Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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23 Children
Basic Information
23.01 The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Turkey 2004 reported that:
“With 1.5 million babies born each year in Turkey, the need to ensure that basic health, welfare and education services are maintained for this and future generations of children has never been more pressing. UNICEF has committed its resources globally to create ‘A World Fit for Children’ by working in the five priority areas of girl’s education, early childhood development, immunisation ‘plus’, fighting HIV/AIDS and protecting children from violence, exploitation, abuse and discrimination. We believe that gains for children in these five areas will contribute significantly to the full realisation of children’s rights. “[91c]
23.02 The USSD 2005 report noted that:
“The government was committed to furthering children’s welfare and worked to expand opportunities in education and health. The Children’s Rights Monitoring and Assessment High Council monitored compliance with the Children’s Rights Convention… The government provides health services to citizens who lack health insurance. Children of parents with health insurance are covered under their parents’ plans. Boys and girls have equal access to health care. Child abuse was a problem. There were a significant number of honor killings of girls by immediate family members, sometimes by juvenile male relatives... In October [2005] police arrested five employees of the Malatya state orphanage in connection with an investigation into the alleged torture and abuse of children at the institution.” [5b] (Section 5)
23.03 The European Commission 2005 report recognised that:
“Some steps were taken to address the persistent problem of street children. A Parliamentary Committee for Street Children was established in November 2004 and issued several reports with policy recommendations. Following the establishment of this Committee, a circular was issued by the Prime Minister’s Office in March 2005 introducing a pilot scheme for such children in eight provinces. The model aims at providing medical care, rehabilitation and education for these children and at their re-integration into society.” [71d] (p34)
23.04 The EC 2006 report stated that “The incidence of street children, child poverty and child labour remains significant. The Turkish Labour Law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15. However, there are shortcomings regarding the application of the law.” [71a] (p19)
23.06 The USSD 2005 report noted that:
“There are comprehensive laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in the workplace the government generally sought to implement them but was hampered by lack of personnel and resources. The law prohibits the employment of children younger than 15 and prohibits children under 16 from working more than 8 hours a day. At age 15 children may engage in light work provided they remain in school…The law prohibits children attending school from working more than 2 hours per day or 10 hours per week. The Ministry of Labor effectively enforced these restrictions in workplaces that were covered by the labor law, which included medium and large-scale industrial and service sector enterprises. A number of sectors are not covered by the law, including small-scale agricultural enterprises, maritime and air transportation, family handicraft businesses, and small shops. Nonetheless, child labor was widespread. The State Statistical Institute reported that the number of child laborers between the ages of 12 and 17 dropped from 948 thousand in 2003 to 764 thousand in 2004; however, some observers claimed that there were no reliable statistics in this field and that the actual number of working children was rising.” [5b] (Section 6d)