Exploiting the poverty of citizens in the Gaza Strip towards large employment...a crime against humanity and childhood

With the deterioration of the economic conditions in the Gaza Strip and their exacerbation to an extent that threatens the lives of citizens and keeps the vast majority of them below the poverty line, the urgent need for employment in the Strip and the search for work in any way, even if simple, in order to earn a living, and what has been observed during recent years and in light of the continuation of the economic blockade that The percentage of employment has increased significantly among the poor, especially among young people who are keen to help their families. The phenomenon of young children working and being absent from school to support their families has surfaced, sometimes due to the father’s illness, the death of the father, or the inability of the head of the family to fulfill all living requirements due to the size of the household. Large families, as some of them may include more than ten children due to the huge population, in addition to modern employment among girls and women in their fields of specialization such as weaving, spinning, sewing, and working in shifts also in a number of factories, office jobs, etc…

There are many witnesses from the Gaza Strip of children defying the hot weather in the summer and the cold in the winter. They work harshly in selling stones, building materials, gravel, steel, etc., where they use some pets such as a donkey or a horse in search of collecting a very small number of shekels at the end of a tiring and hard day to help their families in light of the lack of resources. Financially, and given the dependence of families on foreign aid, which is not sufficient to achieve even a small part of the exorbitant and expensive living costs …

We monitor daily children wandering in the streets, alleys, and on the seashore, selling nuts, biscuits, sweets, and crackers, amid a constant feeling of fear, especially when working in the port of Gaza, where this feeling turns into shame, of having to sell biscuits to people, and some people do not treat them well, and sometimes children of their age stand playing And they laugh with their parents while the poor sell biscuits, and this makes them feel jealous in light of the clear differences between some rich families and most of the other poor families...

UNICEF has been working for years to identify children at risk, including those involved in child labour, through child protection advisers and case managers who work in the 20 UNICEF-supported family centers across the Gaza Strip.

When a working child is identified, UNICEF tries to get him back into the education system, sometimes by offering vocational training. Counselors provide educational and psychosocial support to the children, while helping families contact the Ministry of Social Development in order to request financial support, short-term job opportunities or small business projects.

In light of the wide spread of working cases among children, some parents are convinced that their children attend protection awareness sessions, with the father realizing that there is support available for his son, but there are many cases whose owners suffer from psychological and social trauma as a result of the battles and wars imposed on Gaza, and they need more From individual counseling sessions based on mental health and life skills courses in order to increase children’s self-confidence, ease their suffering and dispel their fears in order to have an opportunity to play safely in the afternoon and evening hours after a reassuring and calm return to schools …

There are many cases of compulsory work among women, girls, and young men, in addition to children, some of which stem from the illness of parents and the need for help, and others from insufficient aid. In all cases, the work here appears to be compulsory and imposed on the shoulders of those workers who are supposed to be in other locations such as education, study or travel. Abroad, obtaining university scholarships, or decent and free work in companies and sectors that the sector lacks. Therefore, extreme poverty contributes to the imposition of a high level of employment. Here, there is a need for an in-depth investigation into the existence of cases of exploitation by employers in two aspects: the first is the imposition of many working hours on the Gazan citizen and the exploitation of his urgent need for funds On the one hand, providing low and simple salaries that are not enough to cover a living, and this is considered a flagrant violation of workers’ rights and persecution of them, and it must stop …

Even in the cases of workers from the elderly citizens who cross the crossings daily and go to work inside the Palestinian interior, we find that brokers, the occupation and settlers alike are the cause of every calamity. They blackmailed the needs of needy families in the Gaza Strip, and stole their children from their schools to fill their pockets without accountability or oversight and without scruples of values or morals...

In this context, there are many painful scenes of workers staggering for long hours before leaving the crossings, in addition to the lack of insurance for their health, future and life, and they are always at risk of falling during work. There are many cases in which workers were killed, especially in the West Bank. Who is responsible for managing the workers’ file and where did he arrive? Child labor file, this file that revolves between reality, solutions and laws?

According to recent statistics, more than 5 percent of Palestinian children under 15 years of age work, and most of them are from the West Bank. However, the statistics in the Gaza Strip are also large. Child labor, as is customary, violates national and international laws and regulations. This is an important area for research and review. What is also of concern is that the largest percentage Of the children engage in activities in which there is no protection from any aspect, according to updated data, about 63% of working children within the age group (10-17 years) are concentrated in mining, construction and agricultural activities, which means that the risks are high, which sounds a great danger It expands under cover of night due to the exploitation of families’ need for a source of income, and the exploitation of that need by dark merchants by stealing the lives of children.

In this regard, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor says: “Articles 14 and Article 93 of the Palestinian Labor Law prohibit the employment of children under the age of 15, and children between the ages of 15-17 are allowed to work, but under certain conditions, the most prominent of which are that these works are not dangerous and that the working hours are In addition to providing medical examinations for children every six months.

These necessary issues lead us to talk about the need for a framework that protects workers, preserves the rights of young children, prevents their absence and dropout from schools, and searches for other opportunities to help poor families, but the situation is very different, and the phenomenon of exploiting poverty for the sake of large workers has become a disturbing phenomenon in which exploitation and injustice reach the point of crime. The Gazan citizen will remain threatened with the theft of his honorable life under pain of a living. What is required is broad national and institutional solidarity to confront child labor in general and in the settlements in particular, and to fight all those involved in it, because the lives of our children are more important than their pockets and more important than those farms and settlements, which are built on the suffering and sacrifices of our people.

What is required is a living without oppression, humiliation or threat, and this is one of the simplest human rights, and it is our right to get rid of the occupation because it is the basis of all evils and the quagmire of the merchants of death, no matter how different their roles are. Is there any answer?

Taking into account that 53 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip are children under the age of sixteen and the phenomenon of child labor has been monitored for years, meaning that it is not new to Palestinian society, what is new and dangerous is its exacerbation due to the blockade and difficult conditions as a result of unemployment and lack of job opportunities. Future psychological and physical risks for these children, who should be the youth of the future to participate in building the Palestinian society.

The solution "lies in finding ways out for contentious political issues between the factions and the Palestinian Authority, with the aim of opening future prospects for all economic issues as well."