The barracks in the early morning at the Toba Pulp Lestari plantation. Photo: Albert Ivan Damanik
The workers barracks at the Toba Pulp Lestari plantation. Photo: Albert Ivan Damanik
According to the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency, in 2020 there were 1.17 million child workers in the country, a figure that rose by some 320,000 compared to the previous year. The rise can be explained in part by growing poverty caused by interruptions to Indonesia’s economy and education system due to the pandemic. Over recent decades, JARAK has documented child laborers in Indonesia’s tobacco and oil palm plantations, tourism, agriculture, fisheries and manufacturing sectors, but the use of child labor on eucalyptus plantations was until recently less documented."Men, women and child laborers do the same work for planting and caring, there is no difference and the workload is the same and [they] receive the same nominal wages."
Eucalyptus trees are turned into pulp at the Toba Pulp Lestari plantation. Photo: Albert Ivan Damanik
The Toba Pulp Lestari mill. The company has been accused of land grabbing and polluting the surrounding area. Photo: Albert Ivan Damanik
Word spread about the presence of journalists during VICE World News’ two-day visit. Visiting one of the barracks that stood near the plantation concession area, several underage female workers did not go to work one day. A villager who lives close to the barracks said the girls had stayed behind because of the presence of reporters. When asked, some of the girls claimed they were sick or taking care of the children of workers who had left for the fields that morning. Desi, a 14-year-old female casual daily worker who also requested a pseudonym, was one who remained in the barracks. She and other underage workers are instructed to hide whenever visitors or government officials visit the plantation. “The supervisor commanded us to hide so we wouldn't be found out,” she told VICE World News. Two years ago, Desi quit school after her parents could no longer afford to send her. Her wages are the same as Sita's, $120 if she manages 20 working days a month. The minor kept largely silent and smiled politely as her aunt spoke for her. "Usually she works. If she doesn't work, where do you get money from?" her aunt said, before boarding a truck for work herself.“Children who work on the plantations too long will lose motivation [to seek a better life]… They have no dreams. Their way of thinking is short. Not only their lives—their minds are also narrow because they are often isolated.”
Workers board trucks each morning to be taken to the plantation. On the day VICE World News reporters were there, several underage girls stayed behind at the barracks. Photo: Albert Ivan Damanik