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Trafficking of children in West Africa - focus on
Mali and
Boys and girls, as young as seven, are trafficked, primarily for their labour. The journeys involved can be dangerous and there have been reports of children dying along the route, particularly when travelling by sea in unseaworthy vessels. The children are smuggled both within national boundaries and across international frontiers, sometimes with the collaboration of border guards. Poverty is central to why parents send their children to work. The prospect of good wages in a wealthier country, such as Gabon or Côte d'Ivoire, seems an acceptable option. But the realities of what most of these children have to face along the route and once they reach their destination are not widely known. Although many of those who are trafficked ultimately do not earn the money promised and the conditions in which they are forced to live and work range from basic to brutal, the reality of one less mouth to feed for a poor household makes a significant difference. The lure of well-paid work not only attracts parents, but in some cases children go to 'recruiters' themselves, often believing that they will have a good job in the city. However, a recent UNICEF report found that only 13 per cent of these children went willingly. Apart from the dangerous journey which most of these children face, they are forced to work long hours in harsh conditions. Their working hours, regardless of age and sex, range from ten to 20 hours per day, up to seven days a week, without any time for rest, recreation or education. Basic food, health, sanitation and clothing requirements are not met, and sometimes they are not paid. In addition, they face beatings and other forms of physical abuse from their employer and, particularly in the case of child domestics, are at risk of sexual exploitation by the family employing them. A significant number run away, but unable to return home or find alternative employment, they resort to prostitution to earn a living.
Because traffickers frequently come from the same region as the children whom they recruit, it is easier for this practice to be hidden as they may know the families and the area. If arrested by police at the border it is not unusual for parents to defend the trafficker saying that he had their permission to take the child across the border for work. Most believe the trafficker's promise that he will find the child well-paid work. According to a Malian national study, children work for between 5000 and 10,000 FCFA (£5 to £10) per month. But, in reality, most get no money at all. Instead, this salary is paid to the intermediary, or their labour is used to repay the cost of their transport and maintenance and they can end up working for years without being paid. A national study in Côte d'Ivoire found that employers paid intermediaries between 50,000 and 75,000 FCFA. Intermediaries also earn money by selling the children to employers. Isolated from their family, community and culture these children are under the trafficker's and employer's complete control, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Conditions are basic and with no consideration for safety standards. On plantations they are poisoned by the chemicals used in farming, they suffer skin diseases, heat stroke, increased heart rate, malnutrition as well as physical abuse. The story of 'ID' is typical of the hardship these children experience. Now 15 years old, he has returned to Mali after two years, having been trafficked to work on a coffee and yam plantation in Bouafle, Côte d'Ivoire.
Estimates of the numbers of children involved in this human trade vary. Based on the numbers of children who were repatriated and arrested at the border, the Malian Consular Office in Abidjan estimates that between 1995 and 1998 more than 600 children, mainly boys, were trafficked from Mali. In 1998 UNICEF reported between 10,000 and 15,000 Malian boys were working on plantations in Côte d'Ivoire. However, this figure does not identify how many were trafficked and how many are employed legally. Because of the nature of this illegal trade, corruption and the lack of a centralised system for collecting data, accurate statistics have not been compiled. The conditions and the cost There are several international conventions prohibiting child trafficking. These include the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and of Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery; the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Organisation of African Unity's African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; and International Labour Organisation Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Despite these laws, many of which have been ratified by the countries where trafficking takes place, the number of children being trafficked in West Africa appears to be on the increase. What is being done At a meeting hosted by UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation in Libreville, Gabon from 22-24 February 2000, officials from West and Central African states agreed to A Common Platform of Action which proposes the creation of laws designed to protect child workers, improvements in the system of taking child victims of trafficking into custody, and the strengthening of co-operation among governments. Members also proposed the establishment of transit and reception centres for returned children. Currently, Mali, as well as Benin and Togo, are the only countries in the region that have formulated specific programmes to fight trafficking. In 1998, Mali established a Consultative National Commission on Child Trafficking. It also created the Ministry for Children and Family -- one of its tasks is the repatriation of children who return from plantations in Côte d'Ivoire. To facilitate this, in February 2000, the Ministry invited Anti-Slavery to help with the formulation of a programme for rehabilitating children who had been trafficked to Côte d'Ivoire. The government is also working with local NGOs on programmes of rehabilitation.
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