Human Trafficking in [Niger Street Children in [Niger] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Niger] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the first
ten years of the 21st Century
- 2000 to 2009
Niger is a source, transit, and destination
country for children and women trafficked for forced labor and commercial
sexual exploitation. Caste-based slavery practices, rooted in ancestral
master-slave relationships, continue primarily in the northern part of the
country. An estimated 8,800 to 43,000 Nigeriens
live under conditions of traditional hereditary slavery. Children within |
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CAUTION: The following links have been culled
from the web to illuminate the situation in *** FEATURED
ARTICLE *** Last year, the Niger government
eventually passed a law banning slavery outright. Under this law, a slavery conviction
caries a ten-year prison term or a 1m CFA franc (about R10 000) fine. But tremendous poverty, illiteracy and
desperate circumstances in which many people live make it virtually
impossible to eradicate slavery. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S. Dept
of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS –
Trafficking in persons generally was conducted by small operators who
promised well‑paid employment in the country. Victims, primarily from
neighboring countries, were escorted through the formalities of entering the
country and found that their employment options were restricted to poorly
paid domestic work or prostitution. Victims had to use a substantial portion
of their income to reimburse the persons who brought them to the country for
the cost of the trip. Compliance was enforced by "contracts," which
were signed by illiterate victims before they departed their countries of
origin; alternatively, traffickers seized victim's travel documents. A local
NGO also reported that some rural children were victims of domestic
trafficking in which the victim (or his/her family) was promised a relatively
decent job only to be placed in a home to work as a servant. African Slavery and Trafficking www.wwenglish.net/t/d/voastan/2005/5/13865.htm www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-03/2005-03-24-voa57.cfm?CFID=226184722&CFTOKEN=44642378 Early in March, the government of A botched release of slaves in Niger
Begins Enforcement Of Ban On Slavery The chief of the In Ates region will free all slaves in the area under his
control, where entrenched slavery means 95% of the population are owned and
controlled by the other 5%. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 3 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide Slavery in okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2004/10/slavery_in_nige.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [scroll down] Almost 50,000 people still live as
slaves in Slavery has always been practised by the rulling
classes in Niger and Northern Nigeria who still have an interest in keeping
slavery in tact. Timidria's report found that Slaves are owned and controlled by
their masters, receiving a meagre amount of food
and a place to sleep in return for their labour,
the study found. "The master decides who a slave marries and whether
their children go to school. Many of those interviewed in the survey had also
been subjected to violence, rape, degrading treatment and threats." Assibit, 50, describes life as a slave in
Niger, where 43,000 people are estimated to be in bonded labour. Assibit was born
into slavery - as was her mother, her husband and her five children. Last year, the Niger government
eventually passed a law banning slavery outright. Under this law, a slavery
conviction caries a ten-year prison term or a 1m CFA franc (about R10 000)
fine. But tremendous poverty,
illiteracy and desperate circumstances in which many people live make it
virtually impossible to eradicate slavery. Slavery in www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/PDF/Full%20English%20Slavery%20in%20Niger.pdf At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[page 13]
INTRODUCTION -
This study is aimed at contributing to the setting up of the necessary
mechanisms to eradicate slavery in The Anti-Slavery Award www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/award.htm#link3 At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
PREVIOUS ANTI-SLAVERY AWARD WINNERS
– Timidria received the 2004 Anti-Slavery
Award for its pioneering work against slavery in
Niger. It spearheaded the anti-slavery movement in Niger, raising
awareness of the issue and helping former slaves to integrate into society
and successfully campaigning for amendments to the in Penal Code in 2003,
which defines, prohibits and punishes slavery. The organisation
is campaigning for the law to be implemented and for survivors of slavery to
be given the help they need to rebuild their lives. Drama
as Niger slaves are freed Dozens of slaves have been set
free at a ceremony in Niger despite an attempt by the local authorities to
stop the event being reported. The
ceremony in Tahoua in central Niger was disrupted
by police, who seized equipment from journalists. In May this year, acting under
pressure Niger's parliament banned the keeping or trading in slaves but the
law has not been fully implemented.
Local human rights group say there are still some 20,000 slaves in
Niger. Slavery in www.antislavery.org/archive/submission/submission2003-niger.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Signs, such as the wearing of
particular ankle bracelets, are used to identify those of a slave caste as
being distinct from the general population. In this way those born into the
slave caste are constantly subjected to social discrimination and it is
extremely difficult for them to move beyond their given status, for example
in terms of work or marriage. Overt violence or coercion are not always
required in order to ensure that slaves continue to function within the
traditional social structures, which prescribe them a subordinate status.
Social conditioning, societal pressure, lack of education or a perceived lack
of alternatives may be sufficient to retain control over the individual. NIGER: Survey finds
over 870,000 are still slaves Although Niger recently passed new
tougher laws against slavery, more than 870,000 people - about seven percent
of the country's population - still live in conditions of forced labour, according to Timidria,
a local human rights group. Niger
'slave' flees castration DISOBEDIENCE - Talking about his ordeal, Mr Mohamet explained that he
was being whipped everyday because he was suspected of wanting to rebel
against his master. He said he had
recently been sold to a new owner, known for his cruelty towards his slaves.
His new master accused him of rebellion and disobedience. Mr Mohamet said if he had not escaped, he would have been
castrated this week. His master tried
to control his slaves by castrating them or using amputation. ICFTU
Releases Report On Labour Standards The situation concerning child labour is alarming. The vast majority of children in
Niger (70 percent) work, whereas around 40 percent of Senegalese children
work. Most are active in subsistence agriculture and urban informal
activities. In Niger child labour in mining occurs
under extremely hazardous conditions. Rescued
Niger slaves 'tortured' Aid workers have been giving
details of the physical and psychological trauma suffered by 10 slaves
rescued on Monday in the Tahoua region of northern
Niger. One human rights official, Iglass Weiller, said the 10
men, women and children, who had been slaves all their lives, had suffered
torture and starvation. He told a
press conference in the capital Niamey on Wednesday that the owner of the
slaves - who has not yet been apprehended - had raped the women and girls
regularly. One of them, Oumou
Raicha, told Timidria
that for many years, she was repeatedly raped by Waglassane.
"Since I was a small child, my master used to force me to sleep with
him," she was quoted as saying. "I had many suitors, but the master
opposed my marriage on many occasions. What I want now is to have a family
and live freely." She had three
daughters by her master, two of whom died. The third, eight-year-old Aggada, was taken from her by Waglassane
and given to his "legitimate" daughter as a "marriage
gift". NIGER
MINING INDUSTRY - Niger, one of the poorest countries in Africa, provides a
typical example of child exploitation. Uranium, gold, phosphates, tin, coal, limestone,
salt and gypsum mining are prominent in Niger. In Madaoua,
a major gypsum mining town in Niger, 43 percent of the mining workers are
children. Of these 6.5 percent are 6 to 9 years of age and 16 percent are of
10 to 13 years of age. These children are exposed to innumerable safety
hazards. During extractions they are at risk of injury from their tools and
from exhaustion as they have to cover a huge area in search for gypsum. Other
risks are snake and scorpion bites and foot injuries, as most of them are
barefoot, from stones and wood splinters. Liptako is a major gold mining area in
Niger. Gold ores are obtained in difficult and dangerous conditions, as the
method of work is primitive without any source of mechanical or electrical or
any other power. Children are fully involved in most of the activities in
gold production. 17 percent of the workers are children. They are also
involved in related activities like transport, drug selling and prostitution.
In the extraction phase, children are used as carriers of ores and waste
products to the surface. The child laborers manually carry
sacks that weigh 5-10 kg. In addition to the danger of falling rocks, the
children can also fall down mine shafts. They are exposed to risks such as
explosions, asphyxiation, dust, dermatoid, flooding and drowning in the
mines. They also face very high or very low temperatures, dangerous air and
space, bilharziosis due to polluted water where
they wash gold ores and dangerous materials used in mining and processing.
The nearest medical facilities are 60 km away. Child Labour Persists Around The
World: More Than 13 Percent Of Children 10-14 Are Employed www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/96-18.htm At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] "Today's child worker will be
tomorrow's uneducated and untrained adult, forever trapped in grinding
poverty. No effort should be spared to break that vicious circle", says
ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Niger Street Children in [Niger] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Niger] [other countries]