Six-year-old child worker hit by car while collecting scrap paper in Bursa

BURSA – Doğan News Agency

Only six-year-old, Yücel Arı helped his family's subsistence by collecting scrap paper in the streets of the industrial city of Bursa. DHA photo

A fresh incident has again revealed how children from very low-income families in Turkey are victims of forced labor, with a six-year-old boy dying after being hit by a car while collecting scrap paper in the industrial city of Bursa, Doğan News Agency reported on Jan. 10. 

The boy, named Yücel Arı, went out into the streets with his two elder brothers Murat, 12, and Süleyman, 16, after lunch on Jan.9 searching for scrap paper to collect for his parents in the suburban district of Yıldırım.

Arı was racing through a street only 100 meters from his home when he was hit by a pick-up truck. He died immediately at the scene after being dragged several meters under the vehicle in front of his two brothers. 

He had not started his primary education, as his parents had made him work to earn money for the family’s subsistence.

Bursa prosecutors have opened an investigation into the accident. 

Child labor in Turkey is still an unfortunate reality and many minors are employed in factories and plantations, particularly as seasonal workers. Many low-income families in urban centers also force their children to work in the streets alone in order to secure their household’s living.