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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/Congo-ROC.htm

Republic of the Congo (ROC)

The economy is a mixture of subsistence agriculture, an industrial sector based largely on oil, and support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing a major share of government revenues and exports.

The current administration presides over an uneasy internal peace and faces difficult economic challenges of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty.  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Description: Description: Congo-ROC

The Republic of the Congo (ROC) is a source country for children trafficked within its borders for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation, as well as a destination country for children trafficked from other African countries for the same purposes. Within the ROC, boys and girls are trafficked from rural areas, primarily from the Pool Region, to Point Noire and Brazzaville for forced street vending and domestic servitude. Girls are trafficked from rural areas primarily to Brazzaville, but also to Pointe Noire, for commercial sexual exploitation. Transnationally, children are trafficked from other African countries to Pointe Noire for domestic servitude, forced market vending and forced labor in the fishing industry.   - 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 the Republic of the Congo (ROC).  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 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 ***

Congo ‘pygmies’ suffer daily atrocities

Roch Eulonge N'zobo, Roger Bouka Owoko & Alain Oyandzi, “The Situation of the Pygmies in the Republic of Congo”, Congolese Observatory of Human Rights OCDH and the Rainforest Foundation, 2004

www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/files/NL%20Summer%202004%20-%20ebook.pdf

[accessed 17 July 2013]

Related article:: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/extermination-of-the-pygmies-552332.html

[accessed 26 April 2020]

[scroll down]

The Rainforest Foundation is urgently calling for justice, and recognition of the rights of the 'Pygmy' people, with the release of a report exposing alarming human rights violations suffered by 'Pygmies' in the Republic of Congo.

Beatings, rape, 'slavery' and discrimination were documented in the report based on investigations by our partners, the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH). The report, published by the Rainforest Foundation, reveals cases of collective rapes, police brutality, and appalling health, housing and education systems. Very few 'Pygmies' have basic civil rights and most lack national identity cards.

 

*** ARCHIVES ***

2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Republic of the Congo ROC

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/republic-of-the-congo/

[accessed 30 May 2021]

PROHIBITION OF FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR

Forced labor, including forced child labor, occurred (see section 7.c.), including in agriculture, domestic service, and market vending. In previous years NGOs in Bambama, Sibiti, and Dolisie reported the majority Bantu population forced adult indigenous persons to harvest manioc and other crops with limited or no pay and under the threat of physical abuse or death. Some reports suggested that hereditary servitude was taking place.

PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT

Child labor was a problem, particularly in the informal sector. Internal child trafficking brought children from rural areas to urban centers for forced labor in domestic work and market vending. Children also engaged in agricultural work and the catching and smoking of fish. NGOs working with indigenous communities reported children were forced to work in fields for low or no wages harvesting manioc under the threat of physical abuse or death. Children from West Africa worked in forced domestic servitude for West African families in Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville. Children also engaged in the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual exploitation and forced recruitment for armed conflict.

Freedom House Country Report

2020 Edition

freedomhouse.org/country/republic-congo/freedom-world/2020

[accessed 26 April 2020]

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

Congo is a source and destination country for human trafficking, and allegations of complicity have been lodged against government officials. However, the US State Department reported in its 2019 Trafficking in Persons report that authorities had taken some efforts to address the problem, including assisting victims and increasing training for police.

According to local NGOs, members of minority groups have been conscripted into forced farm labor by members of the Bantu ethnic majority. Child labor laws are reportedly not effectively enforced.

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 318]

Within ROC, internal child trafficking brings children from rural areas to urban centers for forced labor in domestic work. The majority of foreign children subject to forced domestic work or commercial sexual exploitation in ROC originate from Benin and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as other West African nations. (1; 14; 15; 16; 3; 13) A 2015 report funded by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime found that most victims of commercial sexual exploitation as a result of child trafficking were between the ages of 9 and 11 years old. (13) However, information on children’s work is limited because there has never been a national child labor survey or similar research conducted in ROC. (4).

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.

The Situation of the Pygmies in the Republic of Congo [PDF]

OCDH - Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l'Homme, July 2004

www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/files/OCDH%20Rpt%201%20%28English%29%20v.2.pdf

[accessed 30 January 2011]

[pages 19 & 20]  4.4. WORKING CONDITIONS THAT RESEMBLE MODERN SLAVERY – The work the Pygmies carry out for the Bantu in Ngoua II resembles forced labour. They put a great deal of effort into what is hard and often badly paid work. A day's work on a Bantu farm pays between 500 and 1,000 F.CFA, (50p to £1), according to the employer's whim. No consideration is made of the effort made.

On 30 June 2003, OCDH members traveled with a Pygmy, Mr. Ingouma, who had been requisitioned by a Bantu to carry a sack of groundnuts weighing over 80 kgs a distance of more than 50 kms from Ngoua II. In return, the Bantu gave him a bottle of palm wine valued at 250 F.CFA (25p).

Like the Bantu, the Pygmies who work at Man Fai Tai, the main logging company in the area, confirm that they are treated 'like slaves' by the Malaysians who run the company

The Pygmies of Kabo regularly incur debts with the Bantu. And, by lending them money, these Bantu are creating the conditions that force the Pygmies into coming back for another loan. The practice thus becomes entrenched and is, in fact, a form of 'debtslavery' for the salaried Pygmies. At the end of the month, unable to read or write, they have to pay off amounts established according to the word of their Bantu creditors. When they cannot pay all their debts, these creditors take them to courts that issue orders to stop and seize the debtor Pygmies' salaries.

Republic of Congo has nearly 2,000 children victims of human trafficking

Xinhua News Agency, June 21, 2007

english.people.com.cn/200706/21/eng20070621_386239.html

[accessed 30 January 2011]

"We can affirm today that human trafficking targeting children exists indeed in Congo. Our country has become a destination for children coming mainly from West Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The children brought to Congo are aged from nine years on average and few of them, if any, are taken to school," Raoul said Tuesday, adding her country "will do whatever possible to curb this degrading phenomenon." Once they arrive in the country of destination, the children are exploited in production factories, selling merchandise in the streets or in prostitution.

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

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 29 September 2006

www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/congo2006.html

[accessed 30 January 2011]

[79] While noting with appreciation the ratification by the State party of relevant ILO Conventions, as well as the adoption of an appropriate legislative framework, the Committee is concerned at the lack of data on the issue of economic exploitation of children. The Committee is also concerned at information according to which children, in particular indigenous children, are exploited economically. Finally, the Committee is concerned at reports that children, in particular from the Democratic Republic of Congo and indigenous children, are recruited to clean sewers and latrines manually, which is extremely hazardous to their health.

[81] While welcoming the study on the sexual exploitation of children which is being conducted with UNICEF’s support, the Committee expresses concern at sexual harassment in schools. It is also concerned at the fact that sexual exploitation of children is a widespread practice. The Committee is also concerned at the fact that the Portella Law prohibiting the presence of children in bars and night clubs is not enforced.

[83] While noting that the State party has ratified the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others on 25 August 1977, the Committee is concerned at the absence of legislation prohibiting trafficking in persons, particularly children.

The Protection Project - Republic of the Congo (ROC) [DOC]

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/congor.doc

[Last accessed 2009]

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - Poverty, a lack of education, a lack of opportunity, gender inequality, and civil unrest are some of the major factors that contribute to the trafficking infrastructure in the Republic of the Congo. Criminal activity, especially among the Angolan, Congolese, and Nigerian crime networks, is believed to be linked to trafficking as well.

FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - Evidence suggests that hundreds of children from the Republic of the Congo, from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, and from some West African states are used as domestic servants and street sellers in the Republic of the Congo.

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

Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 7   Civil Liberties: 5   Status: Not Free

2018 Edition

freedomhouse.org/country/republic-congo/freedom-world/2018

[accessed 26 April 2020]

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

Congo is a source and destination country for human trafficking. Anti-trafficking legislation languished in parliament and allegations of complicity in trafficking by government officials did not lead to prosecutions in 2017. According to local NGOs, indigenous people are often conscripted into forced farm labor by members of the Bantu ethnic majority. Child labor laws are reportedly not effectively enforced.

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/276989.htm

[accessed 20 March 2019]

www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/republic-of-the-congo/

[accessed 25 June 2019]

PROHIBITION OF FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR

The indigenous population was especially vulnerable to forced labor in the agricultural sector. On July 29, a human rights NGO reported that the majority population, called Bantus, often forced indigenous persons to harvest manioc and other crops without pay and under the threat of physical abuse or death.

PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT

Although there are laws and policies designed to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, child labor was a problem in the informal sector. Children, including children from Benin and the DRC, were subjected to domestic servitude, market vending, and forced agricultural and fishing work. Child victims experienced harsh treatment, long work hours, and almost no access to education or health services. Additionally, they received little or no remuneration for their work. There were no official government statistics on general child labor.

Children as young as six, especially indigenous children in rural areas, often worked long hours in the fields harvesting cassava and carrying heavy loads of firewood. A local authority reported that this was culturally acceptable, although not officially legal.

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/2006/78729.htm

[accessed 7 February 2020]

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The law does not specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were unconfirmed reports of trafficking of children by West African immigrants living in the country. Trafficking could be prosecuted under existing laws against slavery, prostitution, rape, illegal immigration, forced labor, and regulations regarding employer employee relations; however, there were no known cases of the government prosecuting any trafficker under these laws. The ministries of security, labor, and social affairs, as well as the gendarmerie, have responsibility for trafficking issues.

There were unconfirmed reports that the country was a country of destination for trafficked persons. It was not known to be a country of transit or origin. There were unconfirmed reports that minor relatives of immigrants from West Africa could be victims of trafficking. There was no evidence of trafficking in adults. Children from West Africa worked as fishermen, shop workers, street sellers, or domestic servants. There were reports that some were physically abused.

The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor [PDF]

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2007

www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2006OCFTreport.pdf

[accessed 2 November 2010]

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 work with their families on farms or in informal business activities. In Brazzaville and other urban centers, there are significant numbers of street children, primarily from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, who engage in street vending and begging. There were isolated cases of children involved in commercial sexual exploitation. There are unconfirmed accounts of trafficking into the Republic of Congo of “minor relatives” of immigrants from West Africa. Children from West Africa reportedly work as domestic servants, fishermen, shop workers, and street sellers.

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