Colombo: Over 30,000 children are reportedly employed in various sectors in Sri Lanka, a study by a SAARC committee has said while expressing concern over the rise in child exploitation in the Island nation.

The study conducted by the Committee of SAARC Action Plan under the Social Charter of the South Asian grouping revealed that exploitation of children had increased during the past few years in the country.

The report said the official figures reveal only a "tip of the iceberg and that most of the children suffer in silence due to stigmatisation", the Daily Mirror reported today.

The shortcomings in law enforcement and "child-unfriendly" judicial process were also identified as factors contributing to the problem to a great extent, the newspaper said.

"Over 30,000 children of the country's child population are reported to be employed in various sectors", according to the report. "Out of this over 15 per cent engage informally in the manufacturing sector, three per cent in hotels, small shops and garages", it said adding that over 60 per cent children were engaged in the agriculture sector both as unpaid family workers and paid employees.

Besides, the report also expressed concern over the recruitment of child-soldiers in the war zones. The study pointed out that nutrition was a problem in the country with 16.7 per cent of the babies being underweight.

In addition, over one-fourth of the infants and pre-school children are affected by under-nutrition especially among the disadvantaged families, the report said.

A series of programmes have been initiated by the South Asia Partnership and this included a trainer guide on the prevention of human trafficking, it said.

Source : PTI