The National Director for Workplace Inspections Aniceto Leto Soro said they would give fines to individuals and employers who give hard, physical work to minors under 18 years old, because this goes against their rights.

He said it's the government's obligation to protect children, because as well as creating legislation and policies, Timor-Leste has already ratified the International Human Rights Convention.

Director Soro added that last month the Secretary of State for Vocational Training and Employment (SEPFOPE) presented a draft law on child labour, including a list of jobs children are forbid from, to the Council of Ministers for approval.

"Therefore whoever gives hard labour to children, whether an employer or individual, the Workplace Inspections team will penalize them with a fine or another preventative manner, so there's no risk to children," said Director Soro in Dili.

He said children were forbid from hard labour because it can harm their health and security.

He said these include jobs like lifting cement blocks, mixing cement, washing cars and also agricultural jobs like driving tractors, closing rice bundles and using pesticides with chemicals.

He added when the law and list are approved, whoever gives these jobs to children could get a fine from $230 up to $1150, and apart from that employers will not get government projects and recommendations for a work certificate.

In other part, Coordinator of the child protection organization Forum Tau Matan, Honorio Almeida, said they really appreciated the government creating a specific law to regulate and protect children from individual interests, especially for underage workers.

"We think the policy the government has created on child labour is very positive, it's a huge contribution. The state can protect children from hard labour," said Coordinator Almeida.

He said he hoped they didn't just create a law, but that they would also guarantee it's implemented once it's approved.