By Mike Sergeant, Their faces are covered in dirt. Their hands are tough and grimy. Their eyes have been hardened by years of adult labour. Lebanon’s child workers lost their playfulness a long time ago. According to some estimates, up to 100,000 children – some as young as eight years old – work in Lebanon. The problem is getting worse because of the long-running political crisis in the country, and growing economic uncertainty here. Stroll down some of the inner city streets in Tripoli and you can see young boys sawing, painting, hammering and welding. During what should be school time, there are children hard at work in almost every workshop, garage and cafe.
Necessity: Mahmoud, 14, lives in a world of machines, tools and dirt and spends his days cutting wood and making furniture. He tells me he last went to school three years ago. Studying is no longer an option. His family needs the money, so he puts in 12-hour shifts for couple of dollars a day. Lebanon signed an international convention in 2001 which included a series of measures to curb the worst forms of child labour. But – due to total political deadlock here – nothing has been implemented. The children don’t complain about their situation. For many, school was just a brief interlude before the real business of life began. Some say they are still ambitious to become doctors, lawyers or bankers. Few seem to realise those avenues are probably already closed.