At least 319 children have died in workplace accidents since 2013 in Turkey, where over 2 million children are part of the labor force, according to a report on child labor released by the Ankara Laborers Health and Occupational Safety Assembly (İSİGM) on Tuesday, World Day Against Child Labor.
According to a report by Bianet, Turkish government authorities do not share data on child labor and decline to conduct inspections into the practice. The report said Adana, Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep have seen the highest number of child deaths in workplace accidents.
The report reminded that these are also cities where refugees are heavily concentrated and added that 29 of the 319 children were refugees or migrants. Twenty-four children died in Adana, 19 in Şanlıurfa, 18 in Gaziantep, 15 in İstanbul and 14 in Konya according to the report. Young women accounted for 16 percent of workplace fatalities.
İSİGM demanded that child labor be prohibited in Turkey.
