Norway profits from the exploitation of tens of millions of children

       Norway profits from the exploitation of tens of millions of children

 
Illustration by Maarten Wolterink for Cartoons for Change
 

Fernando Morales-de la Cruz wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Norway demanding that Norway stops profiting from the exploitation of tens of millions of poor and defenseless children via the investments of the Norwegian Pension Fund in hundreds of corporations with cruel and illegal business models. The letter is below:

Strasbourg, April 23rd 2021

The Prime Minister
Kingdom of Norway
Oslo, Norway


Madam Prime Minister:

I write to you extremely concerned because 72 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 31 years after ratifying the Convention on Rights of the Child and, in 2021, the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labor, neither the Norwegian government over which you preside nor the Norwegian Pension Fund have taken any concrete actions to eliminate child labor.

As you know, the Convention on Rights of the Child is embedded in Norwegian legislation in the Human Rights Act. According to Article 3 of the Human Rights Act the Convention shall have precedence in Norwegian law. According to the Norwegian Constitution, Article 92 , "The authorities of the State shall respect and secure the human rights as they are written in this Constitution and in the treaties of human rights that are binding for Norway." Article 104 of the Constitution, "Children have the right to respect for their human value."

In spite of all of this and of many promises by you and your government, including your official commitment to support the Sustainable Development Goals and help advance, protect and defend human rights and children’s rights around the world, Norway profits today from the exploitation of tens of millions of poor and defenseless children via the investments of the Norwegian Pension Fund in hundreds of corporations with cruel and illegal business models that are the opposite of the SDGs and exploit child laborers to reduce costs and increase profits.

This is extremely serious because, besides being cruel and illegal according to Norwegian law and international law, it is about Norway, one of the richest countries on earth profiting from the exploitation of tens of millions of some of the poorest children on earth.

It is safe to say that the “ethical” coffee, tea, and cocoa consumed by you, by all in the Norwegian government and Parliament, and even by the King of Norway, are produced with slave and child labor. False “development aid” initiatives funded by Norway and the lack of meaningful commitment to the rule of law fuel misery, hunger, malnutrition, child labor, and forced migration in the Norwegian supply chain and in the supply chain of hundreds of the corporations in which Norway is a shareholder.

As things stand, Norway discriminates against exploited children and ignores their fundamental rights. While these poor children might be invisible to most Norwegian citizens, you and I, and most journalists, know very well that they exist, even if the Norwegian media does not report much about them. These poor children are innocent victims of the indifference of otherwise good people. They are victims of cruel, exploitative, and illegal business models that generate billions of euros in profits per year to the Norwegians via the Norwegian Pension Fund.

Norges Bank, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and the Council on Ethics cannot continue to claim to the national and international media that the Norwegian Pension Fund follows strict ethical guidelines while it profits from the exploitation of tens of millions of defenseless child workers.

Even if the exploitation by corporations of tens of millions of poor and defenseless children is extremely profitable for Norway and other investors, I truly hope that your government will act in defense of human rights and the rule of law with urgency and with all legal, political, and material means at your disposal. Doing nothing is tantamount to consenting to, aiding, and abetting a tragic crime against humanity, perpetrated against tens of millions of poor and defenseless children.

June 12th is the World Day Against Child Labor, I hope that you will use this date to announce that Norway has decided to stop profiting from the exploitation of tens of millions of poor and defenseless children. It is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,



Fernando Morales-de la Cruz




cc. Ms. Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Jan Tore Sanner, Minister of Finance

Mr. Øystein Olsen, Governor Norges Bank

Mr Johan H. Andresen, Chair Council on Ethics

Mr Nikolai Tangen, CEO Norwegian Pension Fund



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