COUNTRY REPORTS
Children are the group most vulnerable to trafficking in Benin. Children below the age of 15 constitute 50% of the population. Over 400,000 children work and 20% of those between 6 and 14 do not live with their biological parents. Many of them migrate out to neighboring countries for work. Internal trafficking also exists in which children are taken from the villages to the towns for forced labour or to other countries. Cultural practices encourage trafficking. Families have the habit of sending their children to people in towns to educate them. African children have traditionally moved to towns or abroad to study and over the years, hiring children for work has turned into trafficking of children into forced labor and exploitation. They also believe that some countries are richer so they try to send their children there. This gives traffickers the opportunity to take the children away. The north and south central regions of the country are most affected. Exact numbers of children who are trafficked do not exist. Children are vulnerable and depend on their parents and the government to protect them. Participants must put pressure on their respective governments to intervene because although an adult can revolt, children cannot. Benin has not ratified much in terms of international conventions. The laws are inadequate so that, while traffickers are usually apprehended, they are rarely condemned. Benin has no anti-trafficking law but does have decrees, issued in 1905 and 1920; they address international and transnational trafficking. A 1961 law addresses the movement of minors under 18 across borders and a 1973 ordinance modified the penal code 'sur la traite des personnes and l'enlevement des mineurs'. In June 2003, the MFPSS held a 'consultation to elaborate a project to draft a law against trafficking in children. The government does not fund any services for trafficking victims. Traffickers are prosecuted but, to date, none have been convicted. A state unit to protect minors is under funded and the government does little to help victims. Government actions are not well coordinated, few structures exist to handle the large number of vulnerable children, little effort has been made to provide reintegration services for children and cross-border cooperation is difficult or non-existent. About 95% of the children are reinstated in their homes. Only a small percentage of the children are unable to trace their families. This usually happens when the child was taken out of his/her village at a very tender age. The social teams take about three months to reinstate the child into the family. A large number of children do not want to go back to their families and whether they are sent back or not depends on the age of the child. In such cases, the reception centre tries to create favorable conditions that encourage the child to return to his home.
BURKINA
FASO, presented by Bernadette Tipoko Ouedraogo, GRADE FRB The problem of child trafficking is caused by poverty, migrating traditions since the colonial era, the tradition of giving children to others to raise, failure of the family structure, high maternity rate, and the desire for adventure. All areas of the country are affected but especially the north, east, west central and the southwest. Between April and March of 2003, 671 children (61 foreigners) were intercepted and taken into custody before being returned to their homes in Togo and Nigeria. Lack of funds has been an impediment to returning foreign children to their families. Burkina Faso subscribes to the definition of trafficking in the UN Trafficking Protocol. The government, with the support of its partners, is engaged in the long-term objective of eradicating child trafficking. The immediate objectives of the plan are to save the lives of children who are victims, to elaborate a national action plan which is participatory, to conduct prevention campaigns through information dissemination and to engage in advocacy for anti trafficking legislation. In May 2003, the national assembly adopted a law-defining child trafficking and punishing traffickers. Before the new law, arrested traffickers had been charged with threatening a person but not much was achieved because the text is inadequate. However, this should change with the new law that provides for either 3 months imprisonment or 3000 to 3 million Francs fine. The government has just signed an accord with the government of the Ivory Coast in the fight against trafficking. The press has also been organized against trafficking of children and a film was made about young girls and women used as domestics. Programs directed at vulnerable groups are underway, such as one to train the mothers of trafficking victims with marketing skills and provide micro credit to enable them start a business and care for their children. An organization has been formed to educate these children.
COTE
D'IVOIRE, presented by Desire Gilbert Koukoui, Bureau International
Catholique de l'Enfance (BICE) The Cote d'Ivoire is a country of destination, transit and origin. Its borders are permeable and the relative prosperity of the country attracts laborers from other countries. While numbers are inexact, it is estimated that upwards of 15,000 children are trafficked, particularly into the cocoa plantations, which are mostly run by families. Approximately 625,000 children under 18 work occasionally during harvesting season while only some work full time in the cocoa plantations and approximately 97% of the children are members of the plantation owner's family. The other children are from the Cote d'Ivoire or Burkina Faso and some are paid while some are not. Cote d'Ivoire is a major producer of cocoa and the fall in world cocoa prices has resulted in most plantation owners preferring to hire children who are paid less. Many of the children come from Burkina Faso and Mali but, unfortunately, the nationality of many of the children found is not certain. Internal child trafficking of girls into domestic service is also prevalent. Although child trafficking is one of the three major issues in Cote d'Ivoire, the government has done little to eradicate it. However, since 2000, the government has acknowledged the problem and taken some steps to address the problem. It has participated in all regional meetings concerning child trafficking. It has adopted a National Plan of Action and carries out the three strategies of intervention, sensitization and advocacy around the country. It has initiated a partnership with USAID to end child labour. NGOs provide the main source of support for rescued children. They have intercepted children being trafficked into the cocoa plantations and sent them home, created an anti-trafficking, anti-child exploitation committee and signed a bilateral agreement with Mali. However, there is still no law expressly forbidding trafficking of children but a bill on child exploitation has been sent to the national assembly and a committee been set on to advise on the issue. A bilateral agreement on cross border trafficking exists but it has not worked well because of problems of interpretation and implementation. Since 2001, the police have intercepted 410 children on route to Guinea and Mali but the lack of specific laws against trafficking has resulted in many traffickers being released. However, other laws could have been used to prosecute the traffickers. Nigerian children were identified in the informal sector in the town as mechanics and construction workers and not in the plantation. Attempts have been made in conjunction with the Nigerian embassy to reinstate these children into their homes. A vigilante committee has been set up to supervise the working conditions of children. Many NGO's have collaborated with other West African partners to assist these children. The main non-governmental actors are UNICEF, the ILO, IOM, Save the Children/Sweden, the Bureau International Catholique de l'Enfance, Afrique Secours Assistance and ABEL Bassam. Trafficking of women is also a problem in Cote d'Ivoire. The police have not been effective in tackling the problem. Due to the political crisis in the country, authorities are not able to pay sufficient attention to human trafficking. Ironically the national crisis has lead to their being no more people on the plantation thus less children are being trafficked. Children are also being trafficked into the armed conflict as child soldiers.
THE
GAMBIA, presented by Jalamang Camara, Child Protection Alliance The Gambia is
one of the smallest countries in West Africa with a population of
1.5 million. The Child Protection Alliance consists of 50 organizations
that came together as a result of the 1986 Stockholm Conference.
There was the need to form an alliance to monitor the sexual exploitation
of children in the Gambia. It is grounded on the following principles: Not much research has been done on child trafficking in the Gambia. It is based on hearsay. The magnitude of the problem is not known. There is child sex tourism in the Gambia even though people prefer to deny its existence. The Gambia has ratified the African charter and the UN convention. Each law has a different definition of the child and these laws must be harmonized in that respect. There is a draft children's act that will be presented to the National Assembly for ratification. The criminal code covers some ingredients of trafficking such as kidnapping, trafficking, buying, selling, slavery, and forced labour. The tourism offences code covers offences against children and prescribes severe Punishment for offenders. Jalamang ended his presentation by reiterating the need for assessment without which civil society cannot strategize for solutions. There is also the need for legal reform. There is no rehabilitation service or fund set aside to rehabilitate victims of trafficking.
NIGER,
presented by Ilguilas Weila, Organization Against Slave Trade (Association
TIMIDRIA Although Niger is one of the largest countries in Africa, it is one of the poorest. It has a population of about 10 million people 51% of who are men. Niger is both a destination and transit nation for trafficking people to Togo, Nigeria, and Mali. People are also trafficked from Ivory Coast, Benin and Ghana. Most immigrants passing through the northern region are en route to Libya, Algeria and eventually Europe. The majority of persons trafficked through Niger en route to Europe come from Mali, Libya, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. There is a lot of trafficking in the "Triangle of Shame", which is the region bordered with Nigeria and Chad. There are 5 nomad groups with a total population of 50,000 in this area who traffic people. Their traditional chiefs keep young girls between the ages of 12 and 16 as slaves who they sell to the highest bidder. Islam does not allow men to marry more than four wives, so many Nigerian men come and marry the 5th, 6th or 7th wife from the Triangle and keep her as a mistress or concubine and allow the other wives to treat her like a slave. These women and girls have no rights in the matrimonial home. TIMIDRIA has formed networks with Nigerian NGOs and we discovered that the Nigerians who engage in this practice are predominately Moslem Hausas. In Madawa there is another network in Boboi. This is located at the Niger-Nigeria border and the Niger- Benin borders. The girls taken from this region are trafficked to Kano, Sokoto and Katsina. They are not wives and have no rights under Islamic law. TIMIDRIA makes
the following recommendations:
NIGERIA,
presented by Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi, Women's Consortium of Nigeria,
Nogi Imoukhuede, Women's Rights Watch, Uzoma Aneto, Women and Children's
Unit of Institute for the Enhancement of Human Dignity and Tola
Olujuwon, Central Educational Service Anecdotal evidence suggests that trafficked persons are mainly children, youth and women. There are 15 million child labourers in Nigeria but the number of them who are trafficked or held in forced labor is unknown. Nigeria passed a new federal anti-trafficking law in 2003, which was initiated by the wife of the country's Vice President's organization - Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF). Passage of the law is considered a landmark event but, unfortunately, the law's scope is narrow and inadequate. It deals with punishment of offenders but does not protect the rights of the victims or acknowledge the various uses to which these people are put. Other laws in the Northern Nigerian Penal Code and the Southern Nigerian Criminal Code could also be used; however, but these cover all prostitution (not just forced prostitution) and slavery and so do not encompass the entire scope of human trafficking. The Edo State Government has a new law that is called a trafficking law but it is simply a prostitution law and makes it people who were in prostitution abroad vulnerable to prosecution upon their return to Edo State. Nigeria has ratified the United Nations Convention on Transnational and Organized Crime and the Supplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, but has failed to incorporate them fully into domestic law. Nigeria has signed and ratified the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. It does not implement or enforce these treaties. Nogi Imoukhuede speaking from the perspective of the Edo State experience stated that traffickers came into Edo State and lured the vulnerable ones (especially young girls and women) to go abroad (Europe) for a better life. They are picked mostly from poor urban areas and villages. She also stated that human trafficking was a silent crime in the State until many young women were deported from Europe and it was found out that 80% of the deportees were of Edo state origin. The Criminal Code in Edo state has been amended to cover the various aspects of human trafficking which include holding liable lawyers who prepare the agreements, native doctors who perform various rituals on the victim to promote fear and allegiance to their traffickers and other perpetrators are now prosecuted too. Unfortunately the law criminalizes prostitution consequently, victims are also prosecuted, which is not in consonance with the provision of the International Convention. She highlighted the activities of Women's Rights Watch, which inculdes free legal services to vctims and a micro- credit loans scheme targeted at vulnerable groups as a way of preventing them from falling for the lure of traffickers. The Edo State Government in collaboration with Idia Rnaissance has set up skill acquisition centres to train youths (who are the potential victims) for self reliance.
TOGO,
presented by John Kofi M. Kpodo, WAO-Afrique Migration into Togo comes principally from Ghana, Benin and Nigeria. Outward migration is to Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Europe. No numbers on in and out migration are available. Most Togolese who are trafficked come from Vogan in the maritime region and most Togolese who are trafficked out are from Tchamba in the central region of the country. It has not been possible to estimate the number of victims in Togo. The country does not have a trafficking law but the government uses other laws to prosecute traffickers. The government is presently developing a law against trafficking in children and has no plans yet for a law regarding the trafficking of adults. It has ratified check the UN Trafficking Protocol (and so is obligated to adopt a law covering adults and children). The government works to provide safe returns for children and works with NGOs and diplomatic channels to facilitate safe and healthy returns. It also prosecutes and punishes traffickers who are caught in the act of trafficking. It has facilitated the establishment of vigilance committees throughout the country to monitor for suspected cases of trafficking and cooperates with NGOs to some extent. The government is interested in stopping the crime and helping the victims so they are never arrested for illegal entry or work. The Ministries of Internal Affairs, External Affairs, Women's Affairs and Social Affairs (plus one NGO) have formed a national committee for welcoming and rehabilitating the children. There is also the initial action plan at the regional level that prohibits child trafficking. The government engages in sensitization, prosecution of offences, welcoming repatriated children and collaborating with Interpol. Most services for trafficked children are provided by NGOs such as WAO-Afrique and Terre des Hommes. The ILO and the NGO PLAN Togo provide funding to centers, services and research. The government does not fund the NGOs but does provide support through labor inspectors, police assistance and sensibilitization of magistrates. |
