companies, recruit young Miskito males to be divers, who are taken in small dugout canoes called cayucos to the fishing vessels. According to this report, the Miskito divers did not have any access to a hyperbaric chamber because the only one in the department is for private use. In the same report, it was indicated that, out of every 10 divers, 4 would have an accident and at least one of the latter would die. The ILO contended that on September 2007 about 4,500 Miskito children were experiencing a situation of great vulnerability because their fathers had a disability or had died. It added that the rates of child labor are high in that area because Miskito children work as cayuqueros, that is, taking the dugout canoe (cayuco) in which the diving equipment is carried. The children also work as offloaders of ships at the ports.25 46. In its observations in 2014, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination pointed out that it “regrets the lack of information about measures taken to assist divers who have developed a disability and to prevent this abusive practice” and voiced its concern about the situation of the Miskito divers “who suffer work injuries because minimum safe diving conditions are not in place.”26 47. As for the IACHR, in its 2015 report on the Situation of the Human Rights in Honduras, it continued to document this situation, taking into account a series of testimonies according to which the only source of work is diving, which continues to be carried out without minimum safety conditions. On the basis of information received by the IACHR from its onsite visit, it highlights the following: (…) the work of the divers takes place informally without any contract or safety, and involves the use of defective equipment and exploitation. (…) the equipment used for diving is old and does not benefit from any maintenance, nor is there adequate training, which is provided by coworkers who have not had any training either. The divers spend periods of time diving extending from 12 to 17 days and in order to fish larger amounts of seafood, they have to stay for a long time deep in the sea and go back to the surface very quickly against diving safety standards. All of this takes place without due supervision by the State. Therefore, divers run the risk of suffering from preventable accidents such as drowning or decompression sickness. (…) as a result of these conditions, various Miskito divers have died or sustained permanent physical and mental injuries. (…) The absence of rehabilitation measures and a hyperbaric chamber that would be able to immediately help divers suffering from decompression sickness in La Mosquitia has led to permanent disabilities for hundreds of them over the years. Nevertheless, neither the company selling the lobsters that gives them work nor the State has adopted measures to prevent this situation from continuing or to take care of those suffering from some type of disability. The Commission was informed that, in 2013, 20 persons were reported dead as a result of underwater fishing accidents and about 400 persons were reported injured. Honduras is the country that has the world's highest number of persons suffering from decompression sickness. Likewise the State does not keep a log with information about accidents sustained or the number of divers injured or killed. The IACHR learned as well that, once the Miskito divers are physically disabled for life, they find no empowerment, rehabilitation, medical care, or any other employment alternatives (…). Even when they start living as injured persons, because of the absence of other job alternatives, on many occasions Miskito divers continue to carry out their respective activities. According to information received by the Commission, the above leads to worsening of the disability and even more severe impacts on the family, such as difficulties in ensuring access to education for those who depend on them financially and breakup of the nuclear family. International Labor Organization. Child Labor and Indigenous Peoples. The Case of Honduras. 2007. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/honduras/pueblos_indigenas.pdf 26 United Nations, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Concluding observations on the combined initial and second to fifth periodic reports of Honduras, 13 March 2014. 25 8