cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47329586
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Despite legal prohibitions, the employment of minors persists, especially in less-developed regions like the Western and rural provinces. Children from these areas are often recruited into small workshops, informal sectors, and manufacturing supply chains, including electronics and toy production. A specific form of exploitation involves the student-worker system, where vocational schools place students, sometimes as young as 16, into factories for long hours of repetitive labor irrelevant to their studies. Refusal to participate in these mandatory “internships” often results in the student being threatened with the loss of funding or graduation status, creating a coercive labor condition.
A distinct and systemic issue is the state-sponsored coercive labor programs operating in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). This system compels Uyghur and other ethnic minority populations, including minors, into forced labor through mass internment and “labor transfer programs.” This exploitation is embedded in state policy, targeting industries like cotton and solar polysilicon for the goal of forced assimilation and social control. The coercive nature of this state-enforced labor represents a severe human rights abuse in the supply chain.
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Effective enforcement is hampered by systemic challenges and a lack of resources. The number of labor inspectors is insufficient to monitor the vast number of workplaces, especially in the informal sector where violations are common. Enforcement relies on periodic, campaign-like factory investigations rather than routine supervision. A lack of transparency and accountability, coupled with local officials prioritizing economic interests, prevents the rigorous application of the law. Inadequate penalties and sporadic enforcement are often insufficient to deter employers from violating child labor prohibitions.
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