2007 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Montenegro

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

Children in Montenegro can be found working on family farms. Roma children also work in the informal sector, selling small items or washing car windows.²³³⁸ They also are often found begging.²³³⁹

Montenegro is primarily a transit country for girls trafficked to Western Europe. The IOM estimates that trafficking levels remained the same in 2007 as in 2006.²³⁴⁰ Roma children also have been trafficked abroad for forced begging and theft rings.²³⁴¹

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

The minimum age for employment is 15 years.²³⁴² Children under 18 years are not permitted to work in jobs that involve particularly difficult physical work, overtime and night work, underground or underwater work, or in jobs that "bear a high level of risk of damaging the condition and life of the referred employees."²³⁴³ The law provides for monetary penalties for violation of these provisions.²³⁴⁴

Forced labor is prohibited.²³⁴⁵ Trafficking in persons is prohibited, and trafficking of a minor is punishable by 3 to 10 years imprisonment.²³⁴⁶ Inciting a minor into prostitution is punishable by 1 to 10 years imprisonment.²³⁴⁷ The minimum age to volunteer for the Montenegrin military is 18 years.²³⁴⁸ The Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is responsible for the enforcement of labor laws, including those protecting children from exploitation in the workplace. The Ministry has 40 inspectors covering labor issues, and in 2007, there were numerous labor investigations but no incidents of child labor were discovered.²³⁴⁹ The Government's enforcement efforts were generally effective, according to USDOS.²³⁵⁰

In 2007, the Government initiated two human trafficking investigations and prosecuted three individuals on trafficking charges. All three were convicted and given prison sentences of 5 years. ²³⁵¹ With assistance from the Italian Government, Montenegro drafted a Manual for Training Judges and Prosecutors. Police, prosecutors, judges, and other officials have been trained specifically on trafficking.²³⁵² There were reports of police and customs officers who unofficially provided security to nightclubs or bars that serve as trafficking outlets, which allowed some traffickers to evade arrest.²³⁵³

Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government of Montenegro continued to sponsor public awareness campaigns on trafficking, assuming funding and providing police security for one of three trafficking shelters.²³⁵⁴ It has supported anti-trafficking policies through a website, organized round tables, a hotline for potential trafficking victims, and anti-trafficking educational programs in public schools.²³⁵⁵

2337 For statistical data not cited here, see the Data Sources and Definitions section. For data on ratifications and ILO-IPEC membership, see the Executive Summary. For minimum age for admission to work, age to which education is compulsory, and free public education, see Government of Montenegro, Labour Law, (July 9, 2003), article 10; available from http://www.gom.cg.yu/files/1176469100.doc. See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006. See also Government of Montenegro, The Constitution of the Republic of Montenegro, (October 19, 2007); available from http://www.legislationline.org/upload/legislations/01/9c/b4b8702679c8b4…. See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, January 11, 2008.

2338 U.S. Department of State, "Montenegro," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2008, Washington, DC, March 11, 2007, section 6d; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100575.htm.

2339 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, January 11, 2008. See also Barbara Limanowska, Trafficking in Human Beings in South Eastern Europe 2004 – Focus on Prevention in: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, the UN Administered Province of Kosovo, UNDP, New York, March 2005, 64; available from http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/Trafficking.Report.2005.pdf.

2340 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Montenegro," section 5. See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, Email communication to USDOL official, July 22, 2008.

2341 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, January 11, 2008.

2342 Government of Montenegro, Labour Law, article 10.

2343 Ibid., articles 75 and 77.

2344 Ibid., article 148, paragraphs 5 and 32.

2345 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Montenegro," section 6c.

2346 Government of Montenegro, Criminal Code of Montenegro, (June 29, 2006), article 444, sections 1-3; available from http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=1&lid=6221.

2347 Ibid., article 210.

2348 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, January 11, 2008.

2349 Ibid.

2350 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Montenegro," section 6d.

2351 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, March 4, 2008. See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, Email communication, July 22, 2008.

2352 U.S. Department of State, "Montenegro (Tier 2 Watch List)," in Trafficking in Persons Report-2007, Washington, DC, June 12, 2007; available from http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82902.pdf.

2353 Ibid.

2354 Ibid. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Montenegro," section 5. See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, Email communication, July 22, 2008.

2355 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Montenegro." See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, Email communication, July 22, 2008.