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Child labour is rife in Myanmar听Picture: 漏 Marcel Crozet / ILO

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When a boat stacked with gravel moors at a jetty in Yangon, 14-year-old Aung Htet Myat fills a basket he then carries on his back to trucks that whisk the load to construction sites springing up across Myanmar鈥檚 booming biggest city.

For each basket a labour broker rewards the boy with a stick听he puts in a plastic bottle tied to his belt. At the end of the听shift, which at the busiest times can last up to 24 hours, he听exchanges the sticks for cash 鈥� 100 baskets earns him about听$2.50.

鈥淚 carry baskets with stones the whole day,鈥� said Aung Htet听Myat, who has worked at the jetty for the last two years. 鈥淚f听there is no gravel boat to unload, I help bus drivers as an听assistant.鈥�

One in five children in Myanmar aged 10 to 17 go to work听instead of school, according to figures from a census report on听employment published last month, and the opening up of the听economy since 2011 has triggered a spike on demand for labour.听

As the former Burma emerges from nearly 50 years of neglect听under military rule, Yangon has been transformed into a vast听construction site.

Than Than Win and her two teenage sons began working at the听same jetty as Aung Htet Myat after her husband died. The family听now rely on a labour broker who lends her money in return for听on-demand, non-stop work when a boat arrives.

鈥淗e gives us a place to stay and we can also take money from听him when we have no job,鈥� said Than Than Win, as nearby her sons听carried another load of gravel on their backs. 鈥淲e have no way听to pay it back, so whenever he asks us to work we can鈥檛 refuse.鈥�

Her story is common in Yangon鈥檚 slums, filled with people听who have flocked from the countryside as the economy has boomed,听says Michael Slingsby, an urban poverty expert based in the听city.

鈥淧eople borrow money from lenders and in order to repay听their debts children are being sent out to work,鈥� he said.

A girl manufacturing cigars in the Inle Lake area

May Win Myint, a senior member of Aung San Suu Kyi鈥檚 National League for Democracy (NLD) which took power this month, said tackling child labour was one of the party鈥檚 goals.

鈥淚f we cannot solve this problem, there will not be any听development in our country because they will be the people听serving the country in the future,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey need to be听educated to do that.鈥�

To do that the first freely-elected government since the听early 1960s will need to address labour laws that experts say听are fragmented and rarely enforced.

Myanmar law bars children under 13 from working in shops or听factories, and says teenagers aged 13 to 15 should not work more听than four hours a day or at night.

鈥淣obody under 18 should be carrying heavy cargoes,鈥� said听Vicky Bowman, a former British ambassador who now runs the听Yangon-based Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business. 听

Outside of construction, child labour is most visible in听hospitality, with even small children serving food in Myanmar鈥檚听ubiquitous tea shops. Many children also work in fish farming听and processing.

At Yangon鈥檚 San Pya fish market, the country鈥檚 largest, over听two days in February Reuters found girls and boys as young as听nine cleaning and processing fish and unloading boats and trucks听during 12-hour overnight shifts.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want my son to do this kind of hard labour,鈥� said听Hla Myint, 56, whose 15-year-old son works in San Pya.

Speaking from their home in a dilapidated bamboo hut close听to the river bank, Hla Myint did not share many of his fellow听citizens鈥� high hopes for Suu Kyi鈥檚 government.

鈥淲hatever they say they would do, or give us, it will never听reach here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe in any change.鈥�

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