The new measures she announced, which will take place early in the new year, are to ensure all children in Timor-Leste get an opportunity to attend school.

Under Timor-Leste law, the legal minimum work age is 15 years, yet some vulnerable families continue to send children to the city in hope of making money to send home.

Addressing reporters after his team in partnership with national police conducted an investigation into the children working in Dili, Grandanero said families of the young children would be given financial aid to pay for school.

While many of the children have been identified as coming from Oecusse, the identity of several is “unclear”, with some suspected coming from Indonesia, Grandanero said.

"I say this because when my staff interviewed them there were children who didn't speak Baekeno and didn't memorise their parents' names and their origins," Grandanero said.