literally from the press release of the Hochschule Düsseldorf:
“New HSD study calls for action by German states”

The prohibition on erecting gravestones from countries in which exploitative child labor predominates must now also be rigorously implemented. So the conclusion of Prof. Dr. med. Walter Eberlei of the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf (HSD), whose book “Grave stones aus Kinderhand” has just been published. The book presents the results of a study on child labor in the natural stone sector of important supplier countries for Germany. According to this information, stones from India, Vietnam and the Philippines provide evidence of child labor in the natural stone sector, which is highly probable in China. More than half of all tombstones erected in Germany come from India and China.

In 2014, the North Rhine-Westphalian Landtag changed the NRW funeral law and banned the erection of tombstones from countries whose natural stone sector is in violation of the international law ILO convention against exploitative child labor. Stones from such countries may only be used if they have been certified as child labor free. However, the implementation of the law was suspended by decree because there was no clarity as to which supplier countries the certification requirement should apply to. The study of the HSD political scientist eliminates this ambiguity.

Professor Eberlei: “All federal states are obliged to implement in their laws the convention of international law ratified by Germany against child labor.”

The now published book on the topic contains detailed country analyzes on India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brazil as well as summary evaluations. A ten-person team of scientists, also from affected supplier countries, participated in the study. Client for the research was the state government in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Walter Eberlei (ed.): Gravestones from the hands of children. Child labor in quarries of the global South as a political challenge. Frankfurt / M .: Brandes & Apsel, 2018.”

Please refer to: Press release