africa6

By Ticky Monekosso in Geneva In Africa, biting poverty has taken its toll on already weak
health and education systems. It has eroded the traditional and social values that once
curbed the exploitation of children.
A class of middlemen growing fat on the profits
Child weddings and sexual exploitation of domestic help have long been common in
sub-Sahara Africa, and middle-aged 'sugar daddies' have frequently provided girls with
money for school fees, books or clothes. But exploitation of children appeared to have a
less commercial dimension than in Latin America or Asia. The use of domestic labour in
private homes has always been one of the most grave and common forms of child
exploitation. But the historical solidarity networks through which rural families sent their
children to urban relatives and friends to improve their chances of education and
employment have degenerated into money transactions - with a class of middlemen
growing fat on the profits. Parents may be paid as little as £10 to lease their offspring to the
Arab Gulf states, Lebanon and Europe. Turning a blind eye When war disrupts rural
economies, children are forced onto the streets: in Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Sierra
Leone and Liberia, where 10-year-olds are sexually exploited at military bases. In Luanda,
'catorzinhas' - 14-year-olds - are now fashionable playthings.
Even in peaceful regions, children are shipped to work as prostitutes in cities such as
Douala, Lagos, Accra, Dakar, Libreville and Abidjan. Young Zairois are sold across the
River Congo. The trade is growing in Cape Town and Durban, and there are though to be
more than 70,000 child prostitutes in Zambia. In Sierra Leone, child trafficking is largely in
the hands of Lebanese. The traffic is now growing from Africa to Europe and is treated
almost like any other business transaction.
Often traffickers who ferry children cannot be successfully prosecuted

But, until now, investigators have been hindered by the lack of statistical evidence with
which to confront communities still denying the breadth of the problem. One national from
the Democratic Republic of Congo, with residency in Belgium, was arrested for allegedly
smuggling several children into Belgium. The suspect was married to a Belgian and has
four children. He travelled regularly to DR Congo and is thought to have used his children's
documents to smuggle other children into Belgium. Legal loophole Under the guidance of
traffickers, Somali children have been travelling without the necessary documents, or with
false documents, and taking advantage of their stop-over in Switzerland to apply for
asylum. This has happened several times at Zurich airport, involving sometimes more than
30 Somali children travelling in groups. To halt this trend, the Swiss Federal Government
has finally adopted a measure requiring Somali nationals to have an entry or transit visa or
valid residence permit in order to land at a Swiss airport. Groups of children have been
taken to Europe, under the pretext of participation in sports tournaments or, in one case, a
public audience with the Pope. One official from a Western embassy in Nigeria was
arrested over his alleged involvement with the trade. But often, traffickers who ferry
children cannot be successfully prosecuted. Definitions of trafficking are inadequate and
parents merely say the children were entrusted to the middlemen for safe passage to
relatives or friends. In many countries, legislation against the worst forms of child labour
does not exist. Most countries in Africa will be falling over themselves to ratify the new
International Labour Organisation convention, which aims to eliminate the worst forms, but
the problem will be implementation. In the absence of adequate national laws and the
political will, little can be done. They will continue unwittingly to exploit their own kin - and
the rights of the child will remain a mere tradition.