The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) said it recorded 173 complaints related to child labour in 2025 and warned of a growing risk of children being drawn into work, NewsFirst reported, as Sri Lanka observed World Day Against Child Labour on June 12 under the global theme “A Country Free of Child Labour, a Better Tomorrow for Children.”
Alongside the 173 child-labour complaints, the NCPA said it received three complaints involving the employment of children for sexual activities, 53 complaints related to child trafficking, and 287 complaints concerning the use of children for begging in the same period.
The Authority also flagged a rise in incidents of child abuse through cyber technology in recent months, without releasing comparative-year figures. Sri Lanka has so far identified 71 occupations considered hazardous to the safety, health and well-being of children, the NCPA said.
The annual disclosure on June 12 lands alongside an active national debate about institutional duty of care for vulnerable populations. Authorities have moved to tighten enforcement after the Anguruwatota elders’ home fire in early June left at least 13 dead, prompting Social Empowerment Minister Upul Pannilage to announce a mandatory registration regime for elders’ homes nationwide. The NCPA’s child-labour and child-protection complaints data is the equivalent statutory disclosure on the under-18 side.
The Authority did not name the most prevalent sectors in which the 2025 child-labour cases were detected, and did not provide a year-on-year comparison.
