Child and forced labour in palm oil production

A new Amnesty International report shows that human rights violations are still aplenty in the Indonesian palm oil production, destined for companies like Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

8-year old children

The report investigates the working conditions of several plantations across Indonesia. They all supply Singaporean Wilmar, the primary palm oil processer and seller which also supplies several of the world’s largest consumer companies.

It describes how children, aged 8 to 14, have to perform dangerous duties on the plantation, lacking protection from poisonous pesticides. The work keeps some children away from school, either partially or entirely. Many of them work at the plantation because their parents cannot earn enough to provide for an entire family.

Female discrimination

Women also face plenty of issues: they are almost exclusively hired as a temporary labourer, which excludes them from social security benefits, like health insurance and a pension. In some cases, Amnesty calls it forced labour, with foremen threatening the female workers. The organization also tracked the palm oil trail to 9 international companies: Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, AFAMSA, ADM, Colgate-Palmolive, Elevance, Kellogg’s and Reckitt Benckiser.

“When we contacted them, 7 out of the 9 companies confirmed they purchased Indonesian palm oil from Wilmar, but only 2 (Kellogg’s and Reckitt Benckiser) shared in detail which of their products were involved”, the study said. “None of the companies Amnesty International contacted denied that the abuses were taking place, but neither did they provide any examples of action taken to deal with labour rights abuses in Wilmar’s operations.”