Child Rights in Türkiye

Seasonal agriculture and garment industries are amongst the prominent industries in Türkiye which The Centre works in. These sectors are highly seasonal, with an estimated 800,000 seasonal migrant workers criss-crossing different regions to secure manual work for months at a time, and are also linked to serious child rights risks. In agriculture settings, seasonal migrant families lack access to childcare and education for their children, many live in squalid make-shift conditions, lack social protection and are often straddling the extreme poverty line. 

Our work in the manufacturing sector has shown that during the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant workers voiced concerns about the lack of health protection for them and their families, while women have been disproportionally affected by income loss. 

Türkiye is also home to the largest number of refugees in the world, with around 4 million refugees in the country, the majority from Syria. 2.1 million of these workers are of working age. Despite having the right to apply for work permits, Syrians are mostly employed informally in low-skilled sectors where there is little transparency and social protection. Child labour is a serious issue. According to recent official statistics from the Turkish Statistics Institute (“TÜİK”), 720,000 children between the ages of five and 17, which accounts for over four percent of all children within this age group, are working in Türkiye However, this number is almost certainly much higher as the official statistic doesn’t include Syrian refugees.