Instead of sitting in class, Syrian child refugees are making trousers in a factory

(AP) - It's another working day at this sewing workshop in Gaziantep.

Some of these workers should be at school.

But instead of sitting in class, the Syrian child refugees are making trousers.

They are forced to earn a living to support their families.

According to UNICEF, more than half of Turkey's 2.7 million Syrian refugees are children - only 325,000 of them are enrolled in school. 

Twelve year-old Ahmad Abo Baker from Aleppo works in a shoe workshop.

His daily routine revolves around the job, working 12-hour days, six days a week.

There is little time for the normal childhood pursuits other boys of his age enjoy.

His father Yahya Abo Baker is employed at the same place.

He would rather his son was in education than sewing shoes here.

"For sure I want him to continue his studies. I wish that for all Syrian children. We don't have another choice here. We are not happy the war forced us to be in this situation," Abo Baker says.

There is no official data on the number of children like Ahmad who are in work.

Turkey is a signatory to an International Labour Organisation convention on child labour.

It sets minimum ages for entry into the workplace - and children aged 13 to 15 may only do light work if it does not threaten their health and safety, or hinder their education.

But human rights organisations say the reality on the ground is different.

"These children are working in dangerous and heavy works which are affecting their wellbeing, their development, their pyschosocial development, physical, emotional development in a very negative way," says Sezen Yalcin, a child protection programme manager at the NGO Support to Life.

Abdalhamed lives with his stepmother and siblings in Sanliurfa. 

His father works in another city so it means the 14 year-old is the head of the household and the main breadwinner.

He earns 18 to 25 US dollars a week at a tailor shop and says he has a good boss.

"The owner treats me well. Sometimes he shouts at me, but he is nice," says Abdalhamed.

"When the school opened, he told me to go to school. He said 'Don't drop out of your school. You can both go to school, and come to work.'" 

But his stepmother is not convinced Abdalhamed tells the truth about the working conditions.

"He doesn't tell us anything, because if he tells, we won't send him to work. If we don't send him to work, we will go hungry, and he knows that," she says.

The NGO Support for Life has conducted focus groups and interviews with 50 children and parents in Hatay and Sanliurfa.

Their research found 70 to 80 percent of children work at least six days a week and 90 percent work more than eight hours a day. 

Thirty percent of children reported some form of abuse in the work place and pains due to heavy workloads. 

"They do not have a prospect for future," says Yalcin.

Thirteen year-old Abdalrahman sets off for work.

He must earn money to pay the family's rent after his father was injured in a workplace accident a year ago.

Abdulraham's mother Samar says life was very different back in Syria.

"They could go to school, and could go have fun and play. The children had freedom. We were very happy. Now, because of the war, we don't have all those things anymore," she says.

But Abdulrahman works part time and has no plans to drop out of school.

He has big dreams that mean he needs to get an education.

"I want to be a doctor because this career is difficult and needs a lot of study," he says.

Maybe one day, instead of cleaning shops, he'll be saving lives. 

The International Labour Organization launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002.

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