Investigations into Forced Child Labour in Croatia

01 February 2006

According to the online news agency OneWorld.Net of August 3, 2005, Ms Vrsaljka Matijevic, Croatia's Children's Ombudswoman, requested that the social welfare centre and the police initiate an investigation into child labour practices following the drowning of a Romani child in Lake Orehovica at the beginning of August. The child, from the nearby Romani settlement, reportedly drowned when a group of Romani children went for a swim to refresh themselves after having worked all day in high temperatures gathering potatoes for low wages.

As of October 2005, the Croatian Ombudswoman for Children was unavailable for comment.

Recent documentation on the human rights situation of Roma in Croatia can be found in an ERRC shadow report to the CEDAW, available online at: http://www.errc.org.