cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/55343816

A new report by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) exposes how vocational programs have turned minors into expendable labor under the guise of “training,” revealing a system where exploitation thrives behind censorship.

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Here is the report: Genuine free choice? - Child labour and mandatory student internships in China (pdf)

“Child labor persists because authorities fail to consistently enforce protections, putting children at risk,” said Shane Yi, researcher at CHRD. “Instead of enjoying their rights to education, health, and development, some children are working long hours in unsafe or inappropriate conditions, sometimes with grim disregard for their wellbeing.”

CHRD drew on government penalty notices, online databases, court documents, and Chinese-language media reports, among other sources, documenting rights abuses in 11 provinces between 2019 and 2025.

Some vocational students’ internships involved working 10–12-hour shifts—including night work—performing tasks unrelated to their studies.

Other internships put students at risk of physical harm. Three student interns died—two by suicide, one after being denied adequate medical care—and another harmed himself; all had expressed distress to teachers or managers. Schools and companies engaged intermediary agencies to arrange internships while taking “commissions” from student wages despite explicit legal prohibitions on both practices.

[…]

The violations documented in this report call into question Chinese authorities’ willingness to enforce domestic laws, including the Law on the Protection of Minors and the Regulations on the Management of Vocational School Student Internships, to protect children. The violations also reflect disdain for the human rights guaranteed through the Chinese government’s ratifications of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and ILO conventions.

[…]