The legal protection against child labour in Iraq with focus on the international standard

• Main Author: Ali, Salim Ibrahim
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: K Law (General)
• Online Access: https://etd.uum.edu.my/9269/1/s902665_01.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/9269/2/s902665_02.pdf; https://etd.uum.edu.my/9269/3/s902665_references.docx; https://etd.uum.edu.my/9269/
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

Millions of children around the world are in danger of abuse, neglect, forced labour, violence and sexual exploitation. The ongoing conflict in Iraq has left millions of children displaced by the war. As a result, children are facing child labour, abduction, recruitment into fighting, and sexual violence. Iraq has ratified all the international conventions related to the protection against child labour, and nothing much has been done to safeguard children against child labour. Therefore, the objectives of this study are (1) to examine the laws that governing child protection particularly in relations to child labour in Iraq; (2) to study the international conventions within the context of protection against child labour in Iraq; (3) to analyse the legal problems in relations to the protection against child labour in Iraq; and (4) to propose recommendations about the protection against child labour in Iraq. This study is defined as a legal research study that adopting a doctrinal research method with a socio-legal approach. Interviews with a group of respondents are carried out. These kinds of methodological approaches assisted the research in building a systematic explanation of the legal problems of child labour in Iraq. The study found that, at present Iraq is using a piecemeal approach when the legal provisions that safeguarding the rights of the children and protecting them from child labour are scattered and available in different legislations namely the constitution, labour law, criminal law, and education law. These patchy provisions are believed to be insufficient to completely protect children from forced labour or even to reduce their suffering. Although Iraq has ratified all the related international conventions, its legal implementation is not consistent with international standards. Considering this situation and relying on the international conventions that were ratified by the government of Iraq, the study recommends a legal mechanism for the protection against child labour by enacting a specific and comprehensive legislation for the purpose of ensuring the rights and protection of the children of Iraq. It also recommends for activating the supervisory role of current state institutions and exacting the heavier penalties on the violators of proscriptions against child labour. Through this legal approach of having a comprehensive legislation and an effective enforcement institution, the protection against child labour in Iraq can be positively improved and gradually eliminated.