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Effects of Child Labor in Asian Countries

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Effects of Child Labor in Asian Countries
1.0 Introduction
According to Collins Dictionary (2011:245), child labour is defined as the full time employment of children below a minimum age laid down statute. Similarly, child labour is meant by the use of children to do work that should be done by adults (Cambridge, 2011) and MacMillan Dictionary (2009) also defined child labour as the employment of children, especially children who are legally too young to work. In addition, International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 138 (1973) and 182 (1999) defined child labourers as all children younger than 12 working in any economic activities, children 12-14 years old engaged in more than light work, and all children engaged in the worst forms of child labour – in which they are enslaved, forcibly recruited, prostituted, trafficked, forced into illegal activities or exposed to hazards (UNICEF, 2006). As well as, in our opinion, we describe child labour as work done by kids for full-time under the age of 15 and it prevents them from attending school, such as unlimited or unrestricted local work which it may dangerous and cause hazardous to their physical, mental or emotional health.
Three Asian countries were cited as leading the world in the number of products made by child workers, a study by the US Department of Labour showed. These countries are India, Bangladesh and Philippines (La Putt, 2011). Moreover, it was estimated that at least 250 million children between the age of 5 and 14, work for a living in developing countries, nearly half of them are full time. Many millions more are uncounted and uncountable (UNICEF, 2001). In other words, of an estimated 215 child labourers around the globe approximately 114 million, (53%) are in Asia and the Pacific, 14 million (7%) live in Latin America and 65 million (30%) live in Sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF, 2009).
At present, according to The Star newspaper (2011), Malaysia is among Southeast Asia’s top importers of foreign labours, which employing more

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