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/Cameroon.htm
Cameroon
is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual
exploitation. Most victims are children trafficked within the country, with
girls primarily trafficked for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation.
Both boys and girls are also trafficked within Cameroon for forced labor in
sweatshops, bars, restaurants, on tea and cocoa plantations, in mines, and
for street vending and possibly for forced begging. Reports indicate that traditional religious leaders may
subject individuals to hereditary slavery practices rooted in ancestral
master-slave relationships in some northern chiefdoms. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check out a later
country report here
or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in 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 precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. 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. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Beatings, Isolation
and Fear: The Life of a Slave in the Pierre Thomas, Jack
Date and Theresa Cook, ABC News, May 21, 2007 abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=3190006&page=1 [accessed 26 January
2011] Evelyn Chumbow was once a slave, but not in some distant
country. She worked right here in the ***
ARCHIVES *** At Capitol,
faith-based organizations shine light on human trafficking Rhina Guidos,
Catholic News Service, 5 July 2019 cruxnow.com/cns/2019/07/05/at-capitol-faith-based-organizations-shine-light-on-human-trafficking/ [accessed 8 July
2019] When a relative
offered her the opportunity to come to the U.S. through an arrangement with a
family in her hometown, she was ready to embark on that life. Chumbow, who was 11 when
she became a victim of forced labor, fit many of the characteristics of
trafficking victims: 25% of those trafficked are children and over 70% of
those trafficked are women and girls. Chumbow
thought she was coming to the United States to be adopted by a family. Instead, she was in
a group of girls brought in under one passport and then sent off to become a
domestic worker in a house in Maryland, where, at age 11, she cooked and
cleaned and took care of other children, receiving no salary. The relative
who had made the arrangement, she later found out, had sold her for $1,000 to
the household where she suffered a variety of abuses. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cameroon 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/cameroon/
[accessed 25 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Anecdotal reports
of hereditary servitude imposed on former slaves in some chiefdoms
in the North Region continued. Many members of the Kirdi–a
predominately Christian and animist ethnic group enslaved by the Muslim
Fulani in the 1800s–continued to work for traditional Fulani rulers for
compensation in room and board and generally low and unregulated wages, while
their children were free to pursue schooling and work of their choosing. Kirdi were also required to pay local chiefdom taxes to
the Fulani, as were all other subjects. The combination of low wages and high
taxes (although legal) effectively constituted forced labor. While
technically free to leave, many Kirdi remained in
the hierarchical and authoritarian system because of a lack of viable
alternative options. Anecdotal reports
suggested that in the South and East Regions, some Baka, including children,
continued to be subjected to unfair labor practices by Bantu farmers, who
hired the Baka at exploitative wages to work on their farms during the
harvest seasons. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Children younger
than the minimum age of employment tended to be involved in agriculture,
fishing and livestock, the service industry, sex work, and artisanal gold
mining. There were reports of underage children associated with nonstate armed groups in the Far North, Southwest, and
Northwest Regions. In agriculture, children were exposed to hazardous
conditions, including climbing trees, handling heavy loads, using machetes,
and handling agricultural chemicals. Children in artisanal gold mines and
gravel quarries spent long hours filling and transporting wheelbarrows of
sand or gravel, breaking stones without eye protection, and digging and
washing the soil or mud, sometimes in stagnant water, to extract minerals.
These activities left children vulnerable to physical injuries, waterborne
diseases, and exposure to mercury. Children worked as street vendors; in
fishing, where they were exposed to hazardous conditions; and largely
alongside families and rather than for formal employers. Children were
subjected to forced begging as talibes
in Koranic schools. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/cameroon/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 26 April
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Despite a 2011 law
against human trafficking, Cameroon remains a source, transit, and
destination country for forced labor and sex trafficking of children, as well
as a source country for women who are subject to forced labor and
prostitution in Europe. Some internally displaced women have also resorted to
prostitution in the cities of Yaoundé and Douala. Child labor remains common,
and child workers are frequently exposed to hazardous working conditions,
particularly when collecting scrap metal for sale. 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 17 April
2019] www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 26 April
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 250] Children in
Cameroon engage in the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial
sexual exploitation and perform dangerous tasks in cocoa production. Cameroon is a
source, transit, and destination country for child trafficking from
neighboring countries in Central and West Africa. (8; 16; 3) Some traffickers
have resorted to kidnapping children, as increased public awareness has
resulted in fewer parents entrusting their children to intermediaries. (3)
Children engaged in cocoa production are exposed to dangerous working
conditions, including exposure to pesticides and the use of sharp tools such
as machetes. (9) The NGO Child Soldiers International alleged that some
officially sanctioned community neighborhood watch groups, known as vigilance
committees, may have used and recruited children as young as age 12 in
military operations against Boko Haram. (18). A Study on Human
Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation within th Gulf
of Guinea countries James Okolie-Osemene PhD, Department of International Relations
and the Director of Research and Linkage Programme,
Wellspring University, Nigeria [Long URL] [accessed 14
February 2022] The objectives of
this study are to situate and examine the context, nature and networks of
human trafficking for sexual exploitation around the Gulf of Guinea in order
to identify the intersection between the sources, transit and destinations of
the illicit trade, interrogate the human rights implications of human
trafficking for sexual exploitation around the countries of the Gulf of
Guinea on the one hand, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats to the anti-trafficking activities on the other hand. Cameroonians
Rescued From Human Traffickers Moki Edwin Kindzeka, Voice of America VOA News, 10 July 2015 m.voanews.com/a/cameroonians-rescued-from-human-traffickers/2856737.html [accessed 12 July
2015] As some 50
Cameroonian women recover in a trauma center from their ordeals of forced
labor in Middle East homes, calls are resounding for the central African nation’s
government to investigate and prosecute the human traffickers allegedly
responsible for their plight. Some of the women
said they were deceived by television ads claiming there was work in Kuwait
for domestic help, nurses and airport employees. Claudette Amikeh, 27, said she was treated like a slave during a
year in Kuwait. She complained of little time to sleep and, "at times,
no food, [only] stress." Amikeh said she begged to
be returned to Cameroon, but "this woman said I am going nowhere: I have
come to work, I must work. I went down on my knees…. I cried to God for help.
I prayed and cried." Beatrice Titanji, who runs the trauma center, said these human
traffickers also collect an advance salary of $3,000 from Middle East people
who contract for the women’s services. They don’t give the money to the
women. Human trafficking:
The faces and sorrow at the heart of a UN report UN News Centre, 13
February 2009 www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29907&Cr=&Cr1= [accessed 26 January
2011] Rose was just a
teenager in Rose finally opened
the door in suburban Trafficking of
African women is thriving Francois Tillinac, Agence France-Presse AFP, May 10 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/africa/trafficking-of-african-women-is-thriving-1.352453 [accessed 26 January
2011] In January Italian police
smashed several human trafficking rings involving African and eastern
European females and netted some 800 suspects. Outside Couple Indicted On
Human Trafficking Charges www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2005/February/05_crt_050.htm [accessed 26 January
2011] According to the
three count indictment, Joseph Djoumessi and Evelyn
Djoumessi violated federal law by fraudulently
bringing a 14 year old Cameroonian girl into the "Too often
human traffickers bait young girls with promises of the American dream only
to then force them into involuntary servitude. Civilized society cannot
tolerate this," said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for
the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department takes these charges
very seriously and is committed to prosecuting those who attempt to profit by
the systematic abuse and degradation of others." Woman gets 17 years
for keeping slave girl The www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/feb/28/20050228-112709-4419r/ [accessed 1
September 2011] Theresa Mubang was convicted by a federal jury in November of
involuntary servitude and harboring an alien. Prosecutors said she forced the
girl to cook, clean and take care of Mubang’s young
children for no pay. Mubang also beat the girl with
a high-heeled shoe, broomstick and television cable, prosecutors said. Mubang fled shortly after
her conviction and was not in court in IYF and Nokia
Recognize 11 Outstanding Youth Leaders with YouthActionNet
Awards International Youth
Foundation, 209.200.69.141/document.cfm/30/649 [accessed 26 January
2011] In many cases,
award winners plan to use the funding they receive to strengthen and expand
their efforts. In Testimony of
Professor Mohamed Mattar Co-Director, Protection
Project Johns Hopkins University Professor Mohamed Mattar, Co-Director, Protection Project, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4
September 2011] Based upon the
analysis conducted by The Protection Project on these cases, which the
Department of Justice kindly made available, I can say that the majority of
victims that are trafficked into the U.S. come from countries in Africa,
especially Cameroon, Nigeria,
Ghana and Tonga; Latin America, especially Jamaica, Mexico, Honduras and
Guatemala; Asia, especially South Korea, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam,
Thailand and China and Russia. They are trafficked
for the purposes of prostitution, other forms of sexual exploitation, forced
labor and domestic service. Bittersweet
chocolate Caroline Tiger,
Salon.com, Feb 14, 2003 www.salon.com/2003/02/14/chocolate/ [accessed 4
September 2014] www.laborrights.org/in-the-news/bittersweet-chocolate [accessed 6
September 2016] The most recent
survey of conditions on West African cocoa farms, completed by the
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture for the U.S. Agency for
International Development, estimated that nearly 300,000 children work in
dangerous conditions on cocoa farms in the four countries surveyed -- Ivory
Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon -- the vast majority of them in the Ivory
Coast. The report, released in July 2002, says that of the 300,000 children,
more than half (64 percent) are under 14 years old. Twelve thousand had no
connection to the family on whose cocoa farm they toiled, but only 5,100 of
them were paid for their work. Almost 6,000 were described as "unpaid
workers with no family ties," provoking advocates to refer to them as
"slaves." Regional efforts
against Child Labour Union Network
International, 01/28/2002 www.uniglobalunion.org/uniindep.nsf/06d209a84f15c6c5c125698400349e4b/0e25eddebc855fe3c1256b4f0038d569?OpenDocument [accessed 1
September 2011] The states involved
were also classified. A supplier state is the victim's state of origin while
the final destination is a receiver state. Victims can transit through states
to reach a final destination. In Child Slavery in Levi Anthony, June
11, 2002 www.talk-uk.com/showthread.php?22634-UK-must-apologise-for-slave-trade [accessed 26 January
2011] [scroll down to 03-27-2007, 10:12 PM ] A thriving trade in
human traffic has developed in many parts of African "slave
ship" highlights spread of child slavery Trevor Johnson,
World Socialist Web Site, 19 April 2001 www.wsws.org/articles/2001/apr2001/slav-a19.shtml [accessed 26 January
2011] There is also a
thin layer of elite Africans who acquire unpaid servants to work in their
houses. Countries in the front line of this trade include Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 12 October 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/cameroon2001.html [accessed 26 January
2011] [60] The Committee
is deeply concerned at the large number of children being sold by their
parents and subsequently exploited in the labor market. The Committee is also
concerned at information on alleged instances of trafficking in children for
their exploitation in the State party and in neighboring countries. The
Committee is further concerned at the possible use of inter-country adoption
for the purpose of trafficking. The Protection
Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/cameroon.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - According to a
report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), thousands of
Cameroonian children fall victim to trafficking every year. Children are exploited as laborers on
plantations and cocoa farms
and also as workers in small shops, bars, and households. It is common for a middle-class family in A common tradition
in Human Rights
Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide [accessed 26 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/276979.htm
[accessed 19 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/cameroon/ [accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR There continued to
be reports of hereditary servitude imposed on former slaves in some chiefdoms in the North region. Many Kirdi,
whose tribe had been enslaved by Fulani in the 1800s, continued to work for
traditional Fulani rulers for compensation, while their children were free to
pursue schooling and work of their choosing. Kirdi
were also required to pay local chiefdom taxes to Fulani, as were all other
subjects. The combination of low wages and high taxes, although legal,
effectively constituted forced labor. While technically free to leave, many Kirdi remained in the hierarchical and authoritarian
system because of a lack of viable options. In the South and
East regions, some Baka, including children, continued to be subjected to
unfair labor practices by Bantu farmers, who hired the Baka at exploitive
wages to work on their farms during the harvest seasons PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The use of child
labor, including forced labor, in informal sectors remained rampant.
According to an International Labor Organization 2012 survey, 40 percent of
children between the ages of six and 14 were engaged in economic activity; 89
percent of working children were employed in agriculture, 5 percent in
commerce, and 6 percent in either industrial work or domestic service.
UNICEF’s 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey indicated that 47 percent of
children ages five-14 engaged in child labor. Children working in agriculture
frequently were involved in clearing and tilling the soil and harvesting
crops, such as bananas and cocoa. In the service sector, children worked as
domestic servants and street vendors. Children worked at artisanal mining
sites under dangerous conditions. Children were also forced to beg by adults,
often by their parents to provide additional income for the household. According
to anecdotal reports, child labor, especially by refugee children, was
prevalent in the building construction sector. Chinese firms also reportedly
resorted to child labor in the manufacture of children’s shoes. Parents viewed
child labor as both a tradition and a rite of passage. Relatives often
brought rural youth, especially girls, to urban areas to exploit them as
domestic helpers under the pretense of allowing them to attend school. In
rural areas many children began work at an early age on family farms. The
cocoa industry and cattle-rearing sector also employed child laborers. These
children originated, for the most part, from the three northern and the
Northwest regions. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61558.htm [accessed 7 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– Women and children traditionally have faced the greatest risk of
trafficking and have been trafficked most often for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and forced labor. Most trafficking in children occurred within
the country's borders, while most trafficked women were transported out of
the country. According to anecdotal evidence by the NCHRF, women often were
"hired" into hubs of prostitution, often in A 2000 ILO study
conducted in SECTION
6 WORKER RIGHTS
– [c] The ILO confirmed that there was an increase during the year in serious
trafficking issues, and slavery situations have been identified in the The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/cameroon.htm [accessed 26 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 - Cameroon is a source, transit, and destination
country for the international trafficking of children, and trafficking also
occurred within the country. Girls are
trafficked internally from the Grand North and Northwest provinces to urban
areas. Children are also trafficked to
work in the production of cocoa. 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 - |
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