Modern-Day Child Trafficking
Submitted by Kerry on Sun, 2008-02-03 17:52.
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Nigeria probes mass human trafficking case
Wed 18 Jul 2007, 11:28 GMT
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian police intercepted a freight truck carrying 62 people, including babies and children, in a suspected case of mass human trafficking, the agency in charge of fighting such crimes said on Wednesday.
The 62, who include men, women, boys and girls, are all from the same community in southeastern Cross River state and they say they were on their way to various locations in southwestern Ogun and Ondo states to join relatives or find work.
"We are investigating because we think it is possible that human traffickers recruited these people to give them out as farm hands, house helps or for brothels," said Funke Abiodun, head of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) in Edo state, where the truck was stopped.
Human trafficking is a major problem in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation where the majority live on less than $1 (49 pence) per day, and victims are often made to swear oaths at traditional shrines, discouraging them from denouncing the traffickers.
Abiodun said police intercepted the truck on Sunday and detained the 62 people for two days in cells where they complained of ill treatment and refused food or water in protest.
She said NAPTIP had taken over the case on Tuesday and the 62 had initially been hostile to the agency's staff, but the women and girls were now in a NAPTIP shelter while the men and boys were in a holding centre and all were eating and drinking.
Some Nigerian victims of human trafficking are transferred within the country, but many are taken abroad where they work as domestic staff or prostitutes. Victims are often saddled with huge "debts" towards their traffickers and are unable to retain any earnings for several years.
Posted by Students & Artists Fighting To End Human Slavery at http://fighthumantraffickingnews.blogspot.com/2007/07/nigeria-probes-mass-human-trafficking.html
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Empty promises and fuck all
Empty promises and fuck all else is given to protect the victims of trafficking. I get so angry and fustrated knowing that this trade of human cargo could be prevented if countries worked together. The real truth is the countries dont care enough about other countries and other countries children. They only care if they are enduring any sort of financial expenditure because of it.
I went looking at the UK police missing persons website for children http://missingkids.co.uk/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageC... and here is what I found:
Uk Police Missing Persons
KAI LUN CHEN
ROSE KUSEMERERWA
OSSAI ELVIS
All missing, 7 of them dissapeared from a world Scout Jambourieon on different dates through out July and August 2007. That alone should have been head line news. These are children, head line news, ha, I googled Scout Jamboree Chelmsford and got to page 5 before I read anything about it. Then it was a pathetic article to say the least here
No follow up, nothing. From what I have read between the lines of the other missing children almost all of them appear to be alone in the UK and were known by either imigration or SS.
My problem is HOW did they get here and WHY if authorities knew of them werent they treated like the children that they are. Maybe I am reading to much into it but from where Im sat it reads like they were classified as illegals regardless of age and treated no differently.
Just a question
Isn't it possible these kids from the scouts saw this trip as an opportunity to flee from their own country to become working independents in another one? Freedom has it's own risk-takers, doesn't it?
What even when you are
What even when you are talking of 13/14 year olds. Strange country, foreign language. Even if it was their own idea surely they deserve some concern from someone. What work are they likely to get under age and with little english. If one of mine had a notion to discover an independant new world I would hope to God that someone would care enough to ensure their safety.
Summary of the Convention
Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Children's Rights Alliance for England, 2006
· Article 1 - A child is a person aged 17 or under.
Article 2 - All the rights in this Convention belong to all children.
Article 3 - Children must always be a top priority.
Article 4 - Governments must do all they can to protect children’s rights.
Article 5 - Parents can give children advice and help about their rights.
Article 6 - Every child has the right to be alive and to be the best person they can be.
Article 7 - Every child has the right to a name and nationality and to be cared for by both parents.
Article 8 - Governments must protect the child’s right to a name, nationality and family life.
Article 9 - Every child has the right to keep in regular contact with both parents so long as this is the best thing for the child.
Article 10 - Decisions about a child living in another country should be made quickly and fairly.
Article 11 - Governments must work together to stop children being taken illegally to another country.
Article 12 - Every child has the right to express his or her views and these views must be taken seriously.
Article 13 - Every child has the right to express themselves and to receive all kinds of information and ideas.
Article 14 - Every child has the right to have his or her own beliefs and religion.
Article 15 - Every child has the right to meet people and to be outside in a group.
Article 16 - The law must protect every child’s right to privacy.
Article 17 - Governments must make sure children get lots of different information. They should protect children from harmful information.
Article 18 - Governments must support parents. Parents must always try to do what is best for children.
Article 19 - Every child must be protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and mistreatment.
Article 20 - Children who do not live with their parents have the right to extra protection.
Article 21 - The child must be the top priority in adoption.
Article 22 - Children who are refugees, or trying to be refugees, have the right to extra protection.
Article 23 - Disabled children have the right to be part of everything.
Article 24 - Every child has the right to the best possible health.
Article 25 - Children who are in care or who live away from home for health reasons should have their care checked regularly.
Article 26 - Governments must support every child’s right to have enough money.
Article 27 - Children have the right to get everything they need to develop fully.
Article 28 - Every child has the right to education.
Article 29 - Education is about children developing fully as people.
Article 30 - Children must never be stopped from enjoying their own culture, religion or language.
Article 31 - Every child has the right to rest, play and to do things they enjoy.
Article 32 - Children must be protected from harmful work.
Article 33 - Governments must do everything to protect children from illegal drugs.
Article 34 - Governments must protect children from being hurt sexually.
Article 35 - Governments must do everything to protect children from being taken away or sold.
Article 36 - Governments must protect children from all other harm.
Article 37 - Every child has the right to protection from torture and very bad treatment.
Article 38 - Children must be protected from wars and from joining the armed forces.
Article 39 - Governments must give good support to children who have been abused or harmed.
Article 40 - Children who are in trouble with the law have many additional rights, including the right to privacy, the right to a lawyer and, wherever possible, the right not to go to court or be sent to prison.
Article 42 - Governments must inform everybody about all the rights in this Convention.
Articles 41 and 43 to 54 - These say how children’s rights should be monitored and enforced.
the UK Government agreed to make all laws, policy and practice compatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when it ratified it on 16 December 1991.
GONE MISSING BY TRUDY
GONE MISSING
BY TRUDY SIMPSON
Trafficked children need more help
A charity has called on the government to launch an inquiry into missing children trafficked from overseas. Research on child trafficking in England found that 48 children who were suspected to be trafficked, but were later taken in by social services, have gone missing.
In its recently released report, entitled Missing Out, ECPAT UK, which campaigns to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation, said its findings on child trafficking across the North-East, the North-West and the Midlands showed that 80 children were reported as known, suspected or likely to have been victims of trafficking, into England over the last three years.
Twenty two were under 16-years-old. They were likely brought to England “for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and forced marriage.
More shocking is that 48 of these children have gone missing from social services care and have never been found,” the report said.
ECPAT UK said grave fears about child trafficking and modern-day slavery meant the government should prioritise child protection over immigration concerns.
“Child victims of trafficking are missing out on accessing essential care because of their isolation, their uncertain immigration status and because they have no advocate who can speak on their behalf about their special needs,” said Christine Beddoe, director of ECPAT UK, which also represents a coalition of nine leading UK organisations working for the protection of children’s rights.
They include Anti-Slavery International, Barnardo’s, Jubilee Campaign, NSPCC, Save the Children, World Vision UK, The Body Shop Foundation, The Children’s Society and UNICEF UK.
SLAVERY
“Child trafficking is a contemporary form of slavery and children must get access to safety, security and proper health care.
“UK immigration control strategies treat these children as illegal migrants first, children second, and this creates a barrier to keeping them safe,” she added.
The children in the study came from China, Vietnam, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Congo, Somalia, Liberia, Eritrea, Burundi, Uganda, Moldova, Russia, Albania and Nigeria.
Debbie Ariyo, head of Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA), said many children from Africa are often trafficked because parents believe they can get a better life in the West.
AFRUCA is currently running a UK national campaign to raise awareness of the trafficking of African children.
The campaign, which began last December, is part of efforts to raise awareness of this modern form of slavery as the UK prepares to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade act next month.
It is difficult to get accurate statistics about child sex trafficking because of the illicit nature of trafficking but in 2003, the United Nations estimated that 1.2 million children are trafficked annually around the world.
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=10873
Not losing the kids would be
Not losing the kids would be a start.
Ages can be lied about
I have two associates who work for missing persons. They tell me that very many people come into the UK for a better life or to join family who have already come over. They claim to be under 18 yrs, when some are actually as old as 29....social services have suspicions BUT HAVE TO treat them as kids unless proven otherwise. They soon clear off to do what they want to do - and resources are wasted looking for them, when resources should be used for genuine trafficked kids. I think the record was of a 25 yr old woman claiming to be 10!!! Foster care costs a fortune, they are given pocket money, and these adults are sometimes given school places too. Of course cases like Alla Manakova are extremely serious and I'd ideally like to see her case on the front page of the national papers. I also think the British cases like Jamie Cheeseman, Daniel Entwistle and Paddy Warren/David Spencer are as serious. They received very little news.