Foreign leaders say the ultimate goal in Afghanistan is to improve the lives of ordinary people. For more than forty thousand children forced to survive by taking up work in Kabul, there's little evidence of anything actually improving. Al Jazeera's Hamish MacDonald has been meeting some of the children who sift through the capital's rubbish for a living
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Swedish furniture retailer Ikea announced on Monday that it would donate $48 million to UNICEF to help improve the health and living conditions of children in some of India's poorest areas.
The donation makes the global furniture company the biggest corporate partner of the U.N. children's foundation UNICEF (www.unicef.org), with total commitments of more than $180 million, the U.N. agency said in a statement.
UNICEF Deputy Chief Saad Houry said that with its donations Ikea had demonstrated a "serious corporate commitment toward improving the living conditions in countries where it is working."
"Ikea's investment in children's well-being, despite the downturn in the global economy, sets a high standard for corporate partnership," he added.
UNICEF said the new donation would help it provide additional support for Indian national and state-led programs aimed at combating high mortality rates among children and mothers, and improving children's access to nutrition.
The money will also be used to improve clean water and to support sanitation and health projects, such as providing infants with immunization and vitamin supplements, it said.
India: Dell earmarks USD 2.57 mn to promote edn, child labour rehab
Mumbai, Feb 16 (PTI) IT major Dell Inc, as part of its philanthropic efforts in India, has earmarked over USD 2.57 million for organisations promoting education, a move that will benefit one lakh children up to 17 years of age.
Dell will deploy the earmarked USD 2.57-million to 10 institutions in the country working toward child labour rehabilitation, educating daughters of sex-workers and an initiative to impart information on climate change.
"The next billion Internet users will come from emerging countries like India, Brazil, Russia, and China. As a part of our corporate-giving initiative, we will set aside one per cent of our pre-tax profits to educate people," Dell Global Giving Council India representative and MD of Dell International Services Ganesh Lakshminarayanan told PTI here.
He said Dell aims to be a "one-per cent" company by 2010.
"We have assessed the NGOs' technology and infrastructure needs and awarded cash and in-kind grants. All in-kind grants feature technology offering the lowest possible total cost of ownership," he said.
This is through strategic partnership grants of up to USD 5,00,000 to support one-year pilot programmes, seed funding grants of up to USD 1,00,000 and employee-directed grants of USD 50,000, Lakshminarayanan added. PTI
Kanchan Siddiqui, February 18th, 2009, Burdwan, Bengal
Child labourers Urmila Sharma of Guskara, Ayesha Khatun of Katwa, Jayanta Kshetrapal of Memari and Mohammed Sarfarosh of Kulti burst into tears of joy at the Spandan Sports Complex in Burdwan town on Tuesday. Each was congratulated after coming first in their respective events. They had until now forgotten how to enjoy the pleasure of games and sports.
The Burdwan district Child Welfare Authority, under the supervision and regulation of the National Child Labour Project (NLCP), organised an annual sports event for child labourers. Students from 46 child labour schools across the district participated in the event. These schools function under 12 nodal agencies functioning in nine municipalities, two municipal corporations and one panchayat samiti in Burdwan. Each school has two teachers. According to Mr Subhas Konar, District Child Labour Project Director, Burdwan: “In total 2350 students are accommodated in those schools. Of these, 264 male and female students participated in twelve events this year.” The event has not been held since 2006 due to a lack of funding.
The students responded enthusiastically as the events were flagged off at Spandan Sports Complex. Events including the 100 Metre Race, Mathematics Race, Long Jump, High Jump and Orange Race received a maximum turnout. Jitu Adhikari from Burdwan town claimed first place in the 100 Metre Race. He said: “This is a new experience for me. I used to serve as a help in a motor garage in the town. I had no idea that I would be given such an opportunity to prove my excellence. This is a million dollar opening for me.” Mohammed Sarfarosh, who had been serving as an waiter in a restaurant in Kulti Municipality area, Asansol, described similar views.
The NCLP has approved the conversion of the Kanksa school into a residential school accommodating 50 child labourers. Their expenses will be borne by the school authority. The school will begin in March this year. The state government has assured that it will provide Rs 500 to enable every student to be accommodated in the school. The NCLP usually provides Rs 100 to every student affiliated to the child labour schools.
26 other new schools for child labourers have been approved by the centre for Burdwan district. Of these, 10 will be in rural areas mainly falling under Bhatar, Ketugram and Ausgram blocks. The district, according to officials, has around 10,000 child labourers, down from 11,000 in 2007. Mr Swapan Chakraborty, head clerk with the CLWA, stated: “The figure has reduced drastically following a sustained drive by our department.”
Raniganj Municipality boasts the most schools for child labourers in the district, with eight. Dainhat Municipality and Kanksa Panchayat Samiti maintain one school each.
The death of Ismael de los Santos Barrea followed an accident last month near Culiacan, Sinaloa, in which 10-year-old Angela Barraza Lopez lost left her arm to a machine while cleaning green beans.
Posted on Two tragic accidents highlight the human toll of child labor in northern Mexico’s agricultural export industry. On Feb. 7, a 20-month-old child, Ismael de los Santos Barrea, was reported crushed to death by truck tires at a farm in Sinaloa where his parents, teenage migrant laborers from the state of Guerrero, were working to support the family.
Reportedly, no daycare was available for the boy.
A representative of the Tlachinollan Human Rights Center of the Mountain, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Tlapa, Guerrero, said the unfortunate child’s grandfather contacted the advocacy organization to complain of the tragedy.
Margarita Nemecio Nemesio, Tlachinollan migrant coordinator, said legal representatives for Agricola Reyes, the farm enterprise where de los Santos Barrea child died, convinced the child’s parents to bury their son in Sinaloa in order to avoid paying costs associated with transporting the body to the family’s Guerrero homeland.
“The argument of the boss was that they would come up with an agreement later since the boy wasn’t a worker for the company,” Nemecio said.
The death of Ismael de los Santos Barrea followed an accident last month near Culiacan, Sinaloa, in which 10-year-old Angela Barraza Lopez lost left her arm to a machine while cleaning green beans. Barraza was earning about $5 per day without benefits when the accident occurred.
“I let her work with her friends, all of them her age, because they paid well and it helped me with the household expenses,” said Barraza’s mother Rosario. Similar to the de los Santos Barrea episode, Barraza’s mother complained of initial difficulties in getting just compensation for death or injuries.
Child labor is still common in the fields of Sinaloa and other northern states where thousands of indigenous migrants and their children from the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Veracruz, and Mexico make an annual trek to perform stoop labor and other hard physical chores.
According to the Guerrero-based Council of Agricultural Laborers of the Mountain, 8,177 migrants from the indigenous region of the state from
which the de los Santos family hails traveled to northern Mexico to work during the 2008-09 winter harvest. The group additionally reported that 519 infants aged one year or less were brought along on the migration.
Nationwide, Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics reported that 3.6 million of 29.2 million Mexican children aged 5-17 were engaged in some kind of economic activity in 2007. In Guerrero, 20 percent of the age group studied by the federal census agency was categorized as being in the labor force.
In the north, the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua and Baja California function as a vast, transnational farming belt that provides food and fiber for the urbanized societies of the United States and Mexico.
Cucumber, tomato, green beans and chile peppers are popularly-cultivated crops, among others. According to the Confederation of Agricultural
Associations of Sinaloa, state vegetable exports to the United States raked in $572 million in 2007. From Sinaloa, 316,828 tons of tomatoes were sent to the US during the same year.
Guerrero’s Tchallinolan Human Rights Center has documented five other cases of children killed or injured in the fields of Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua in recent years. However, spokeswoman Margarita Nemecio said more cases might not be officially registered.
“We believe the number could be higher,” Nemecio said, “because many times the owners harass the parents of minors to not get the authorities involved.”
Mexico, meanwhile, is also a magnet for children laborers from other nations. Since the beginning of the year, federal authorities have discovered three groups of Guatemalan minors contracted to work as street vendors or domestic workers in the southern state of Chiapas. On Feb. 12, police assigned to the federal unit that investigates crimes of violence against women and human trafficking picked up 11 Guatemalan children aged 7 to 17 who were selling candy and balloons on the streets of Tapachula, Chiapas. Allegedly, the children were being paid with water, cookies and a tarp to sleep with on the ground.
Tue Feb 17, 2009, By Henrique Almeida, Reuters, UK
LUANDA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Child labour remains widespread in Angola where many families struggling to make a living after a civil war still rely on their children for money, a senior government official said on Tuesday. An estimated 30 percent of Angolan children aged 5 to 14 years are working and 40 percent do not attend school, according to a United Nations report published in 2001. Experts say that when it comes to Angola, the report still applies.
"Some children lost their parents to the war. Others became orphans of parents who are still alive because their parents rely on them for money," Ana Paula, Angola's deputy education minister, said at a conference.
"The government of Angola wants to end this now."
Luis Cevallos, who heads a U.S.-backed $4 million project aimed at ending child labour in Angola, said that although he has found no cases of child slavery, the practice of child labour is widespread in the southwestern African nation.
"We have found some extreme situations: children carrying weight above their capabilities, children working with chemicals and children who work under the sun for long hours. But we did not find children who worked without getting paid," he said.
NEW SCHOOLS, TEACHERS
Asked if the UN figures for 2001 on child labour still reflected Angola's reality, Cevallos said: "Although there may have been changes here and there, the U.N figures remain more or less the same today."
Angola's government has pledged to spend over one third of a $42 billion budget for 2009 to improve education and health. Hundreds of teachers are being hired and new schools built across the country.
"We want to make sure every child goes to school and that every parent has the means of education their children by providing free and compulsory education," Paula said, noting the government was building hundreds of schools across Angola.
Although the oil-rich nation has become one of the world's fastest growing economies after the civil war in 2002, much of its wealth has failed to trickle down to the population -- almost two thirds of Angolans live on less than $2 a day.
Angola has one of the worst child mortality rates in the world, with two in every five children dying before they reach the age of five.
Informante, Wednesday, 18 February 2009, By Merja Iileka at Oshakati
TERESIA SHEKUPE tries to control tears from her bloodshot eyes with a damp cloth as she talks about how her nine-year-old son was forced by family to abandon school and graze cattle instead.
“Other children his age and older at the same homestead go to school while he is left behind to look after the cattle by himself,” Shekupe says.
The 34-year-old mother of three is just one of the many women in the northern regions of Namibia whose children have been forced into child labour.
Deputy Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Angelica Mukarukua says that because there are no provisions on the prohibition of Child Labour in Namibia, her Ministry often finds its hands tied on the matter.
“We know that there are children living with their mothers and fathers that have been forced into child labour, but our Ministry can’t do anything about it.
“Last year we met with the Ministry of Labour and other Ministries, but right now we don’t have legislation on the question of Child Labour in the country…we are still waiting,” Mukarukua said.
With the current flooding in the north, more and more minors – particularly boys - fall victim to forced labour, as they are expected to keep an eye on livestock at their homesteads.
“He can’t even swim. I’m constantly worried that he could drown while grazing the herd of cattle,” Shekupe says.
Shekupe took her son, Amakali Primus, to live with his grandfather at Ondjamba village in the Uukwambi area some years back, as she was unable to financially support her second born on the small salary she earns in Oshakati.
Earlier this month however, her father informed her that her Grade 5 son had been taken without permission by a relative to the Eheke village, also in the Uukwambi area.
“My father, an 89-year-old man, went looking for his grandson at my cousin’s homestead, but he did not find him there because the boy had been told to hide. My father looked around the village, walking in water up to the hips, but found nothing,” Shekupe says.
The younger children at the homestead explained to Shekupe’s father, Kalimbo Primus that his grandchild was being used to graze cattle and was no longer attending school.
In a desperate attempt to get her son back to class at the Enkombo Combined School, Shekupe sought the assistance of the Women and Child Protection Unit (WCPU) in Oshakati.
“My child needs to get an education to make something of himself. At such a young age, he should not be allowed to graze cattle at far places instead of being in school,” Shekupe says.
The minister of state for labour Mwesigwa Rukutana has attributed the increasing cases of child labor to parents who take children as their property.
He says such parents resist any government advice on how to properly upbring their children so that they can be responsible citizens in future.
While speaking at the launch of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) child report in Kampala today, Rukutana said that many parents see work as an important component in the upbringing of children so that they can be responsible citizens in future.
He adds that parents see work as children’s contribution to their families’ fortunes such as farming to increase food production.
The minister called for increased sensitization of the parents by the government and civil society organizations on the dangers of child labor.
In Uganda, the practice is rampant in areas with plantations such as tea and coffee where companies use children to work on their plantations at a very little pay.
The Lords Resistance Army has also abducted children in Northern Uganda and recruited them in rebel ranks to fight the government of Uganda.
Uganda: Activists Appeal to Govt Over Rising Child Labour
Jeff Lule, February 17th, 2009, AllAfrica.Com
Kampala — The Government should protect children from exploitation, an activist has said.
Lillian Keene Mugerwa, the executive director of the Platform for Labour Action, said over 1.76 million children were exposed to child labour countrywide.
She was speaking at a ceremony to award certificates to 50 children who completed a three-day training on child peer education in Makindye, Kampala on Saturday.
"Five percent of them are doing domestic work," she said.
"The programme empowers children to reach out to their peers in situations of exploitation, because they can talk to their colleagues about most subjects including child labour, human rights and HIV/AIDS."
Mugerwa said the programme was flexible because it was rooted in the the community. The children got information on HIV/AIDS, leadership, mentoring and communication skills.
Mugerwa said PLA had many projects in Katwe, Makindye and Kibuye because they had high incidence of exploitation.
She said many of the children were school drop-outs.
BY CATHERINE KARONG'O, NAIROBI, Kenya, February 17, 2009 - The number of children in the labour market remains unacceptably high despite a 55 percent decline by end of last year, according to a new government survey.
A report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday indicated that there were one million child workers by end of 2008, down from 1.9 million in 1999.
It stated that 800,000 of these children in the child labour market were found in the worst forms of employment like sexual exploitation.
“The problem with this Ministry (Labour) is that it doesn’t have enough resources, it doesn’t have enough officers so we can’t reach out,” stated Labour Minister John Munyes.
“That is a matter I have raised with Cabinet. We are now undertaking the labour reforms and we can’t operate without money,” he added.
Mr Munyes said although the free primary education programme was a major contributor to the decline, there were still one million children out of school, who remained vulnerable to joining the labour market.
The Minister said a four-year project dubbed ‘The time bound Project of Support’ due to come to a close in April this year had enabled the government to fulfill its obligations on the eradication of worst forms of child labour.
The project, he said, was implemented with support from the United States Department of Labour and targeted children who were in child labour or at risk of joining it.
He said the project had benefited 25,000 children who were either withdrawn or prevented from the worst form of child labour.
“Children who enter the labour market without appropriate skills end up being overworked, underpaid and exploited and this subsequently curtails their ability to grow out of poverty,” he remarked.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Africa Region Director, Charles Dan said the organisation was considering an increase to its current aid of about Sh400 million to the Ministry of Labour.
“The global financial economic crisis threatens to generate further pressure which could undermine the progress made and could lead to more children dropping out of school and into work,” said the ILO boss.
“We should reaffirm our common goal, decent work for all in a fair globalisation.”
Mr Dan said that national policies should be enforced to monitor cases of child labour and put in place programmes for children rescued from child labour.
A children representative, Joseph Wanyama Obaba called on the government to consider and provide food to the needy children.
“Nothing is really happening. We have raised these issues in many forums and today we are also here talking about the same things but we cannot see any action, we can’t,” he commented.
“Is that every time there is a conference, we will just talk and then after talking no action is taken? Please we need action, words with action are good,” he pleaded.
Master Obaba ended by saying, “Let us curse only two things and apply one, let us curse poverty as citizens of Kenya, let us automatically curse discrimination of people and let us build a network of solidarity.”
ADEN, Feb.15(Saba) – Deputy Aden governorate Ahmed al-Dhalay met here on Sunday with the education specialist in the alternatives project for children labor (ACCESS-plus) through education and sustainable services of the American organization SHF Robert County.
During the meeting, they discussed child labor and school drop-out and how to find out programs to rehabilitate and train them as well as find out suitable employment opportunities for them.
The project manager Jamal al-Hadi affirmed in the meeting that a number of schools in Aden will be chosen to rehabilitate them.
He pointed out that the project will cost about $ 3,500,000 for creating environment and infrastructure to develop education and teachers ability and promote the children's contribution to schools activities.
The project is implemented in the governorates of Aden, Taiz ,Hodeidah, and
Hajah.
The European Parliament adopted a report by Glenys Kinnock (PES; UK), welcoming the Commission's Communication on “A Special Place for Children in EU External Action” and the accompanying Council Conclusions as "important steps forward towards an EU strategy on the Rights of the Child", but underlines that "much remains to be done to put the political commitments into practice".
The report notes that despite the recent positive developments at EU level, the EU institutions and staff resources devoted to children’s rights remain inadequate. MEPs stress that "none of the plans will be realised unless adequate funding is available".
More funding needed
MEPs believe that the participation of children must be institutionalised and better funded in partner countries and at EU level. They insist that the general budget support of the EU should include funds for capacity- building for relevant ministries (such as Ministries of Welfare, Health, Education and Justice) to ensure that they have the appropriate policies and tools to budget and implement services for children.
Welcoming the Commission's plan to address education in its humanitarian aid operations, the report calls for sufficient funding and staffing at EU level to implement the new policy commitment.
The report also urges Member States to fulfil their pledges "to provide adequate, predictable funding through timetabled budgetary aid designed to meet the 2010 benchmarks".
Agreements with third countries should protect children
Turning to third countries, MEPs stress that children's rights must be systematically included in the EU's political dialogue and policy discussions with partner countries, and all EU policies with a likely effect on children in third countries should be subject to consistent child rights impact assessments prior to their adoption.
They call on the Commission to draw up a report examining whether the existing international agreements between the European Union and third countries already contain a legally binding clause on the protection of children's rights and, if not, whether such a clause could be inserted into agreements.
The Commission and Member States are also asked to support institutional structures in partner countries to protect and promote children’s rights, including independent ombudspersons.
Consumers have the power to limit child labour
Observing that purchasers in the developing world "are in a key position" to "bring direct and effective economic pressure" on organisations that use child labour, MEPs call on the European Community and Member States to provide more support to fair trade and labelling initiatives which encourage companies not to use child labour. It recommends that compliance with voluntary codes of conduct regarding core labour rights should be better controlled and made transparent to European consumers.
MEPs also urge the Commission to propose a uniform method for labelling products imported into the European Union so as to certify that they have been manufactured without the use of child labour at each stage in the chain of production, for example, by placing the indication 'without child labour' on the packaging of the products in question. This would ensure that this system is in line with the WTO's international trade rules.
Philippines: Teacher braves flood for training to end child labor
Pasig City February 17, 2009 -- For teacher Erlyn Esturas, the force of nature gone awry can't stop here from attending a seminar that will have far-reaching effect on the lives of child laborers.
Esturas is an elementary school teacher from Camarines Norte enlisted to attend a teacher training on how to combat child exploitation spearheaded by the World Vision Development Foundation (WVDF) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in Cebu. At that time, her place was flooded due to incessant rains that breached river banks and damaged water pipelines.
"This is a once in a lifetime training that I did not want to miss," Esturas pointed out. She was among the 40 teachers who comprised the first batch. Their training is expected to benefit some 30,000 child laborers.
The training series will develop among the teachers a deeper understanding of the child labor issue and the importance of education as intervention. It is part of the ABK2 Initiative or Pag-aaral ng mga Bata Para sa Kinabukasan. Its project associates include Christian Children's Fund (CCF) and Education Research Development Assistance Foundation (ERDA).
Esturas is no stranger to traversing mountains and rivers in their small town, after years of teaching in far-flung Capalonga Central Elementary School. But that fateful day, Esturas had to go through chest-deep floods, swollen rivers and muddy hills just to reach the bus terminal in Daet City. To make matters worse, her bags were soaked as she was. Determined to make it to Manila in time for her flight to Cebu, she contacted a relative within the city and borrowed clothes and personal items.
Despite the hardship that she went through en route to the training seminar, Esturas was still all smiles upon arriving at Ecotech, a DepEd facility in Cebu, where the training is held. Her efforts did not go unnoticed as she received accolade from her colleagues and the training staff. Esturas was given a special citation for her willpower. "No regrets… I'm looking forward to completing the training series," said Esturas.
Aside from her, six more teacher participants were honored by the ABK 2 Initiative for their years of service and dedication in the education sector. They were Bernadette Barrios from Estancia Central Elementary School in Iloilo (35 years of service), Lourdes Saculsan from the Division Office of Camarines Norte (35 years), Charity Nochefranca from Labi-labi National High School in Negros Occidental (34 years), Angelita Beltran of Gen. Vicente Lim Elementary School in Manila (34 years), Yolanda Villanueva from Dr. Antonio High School in Negros Occidental (28 years), and Elizabeth Penaverde of Antonio J. Villegas Vocational High School in Manila (27 years).
ABK 2 Initiative recognizes the crucial role teachers play in the continuous battle against child labor. ABK 2 Project Director Daphne Culanag explained that the five-module Teachers' Training Series will enhance the teachers' competency in five aspects of social development: research, advocacy and networking, direct service, documentation, and training facilitation.
Aside from understanding further the issue on child labor, the training series also "strives to inspire teachers in appreciating their role in the elimination of child labor through education," Culanag added.
The training series, entitled "Building Teachers' Competency in Social Development to fight Child Labor", is one of the many endeavors by the ABK 2 Initiative in partnership with the Department of Education.
ABK 2 is a project funded by the United States Department of Labor, which aims to contribute to the sustainable reduction of exploitive child labor in the Philippines.
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett, February 23, 2009
WASHINGTON – The FBI has rescued more than 45 suspected teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.
Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, federal agents working with local law enforcement also arrested more than 50 alleged pimps, according to preliminary bureau data.
The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged in age from 13 to 17.
Historically, federal authorities rarely play a role in anti-prostitution crackdowns, but the FBI is becoming more involved as it tries to rescue children caught up in the business.
"The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.
"Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term 'throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways," Roberts said.
Most of the children are put into the custody of local child protection agencies.
Agents in cities from Miami to Chicago to Anchorage, Alaska took part in the operation.
The federal effort is also designed to hit pimps with much tougher prison sentences than they would likely get in state criminal courts.
Government prosecutors look to bring racketeering charges or conspiracy charges that can result in decades of jail time.
"Some of these networks of pimps and their organizations are very sophisticated, they're interstate," said Roberts, requiring wiretaps and undercover sting operations to bring charges.
The weekend's roundup marked the third such Operation Cross Country, and is part of a broader federal program launched in 2003 to crack down on the sexual exploitation of children.
HOUSTON - Each year, tens of thousands of people are smuggled into the United States with little fear of getting caught.
And while authorities say Houston is a front-line for that illegal flow of human traffic, a summit meeting of activists and professionals hope to stand in its way.
A recent report from the group Children at Risk points to human trafficking as one of the great threats facing our community...
"Houston is that big diverse city where it's easy for them to really get lost in the crowd and that's why it's especially important for Houstonians to pay attention to what's happening in their neighborhood," Children at Risk President Dr. Robert Sanborn said.
Human trafficking is estimated to be worth more than $9 billion dollars worldwide, with women and children bearing the brunt of that activity.
Scenes of agents busting illegal smuggling operations are common-place. But more common, say cops, are those who never get caught, such as laborers and domestic servants who are bought and paid-for and just blend-in.
And cops say it'll stay that way until enough people say, "Enough."
South Africa: Human traffickers aim to exploit 2010
February 19 2009 www.iol.coa.za
By Vivian Attwood
South Africa is being eyed by human traffickers, who plan to increase their importation of victims to cater for the sexual appetites of visitors to the 2010 World Cup, human rights workers stressed at a human trafficking workshop in Durban on Wednesday.
The event was steered by the Gender Aids Forum and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
While South Africa is regarded as a "developed" country, in marked contrast to many other parts of the continent, it currently lags behind economically depressed neighbours like Mozambique and Zambia in terms of legislation to protect vulnerable people against the scourge of human trafficking.Both Zambia and Mozambique have introduced legislation making it illegal to traffic in human beings, or benefit in any way from that activity.
"We strongly hope similar legislation will be introduced in our country before the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The papers are just sitting before the parliamentary portfolio committee," said Speaker Bongiwe Mlatsha, who runs the KwaZulu-Natal office of the worldwide IOM.
"Despite our reputation for being a developed country, women, children and men, too, are being brought here from destabilised, vulnerable countries like Zimbabwe, the DRC and Angola, and exploited in a variety of ways. Primarily this involves sex, but some are also sold into slavery on farms and elsewhere.
"When victims of trafficking are detected, they are repatriated, but what about the perpetrators - the people who profit from human slavery? They get off scot-free."
Mlatsha said corrupt border officials were as guilty as the traffickers themselves in perpetuating the cycle of abuse of the vulnerable.
Participants at the forum were shown a harrowing, secretly-filmed video of desperate young women being hoodwinked into believing they would get jobs as waitresses in South Africa.
Trusted
They were approached by people they knew, and therefore trusted, to leave their homes. En route, they were raped and had their documents confiscated. Some were sold to mine workers in SA, and others were destined for brothels.
The undercover investigation team making the video posed as prospective "clients," asking one trafficker: "How many women can you get us?"
"Depends how many you need," was the response.
When asked what a woman cost, he replied "R1 000, and maybe R150 for the border official."
"How do you make sure the women don't run away when they find they aren't going to be waitressing, but doing sex work?" the interviewer asked.
"Sometimes we rape them. We call it 'washing the hands'," the trafficker said.
An outraged community representative at the forum cried out during discussion of the video: "Their (the women's) lives are worth so little. For R1 000 you can buy a human being. You are selling my soul. I am no longer myself. You own me, body and soul. I am your property. If you no longer want me, you can throw me away."
And indeed, explained Mlatsha, that is what often happens. "Mineworkers make these women their 'wives' for a time, and when they tire of them, they sell them to others."
The IOM worker runs two safe houses for women and children rescued from human trafficking in Durban. The location of the buildings is a closely kept secret.
Mlatsha revealed some of the problems relating to trafficked or exploited foreigners in the local context.
"We have cases where migrants from neighbouring countries send lovely photographs of Durban to their wives and girlfriends, urging them to join them here.
"Often these men have not got the documents they need to work, as they once did, as car guards or security officers. When the women get here, they are kept locked in a flat, and the men sell them to others for sex."
Mlatsha said that language and cultural barriers - and a fear of the police - prevented the victims from seeking help in their plight.
Those the organisation was able to help, were assisted with repatriation and education or work opportunities.
In terms of the controversial proposal to legalise prostitution in South Africa for 2010, Mlatsha said: "The IOM is against it, because the police and home affairs won't be able to control it. We simply don't have the capacity.
"The sad reality is the traffickers are way ahead of us. They are smart and they are already making their plans. They will check on the gaps, and then close them. We lag far behind."
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria, Italy and Interpol signed an agreement Tuesday to strengthen efforts to fight illegal immigration, human trafficking and transnational organized crime.
Italy is particularly targeted by Nigerians as a destination for human traffickers because leaders of organized crime in both countries have established strong links and cooperation, said Tommaso de Cataldo, head of the International Organization for Migration in Nigeria.
Under the two-year pilot plan Nigerian police officers will be deployed with their Italian counterparts at Italian border check points, international airports and harbors to help identify and dismantle human trafficking rings between the two countries.
"Human trafficking and people smuggling are highly profitable activities of organized crime," said Interpol's secretary-general, Ronald K. Noble. "The best way to fight it is to get police from source and destination countries to work shoulder to shoulder."
Italy is one of the main entry points to Europe for migrants. Cataldo says the number of migrants arriving on Italy's southern island of Lampedusa has increased almost 10-fold in the past two years. Last month the U.N. refugee agency criticized Italy over conditions at an overcrowded migrant center on the island. – AP
Ghana: Sex trade scandal: I would slash your throat if…
Thursday, 19 February 2009
The man at the centre of the sex trafficking ring,King James and wife
Slave masters of the Chinese sex mafia have been hiding under the cover of the dark, issuing threats to the seven girls who were rescued from their sex base in La, a suburb of Accra-Ghana.
The girls have been given explicit orders not to spill the beans of the modus operandi of the sex mafia and if they continued to do so they would be located either here in Ghana or China and have their throats slashed.
One of the girls Zing Zang Xhu (not her real name) said in an interview that she was told this in her attempt to find out the whereabouts of the other three girls who were not at the scene during the raid,because they were busily serving other clients.
When the threat was issued, all the girls started weeping uncontrollably and it took the staff of the Enslavement Prevention Alliance – West Africa (EPAWA), a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) providing them with post-rescue care at a secret location to console and subsequently convince them that they were truly safe and no one would harm them here in Ghana .
“It is sad to see these women so frightened again. The threat shook their sense of security. They were frightened to the bone” said Sam Eschenbrenner EPAWA.
The number that called has been handed over to Head of the Human Trafficking Unit Patience Quaye. The girls have also been thanking the Ghana Police for rescuing them, however adding that they want to go to China within the shortest possible time.
Various stakeholders including Ministry Of Women And Children's Affairs (MOWAC), the Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police, EPAWA and International Organization Migration (IOM) are working together to ensure their repatriation and care once they return to China.
Signals picked by the New Crusading Guide indicate that the new Minister of Women and Children, (MOWAC) Akua Sena Dansoa is taking the matter very serious. She is said to have convened an immediate meeting with the stake holders looking for a way forward for a better life for the Chinese girls.
THE CHINESE EMBASSY SAGA
Meanwhile in an earlier interview with the Consular of the Economic Affairs Section at the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, Mr. Hu Yujei on the Economic situation in the world and how it has affected China-Ghana relations, the New Crusading Guide reporter took the opportunity to ask him about human trafficking. When he was asked whether it was possible for the Chinese to be trafficked to Ghana he said “trafficked? I don’t think so”, Read excerpts.
Reporter: Do they face problems, Are there any problems Chinese in Ghana face, economic and social problems.
HU : Well when they come here they have good relation with the people. The only problem is the visa.
Reporter : So is it possible that some of the workers are brought from China?
HU : Well the workers brought are the technical people and also those who are dealing in management.
Reporter : So is it possible that some of the people in China will be trafficked into Ghana?
Reporter : Is it possible for some of the people to be trafficked to be forced to come and Work in Ghana?
HU : Trafficked?
Reporter : Yeah like human trafficking.
HU : I don’t think so
Reporter : You don’t think so,
HU : I don’t think so; you see each of the people who set the production line here
Bring the technical people here I don’t think.
Reporter : So there are measures been taken so that no body would be forced to work. At were he doesn’t want to work, you think China is taking good measures to
Combat human trafficking?
HU : You see in China, China government would not allow, you do everything
According to China law, and here you must do according to the Ghanaian
Law.
Reporter: So you have never heard anything like that?
HU : No I have not heard anything like that. If there is that then the China government
Would take action. They won’t allow for that to happen.
Reporter: So approximately how many Chinese workers are in Ghana?
HU : I n Ghana, well maybe thousands uh? (Asking his assistant)
(His assistant tells him ten thousands) Ten thousand, yeah Ten thousand including the delegation, comes in and out.
The New Crusading Guide promised to give hot details of how an Immigration officer at the immigration Headquarters was allegedly bribed by the trafficker. Who is this man?
Here is a unique opportunity to help rescue, rehabilitate and educate children engaged in the worst forms of child labor, this academic year. Please consider giving a one-time donation of $300 to make possible the raid and rescue of 10 children from forced labor in India! With a 'recurring donation' of $55/month, you can provide 1 child rescued from forced labor with food, shelter, education and vocational training in a rehabilitation center.
Or, send a child from the brick kilns or shoe factories to school in Pakistan. With a 'recurring gift' of only $33/month (or a one-time donation of $396/year), you will provide a child with school supplies, textbooks, a daily meal, and a uniform! Do you know that some Americans spend more than $30/month on dyeing their hair?! With a generous recurring donation of $132/month, you can support 1 teacher of these children.
Please share this letter with friends or family members who might be interested in donating to this very just cause.
Global March remains the most recognisable global alliance against child labour and for universal education, but our profile in Europe has diminished in recent years. The Sofia consultation concluded that we need to adapt to the new legal, constitutional, political and economic realities of Europe; to coordinate more effectively across borders; and, in some cases, to rebuild national networks that have become weak or even inactive. The GM International Council and the ITUC - as the key international and pan-European trade union constituent of the Global March - wish to support a stronger regional alliance between NGOs and trade unions that can deliver a reinvigorated programme of work.
Agenda of the Meeting
To establish a new Pan-European/Euro-Mediterranean structure including all 51 states of the ILO’s European Region (EU and non-EU members; the Commonwealth of Independent States, Georgia and Turkmenistan; and Turkey) plus Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Nothing prevents us from seeking to enlarge our Euro-Mediterranean reach if we wish. We noted the benefits of continued sub-regional coordination and the need for more effective national coordination among effective and active member organisations.
To establish a permanent office in Brussels (or possibly the Netherlands).
