2005-10-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

The study found that at least 34 percent of African countries are major sources for trafficking to Europe. They included Morocco, Algeria, Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, Somalia and Nigeria.

In addition, 26 percent -- mostly in East Africa -- reported trafficking to Arab nations.

In addition, 26 percent -- mostly in East Africa -- reported trafficking to Arab nations.

From: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Africa-Trafficking.html

In Africa, children are twice as likely to be trafficked as women.

Trade

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the report found that 89% of the countries had trafficking to and from neighbouring countries, but 34% also had a human trade to Europe.

Nigeria's 'respectable' trade

Tracking child trafficking

Poverty, traditional migration and conflict are blamed for the traffic.

The trade in people is frequently regional.

Of the countries surveyed, 26% said trafficking was taking place to the Middle East.

And the trade is often in both directions.

Nigeria, for example, has received trafficked people from 12 African countries, but trafficked Nigerians have been found in a dozen countries too.

Complicity

Much of this trade in children often has the tacit collaboration of the victims' own families where it is seen not so much as criminal activity but as a way for a large family to boost its poor income.

Joseph's back bears the scars of his beatings

The story of Joseph in Benin is fairly typical.

When he was 13 years old, a stranger arranged with his parents for him to go to neighbouring Togo for a better life.

However, he was put to work from 0500 to 2300 each day as a domestic help and was regularly beaten.

It took him three years of saving money to be able to phone home and be rescued by an uncle. Now 16 years old, he is back in school.

"I was so happy to see my little brother again when I returned home to Benin," he says.

Complexity

The report's director, Andrea Rossi, says trafficking is a complex issue with many causes.

"Trafficking can start as slavery, children and women are sold, but it can also start as a migration process where children want to move.

"The only way they have to move - because for example it's illegal, because you cannot move, or it's difficult - the only option they have is to go through trafficking patterns."

There are no reliable figures for just how many people are trafficked in Africa, but it is likely to run into the millions.

Unicef is presenting its report to a meeting of African ministers in Benin.

The hope is to adopt an action plan to combat trafficking, one which will place the rights of the child at the centre of all future policy.

Bibliographic Reference
matsuura, koichiro. "the slave rade and slave constitution one of the darkest chapters in he history of the world." unesco.org. 24 Dec 2003. unesco. 03 Nov. 2005 .
Parenthetical Within Text
(matsuura)
APA Citation
Bibliographic Reference
matsuura, k. (2003). the slave rade and slave constitution one of the darkest chapters in he history of the world. Retrieved Nov. 03, 2005, from unesco.org Web site: http://portal.unesco.org/ent/.
Parenthetical Within Text
(matsuura, 2003)
From: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Africa-Trafficking.html
After a long and scary trip victims are placed in harsh conditions that are ran and guarged by traffickers. Many are physically and mentally harmed during and after this has happened to them. Women and girls forced to work as prostitutes and are blackmailed by the threat that traffickers will kill their families. Trafficked children get their food, shelter and other basic necessitiesfrom traffickers. Traffickers also play victims’ minds letting them know who is in control.

Trafficking in human beings is a worldwide issue.Data on the trafficking of human beings that would allow comparative analyses and the design of countermeasures is scarce. There needs to be something done to get the criminal justice response to trafficking .

Human Trafficking in Africa