Thanks to its children, Morocco pro- duces about 750,000 square metres of carpet a year. The bargain prices attract the tourists, who provide Morocco s major source of hard currency. But child labour is not just for the benefit of tourists. Grocers hire children to man their cubby-holes through the night. And the number of child- maids is estimated at up to 1m.
Abuse is rampant, murder occasional.
But the government resists regu- lation for fear of revealing the extent of its child workforce to the International Labour Organisation. Morocco made education compulsory in 1963. But 40 years on, the Ministry of Edu- cation admits that 2.5m children are out of school. But child labour remains a major plank of the country s economy. The government s advis- ers argue that child labour is the lesser of two evils.