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/CentralAfricanRep.htm
The Central African
Republic (CAR) is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women,
and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation. The majority of victims are children trafficked within the
country for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced ambulant vending,
and forced agricultural, mine, market, and restaurant labor. In addition, rebels
conscript children into armed forces in the northwestern and northeastern regions
of the country. Unable to survive as hunters and gatherers because of
depleted forests, Pygmies are subjected to forced agricultural labor by
Central African villagers. - 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 the 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 *** Crime & Society
- Comparative Criminology tour of the World - Central African Republic Dr. Robert Winslow, www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/africa/central_african_republic.html [accessed 28 January
2011] www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Central-African-Republic-2018.pdf [accessed 26 April
2020] TRAFFICKING IN
PERSONS-
The indigenous Ba'Aka often are coerced into
agricultural, domestic, and other types of labor within the country. The Ba'Aka often are considered to be the slaves of other
local ethnic groups, and subjected to wages far below those prescribed by the
labor code. Additionally there have been credible reports of three cases in
which persons obtained a Ba'Aka child by deception
and subsequently sent the child to ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Central African Republic 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/central-african-republic/
[accessed 25 May
2021] PROHIBITION OF FORCED
OR COMPULSORY LABOR Employers subjected
men, women, and children to forced domestic labor, agricultural work, mining,
market or street vending, and restaurant labor, as well as sexual exploitation.
Criminal courts sentenced convicted persons to imprisonment and forced labor … . Ba’aka, including children,
often were coerced into labor as day laborers, farm hands, or other unskilled
labor and often treated as slaves (see section 6, Children). No known victims
were removed from forced labor during the year. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor was
common in many sectors of the economy, especially in rural areas. Local and
displaced children as young as age seven frequently performed agricultural
work, including harvesting peanuts and cassava and helping gather items
subsequently sold at markets such as mushrooms, hay, firewood, and
caterpillars. In Bangui many of the city’s street children worked as street vendors.
Children often worked as domestic workers, fishermen, and in mines, often in
dangerous conditions. For example, children were forced to work without
proper protection or were forced to work long hours (i.e., 10 hours per day
or longer). Children also engaged in the worst forms of child labor in
diamond fields, transporting and washing gravel as well as mining gold,
digging holes, and carrying heavy loads. Despite the law’s prohibition on
child labor in mining, observers saw many children working in and around
diamond mining fields. No known victims were removed from the worst forms of
child labor during the year. Children continued
to be engaged as child soldiers. There were reports of ex-Seleka,
Anti-balaka, and other armed groups recruiting
child soldiers during the year (see section 1.g.). Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/central-african-republic/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 8 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Economic
opportunity is heavily restricted by the widespread corruption and the presence
of armed groups in many areas of the country. Many armed groups exploit gold
and diamond mines, and forced labor and child recruitment for soldiering are
common practices. The government has been unable to develop an
anti-trafficking plan, and has not initiated a human trafficking prosecution
since 2008, according to the US State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in
Persons report. 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 261] CAR experienced a
surge of violence in 2017, almost doubling the number of internally displaced
persons (IDP) to 688,700, and militias controlled much of the country beyond
the capital of Bangui. (14; 17; 23; 24; 25; 3; 26; 27; 12) Although the
government worked with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization
Mission in CAR (MINUSCA), UNICEF, and other partner agencies to demobilize
and reintegrate children into community life, there were allegations of abuse
and commercial sexual exploitation lodged against UN peacekeepers. (2; 24; 4;
3) Non-state armed groups intensified the forcible recruitment of children
during the reporting period as a result of the increase in violence. (2; 28;
12) UNICEF estimated between 6,000 and 10,000 children were
associated with armed groups in 2017. (28). The Protection
Project - Central African Republic The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/car.doc [Last accessed 2009] www.protectionproject.org/country-reports/ [accessed 13
February 2019] A Human Rights Report
on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children FACTORS
THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - Deterioration of
living conditions in rural areas and the search for unskilled and docile
workers are blamed for trafficking in children from the Central African
Republic to Cameroon. Poverty, coupled with large family size, is also a main
contributing factor. Other factors include strong demand for labor in the
informal sector, low awareness of trafficking among the local population, open
borders, and corrupt officials. ILO
study finds forced labour and human trafficking on
the rise International Labour Organisation ILO News,
Geneva, 25 May 2001 www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/press-and-media-centre/news/WCMS_007842/lang--en/index.htm [accessed 28 August
2012] While there is
universal consensus on the definition of forced labor (essentially work
performed under compulsion and subject to a penalty), some of the forms it
takes are still sources of policy debate. Among the most contentious issues
are those involving compulsory participation of citizens in public works in
the context of economic development, a practice which prevails in a number of
Asian countries (including Vietnam) and African countries (Central African Republic, Sierra
Leone and Tanzania). At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 31 August
2011] Victims are
trafficked for domestic servitude, street hawking, agricultural labor, and
sexual exploitation. Internationally,
they are trafficked to the Promotion and
Protection of the Rights of Children - Sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography - Note by the Secretary-General Ms. Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, Special Rapporteur on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography, UN General Assembly,
Fifty-second session, Agenda item 108, 16 October 1997 [accessed 9
September 2014] 19. In the Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 6 October 2000 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/centralafrica2000.html [accessed 28 January
2011] [50] The Committee
joins the State party in expressing deep concern at the problems suffered by
children in the context of domestic adoption, inter-country adoption and
guardianship proceedings, and in particular at reports of the ill-treatment
of children by guardians [84] The Committee
is concerned that children may be at risk of being sold or made to engage in
prostitution. Human Rights
Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide www.hrw.org/africa/central-african-republic [accessed 28 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/276981.htm
[accessed 19 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/central-african-republic/
[accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR The labor code
specifically prohibits and criminalizes all forms of forced or compulsory
labor and prescribes a penalty of five to 10 years’ imprisonment for
violations. The labor code’s prohibition of forced or compulsory labor also
applies to children, although the code does not mention them specifically.
The government did not enforce the prohibition effectively, however, and
there were reports such practices occurred, especially in armed conflict
zones. The failure of government enforcement was due to a lack of resources,
a dysfunctional judicial system, and an inadequate inspection cadre. Employers
subjected men, women, and children to forced domestic, agricultural, mining,
market or street vending, and restaurant labor, as well as sexual
exploitation. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Child labor was
common in many sectors of the economy, especially in rural areas. Children
continued to perform hazardous work and labored as child soldiers. No known
victims were removed from the worst forms of child labor during the year. Local and displaced
children as young as seven frequently performed agricultural work, including
harvesting peanuts and cassava and helping gather items subsequently sold at
markets, such as mushrooms, hay, firewood, and caterpillars. In Bangui many
of the city’s street children worked as street vendors. Children often worked
as domestic workers, fishermen, and in mines, often in dangerous conditions.
Children also worked in the diamond fields alongside adult relatives,
transporting and washing gravel as well as mining gold, digging holes, and
carrying heavy loads. Despite the law prohibiting child labor in mining,
observers saw many children working in and around diamond mining fields. Although there were
no reports ex-Seleka and anti-Balaka
recruited child soldiers during the year, both groups continued using child
soldiers. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61560.htm [accessed 7 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– There was strong agreement among NGOs and government officials that
trafficking in persons was not widespread. Trafficking was
confined primarily to children, both girls and boys, who were primarily
orphans. During the year there were reports that these children were forced
into domestic servitude and commercial labor activities, such as street
vending and agricultural work. In recent years, there were reports that
children were brought in by members of the foreign Muslim community from The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/central-african-republic.htm [accessed 28 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 - Children are trafficked to the Central African
Republic generally from Nigeria, Sudan and Chad for work in domestic service,
small shops, and agriculture. Traveling merchants, herders, and other
foreigners working in and transiting the country sometimes brought boys and
girls with them. Such children did not attend school and were not paid
for their work. There are some reports that children are trafficked
from the country to All
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