Tobacco industry uses Indonesian child labourers

The tobacco industry employs about six million Indonesians. This includes many children that face hazardous conditions while working on the fields.

Human rights groups have long noted the dangers of working conditions on tobacco farms, especially for the vulnerable youth. Exposure to nicotine can enter a human body through skin pores and cause adverse effects.

"I do feel tired sometimes and my body hurts. My hands are always black because I fold the leaves and turn them around to dry them," Ebing, a child labour worker, told the press.

International media has discovered that children as young as 10 have been working on tobacco plantations despite the country having the minimum age limit for the job set as 15.

Prio Adi Nugroho, a reseacher into child labour, said the tobacco firms never investigate operations at the plantations despite knowing the widespread practice of child labour there.

Researchers are also worried these child workers could start smoking so early in their life. According to the World Health Organization, 36.2 % of Indonesian boys aged 13 to 15 smoke.