A/HRC/23/48
69.
In particular, as highlighted by both the Committee on the Rights of the Child 23 and
the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, 24
States have a responsibility to listen to and take into account the views of children who may
be affected by policy measures that are planned, in particular paying attention to ensuring
that marginalized and disadvantaged children, such as exploited children, street children or
refugee children, are not excluded from consultative processes.
70.
Measures to boycott or ban goods made by child labourers were reported to have had
a negative impact on some of the children who were intended to benefit, because most often
employers reacted by laying off underage workers, en masse, without warning and without
compensation.25
71.
The campaign alleging forced child labour in the cultivation of cocoa in one or more
West African countries deserves particular mention, as several publications have reported
that children have been trafficked for the purpose of subjecting them to forced labour
working on cocoa farms. Following publicity in the media at the end of 2000 and again in
April 2001 that children from within the region were being trafficked into slave labour or
forced labour on cocoa farms, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association convened a
meeting of those it considered to be key stakeholders. In September 2001 these
stakeholders signed the Protocol for the Growing and Processing of Cocoa Beans and their
Derivative Products in a Manner that Complies with ILO Convention 182 Concerning the
Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
Nevertheless, in 2012 the news agency CNN widely documented and reported cases of
trafficked children still working in cocoa farms in the West African region as part of its
year-long campaign, the Freedom Project on ending human trafficking and modern-day
slavery.
5.
Unintended negative consequences of measures for addressing demand
72.
Principle 3 of the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and
Human Trafficking highlights the potential for negative interaction between established
rights and new measures to address trafficking. The commentary on the Recommended
Principles and Guidelines stresses, in relation to the responses of States to human
trafficking, that “human rights law also confirms that States cannot violate nondiscrimination principles or norms protecting economic, social and cultural rights when
developing or implementing their response to trafficking”. 26 Principle 3 also mentions
particularly the rights of those in potentially vulnerable situations due to immigration
status, stating: “Anti-trafficking measures shall not adversely affect the human rights and
dignity of persons, in particular the rights of those who have been trafficked, and of
migrants, internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum-seekers.” It makes explicit a
responsibility to extend the principle of proportionality to all people, regardless of
citizenship of immigration status.
73.
In its general comment No. 27 (1999) on freedom of movement, the Human Rights
Committee emphasized the importance of the principle of proportionality, in the context of
principles which were applicable when determining what restrictions it is legitimate for
States to impose on freedom of movement. It reads: “Restrictive measures must conform to
the principle of proportionality; they must be appropriate to achieve their protective
23
24
25
26
In its general comment No. 12 (2009) on the right of the child to be heard, para. 118.
A/67/291, para. 11.
For example, Alec Fyfe, The worldwide movement against child labour – Progress and future
directions (Geneva, ILO, 2007), p. 53.
Recommended principles and guidelines: Commentary, p. 38.
17
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