Main Menu
 
Poverty
 
Torture
 
CSEC
 
Street Children
 

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the hands of traffickers

Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025                                       gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Angola.htm

Republic of Angola

The global recession that started in 2008 stalled Angola’s economic growth and many construction projects stopped because Luanda accrued billions in arrears to foreign construction companies when government revenue fell. Lower prices for oil and diamonds also resulted in GDP falling 0.7% in 2016. Angola formally abandoned its currency peg in 2009 but reinstituted it in April 2016 and maintains an overvalued exchange rate. In late 2016, Angola lost the last of its correspondent relationships with foreign banks, further exacerbating hard currency problems. Since 2013 the central bank has consistently spent down reserves to defend the kwanza, gradually allowing a 40% depreciation since late 2014. Consumer inflation declined from 325% in 2000 to less than 9% in 2014, before rising again to above 30% from 2015-2017  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2021]

Description: Description: Angola

Angola is a country of origin for women and children trafficked internally for the purpose of domestic servitude and young men trafficked for the purpose of forced agricultural labor. Women and children, primarily, are trafficked to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, and Portugal. Young boys are trafficked to Namibia to herd cattle. Children are also forced to act as couriers in cross-border trade between Namibia and Angola as part of a scheme to skirt import fees. Traffickers successfully targeted children and adults, usually women, from poorer families, who enter into work agreements with relatives or contacts in other cities or provinces that subsequently prove to be coerced and exploitive. Unaccompanied migrant children are highly vulnerable to trafficking; trafficking victims have been found among them.   - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009   Check out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here

 

 

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Angola.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to verify their authenticity or to validate their content.

HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE

Students

If you are looking for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of particular interest to you.  Would you like to write about Forced-Labor?  Debt Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc.  On the other hand, you might choose to include possible precursors of trafficking such as poverty. There is a lot to the subject of Trafficking.  Scan other countries as well.  Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions.  Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources that are available on-line.

Teachers

Check out some of the Resources for Teachers attached to this website.

HELP for Victims

 

International Organization for Migration
925 906 225
Country code: 244-

 

*** ARCHIVES ***

2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: angola

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 30 March 2021

www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/angola/

[accessed 10 May 2021]

PROHIBITION OF FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR

Forced labor of men and women occurred in fisheries, agriculture, construction, domestic service, and artisanal diamond-mining sectors, particularly in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces. Migrant workers were subject to seizure of passports, threats, denial of food, and confinement. Forced child labor occurred (see section 7.c).

PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT

Child labor occurred in agriculture on family and commercial farms as well as in fishing, brick making, artisanal diamond mining, charcoal production, domestic labor, construction, and street vending. Exploitive labor practices included involvement in the sale, transport, and offloading of goods in ports and across border posts. Children were forced to work as couriers in the illegal cross-border trade with Namibia. Adult criminals sometimes used children for forced criminal activity, since the justice system prohibits youths younger than 12 from being tried in court.

Street work by children was common, especially in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Huambo, Huila, and Kwanza Sul. Investigators found children working in the streets of Luanda. Most of these children shined shoes, washed cars, carried water and other goods, or engaged in other informal labor, but some resorted to petty crime and begging. Commercial sexual exploitation of children occurred as well (see section 6).

The incidence of child labor increased in the southern provinces due to a severe drought. In Cunene province, children were forced to leave school and to work as herders or to dig wells and fetch water. The drought and the accompanying economic devastation increased the risk of exploitation of vulnerable persons in the province; one NGO in Cunene said the drought led many boys to seek work in urban areas and led girls to engage in prostitution.

Freedom House Country Report

2020 Edition

freedomhouse.org/country/angola/freedom-world/2020

[accessed 7 July 2020]

G4. DO INDIVIDUALS ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION?

Public oil revenues are not equitably distributed or used to benefit the entire population. Rural regions in particular have inadequate infrastructure and access to services, leading to inequities in economic opportunity.

Child labor is a major problem, and foreign workers are vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor in the construction and mining industries. The authorities have failed to effectively investigate human trafficking or prosecute offenders.

2017 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2018

www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf

[accessed 15 April 2019]

www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf

[accessed 22 April 2020]

Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL Worst Forms of Child Labor

[page 99]

In 2017, the government updated the list of hazardous activities and occupations prohibited for children. (9) The legislation identifies 57 activities that are prohibited for children; however, the types of hazardous work prohibited for children do not include diamond mining, a sector in which there is evidence of work conducted underground. (15)

Laws related to commercial sexual exploitation are not sufficient because using, procuring, and offering a child for the production of pornography and pornographic performances are not criminally prohibited. (16) The 2016 draft Penal Code, which contains prohibitions on the commercial sexual exploitation of children, remains before parliament for approval. (21; 9)

Ending compulsory education at age 12 leaves children ages 12 and 13 vulnerable to child labor because they are not required to attend school, but also are not legally permitted to work. (19; 20) In addition, this age conflicts with the National Development Plan (2013–2017), which sets the compulsory education age at 14. (22).

Children as Weapons of War

Jo Becker, Human Rights Watch World Report 2004

www.hrw.org/wr2k4/11.htm

[accessed 19 January 2011]

TRANSITIONING CHILDREN OUT OF WAR - In Angola, a peace agreement was reached in April of 2002, but child soldiers were excluded from formal demobilization programs and, at this writing, no special rehabilitation services had been set up for an estimated 7,000-11,000 children who served with UNITA or government forces.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 3, 2004

www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/angola2004.html

[accessed 19 January 2011]

[66] The Committee is concerned about the extent of the problem of sexual exploitation of and trafficking in children in the State party and notes that internally displaced and street children are particularly vulnerable to such abuse.

Human Rights Overview

Human Rights Watch

www.hrw.org/africa/angola

[accessed 19 January 2011]

*** EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE ***

2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 20 April 2018

www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/af/276967.htm

[accessed 12 March 2019]

www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/angola/

[accessed 24 June 2019]

PROHIBITION OF FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR

The government did not effectively enforce the law due in part to an insufficient number of inspectors. Penalties for violations are the same as those for trafficking in persons, ranging from eight to 12 years in prison, and were insufficient to deter violations, primarily due to lack of enforcement.

Forced labor occurred among men and women in agriculture, construction, domestic service, and artisanal diamond-mining sectors, particularly in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul Provinces. Migrant workers were subject to seizure of passports, threats, denial of food, and confinement.

PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT

Generally, work done by children was in the informal sector. Children engaged in economic activities such as agricultural labor on family farms and commercial plantations--particularly in orchards--as well as in fishing, brick making, charcoal production, domestic labor, and street vending. Exploitive labor practices included involvement in the sale, transport, and offloading of goods in ports and across border posts. Children were reportedly forced to act as couriers in the illegal cross-border trade with Namibia. Adult criminals sometimes used children for forced criminal activity, since the justice system prohibits youths under 12 from being tried in court. There were no credible reports of the use of child labor and forced child labor in informal diamond mining.

Human Rights Reports » 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 6, 2007

2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78718.htm

[accessed 17 March 2020]

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The constitution and law prohibit slavery; however, there are no specific laws against trafficking in persons. There were unconfirmed reports that persons were trafficked from and within the country.

The extent of trafficking in persons was unknown, but was not believed to be significant. During the year there were unconfirmed reports that a small number of children were trafficked out of the country to South Africa or Namibia. Homeless and orphaned children were most vulnerable to trafficking.

Methods used by traffickers to obtain and transport victims were unknown. The small number of traffickers working in the country was not thought to be organized.

The government operated facilities throughout the country for abandoned and abducted children; however, in many cases the facilities were underfunded, understaffed, and overcrowded. A Catholic-affiliated center in Namacumbe, near the Namibian border, assisted victims of trafficking to find and reintegrate with their families.

The government provided basic assistance to trafficking victims on an ad hoc basis, especially in the capital. Local social welfare agencies provided basic necessities. This type of program did not exist outside of Luanda, nor did the government operate shelters specifically for trafficking victims.

The government attempted to monitor its borders, but lacked resources to do so effectively. Efforts by UNICEF, supported by the government, strengthened immigration controls at airports and border checkpoints. Immigration services at the international airport in Luanda were more effective than provincial border posts and required proper documentation for children seeking to fly internationally. In July the government signed a joint Economic Community of West African States and Economic Community of Central African States counter-trafficking accord.

The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2005

www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/angola.htm

[accessed 19 January 2011]

Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL Worst Forms of Child Labor

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, pornography, forced labor, sexual slavery, and other forms of exploitation are reported to exist in the country.  Angola is a country of origin for trafficked children.  Children have been trafficked internally and also to Namibia and South Africa for the purposes of sexual exploitation and domestic and commercial labor.

CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - In 2004, the Government of Angola concluded its national child registration campaign, which has documented 3.8 million children under the age of 18 years since August 2002.  By providing children with accurate, official age documentation, the government worked to stem the recruitment of underage children by traffickers, and ensure underage children were not admitted to the military. In addition, 45,000 orphans or children living alone were reintegrated into family living situations.

All material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.  PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.  Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - Angola", http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Angola.htm, [accessed <date>]