ISIG Assembly Issues Alarming Report: “2 Million Children Workerized by the State, 85 Fatalities in 11 Months!”

🩸 The Tragic Toll: 85 Child Workers Killed Amid Institutional Exploitation

The Occupational Health and Safety (ISIG) Assembly has released a stark statement, drawing attention to a critical juncture in the struggle against child labor in Turkey. The Assembly claims that a staggering 2 million children have been effectively turned into laborers under the guise of apprenticeship and internship programs, a practice they argue is being facilitated “by the state.”

The tragic consequences of this systemic exploitation are laid bare by the ISIG Assembly’s latest statistics: 85 child workers lost their lives while working during the first eleven months of 2025. This grim figure underscores the immense health and safety risks faced by children forced into early, precarious working conditions.

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💼 Ministry and Capital Under Fire for Institutionalizing Exploitation

The ISIG Assembly vehemently criticized the ongoing Vocational and Technical Education Summit, which involves the Ministry of National Education and large capital groups. The Meclis (Assembly) asserts that the true goal of this summit is to further institutionalize and consolidate the exploitation of child labor.

For years, labor unions and workers’ rights organizations have argued that internship and apprenticeship schemes, framed as vocational training, are primarily used as a mechanism to secure cheap labor and, in the process, violate children's fundamental right to proper education. ISIG’s statement refers to the Summit as an attempt to cement this "institutionalization of exploitation."

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✊ Arrests Follow Protests: Students and Teachers Detained

The Assembly’s statement also highlighted the growing government crackdown on those who protest the institutional neglect of child workers and the Summit's agenda.

• Day 1: 17 students affiliated with the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), who had gathered to support their peers and protest the situation at the summit location, were detained. Alarmingly, they were reportedly referred to court without even having their statements taken.

• Day 2: 4 teachers, who are also executives of the Private Sector Teachers' Union, were subsequently detained for showing solidarity with the students.

The ISIG Assembly praised the students and teachers for their determined stand, concluding their statement with an urgent demand to the authorities: “We demand the immediate release of those detained!” The Assembly reiterated its call for swift legal amendments and effective inspection mechanisms to combat the root causes of child labor and workplace fatalities.