Conceptualizing child labour trafficking and exploitation: The case of Roma children in Montenegro

Abstract

Trafficking of children for labour exploitation is a profit-oriented criminal activity by which children are recruited, transported, harboured or received for the purpose of labour exploitation irrespective of whether or not force, abduction, fraud or other means were used. This paper examines child labour trafficking in the context of human rights violations and as the worst form of child labour. In an attempt to situate the discourse of alleged labour exploitation and trafficking of Roma children in Montenegro, focusing in particular on instances of child begging, this paper offers an overview of the international legal framework as well as the Government of Montenegro?s policy framework relevant to this issue; an analysis of implicated historical, familial and cultural structures; and focuses on identifying root causes in terms of push-pull factors that are associated with enhancing children?s vulnerability and proneness to exploitation. Along with a set of recommendations, in closing, the paper calls for a more sophisticated analysis of child labour trafficking and, in the case of Roma children, a more nuanced understanding of historical and cultural pretexts against the backdrop of labour trafficking.Trgovina decom sa ciljem njihove radne eksploatacije je kriminalna aktivnost orijentisana profitom, u kojoj se deca regrutuju, transportuju, sakrivaju ili dobijaju za potrebe radne eksploatacije, nevezano za cinjenicu da li je sila, otmica, prevara ili neki drugi metod upotrebljen u te svrhe. Ovaj rad istrazuje trgovinu decom u cilju radne eksploatacije u kontekstu krsenja ljudskih prava kao najgore forme decjeg rada. U pokusaju da se situira diskurs navodne radne eksploatacije i trgovine romskom decom u Crnoj Gori, uz fokus na posebne slucajeve decjeg prosjacenja, ovaj rad nudi pregled medjunarodnog pravnog okvira, kao i uredbi Vlade Crne Gore relevantne za ovo pitanje, analizu istorijskih, porodicnih i kulturnih struktura, ali i identifikovanje kljucnih uzroka tzv. faktora guranja i privlacenja koji su povezani sa povecanjem vulnerabilnosti dece i olaksavanjem njihove eksploatacije. Uz niz preporuka, u zakljucku, rad poziva na sofisticiraniju analizu trgovine decom u cilju radne eksploatacije, kao i iznijansiranije shvatanje istorijskih i kulturnih faktora koji omogucavaju radnu eksploatacije u slucaju romske dece.