Victims of Trafficking (2020) were developed by the Secretariat for the Committee on Anti-Human Trafficking; and (3) between 2017-2022, the Lao Women’s Union helped rehabilitate 226 child victims of human trafficking or at risk of human trafficking (CRC/C/LAO/7, paras 187, 189 and 190). Further, the Committee takes note, from the concluding observations of the CEDAW, of the concerns over the insufficient victim-centred and rights-based procedures for the early identification and referral of victims to support services and rehabilitation programmes in cases of trafficking in women and girls (CEDAW/C/LAO/CO/10, para. 28). The Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to prevent children under 18 years of age from becoming victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, and to supply information on the measures taken in this regard. It also requests the Government to provide detailed information on: (i) the measures taken to provide child victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation with appropriate services for their rehabilitation and social integration; (ii) the impact that the Guidelines for the Protection, Assistance and Referral for Victims of Trafficking (2020) have had in improving the assistance provided to child victims of trafficking; and (iii) the number of child victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation who have been removed and provided with support and assistance.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.