Child labourers repatriated

Fifteen children have been repatriated to Benin four years after they were taken to Cote d'Ivoire to work as under-age labourers, Benin authorities told a news conference in Cotonou on Monday.

The boys and girls, aged between 11 and 18 yeas old, were taken to Cote d'Ivore in 1998 and 1999 by two Benin nationals, officials of the ministry of justice said. They were taken to Soubre, 418 km west of Abidjan, where they worked as labourers in coffee and cocoa farms, street vendors, domestic hands, and helpers on construction sites, the officials added.

The children, the officials added, said they were promised 1.14 million FCFA (about US $1,600) in return for four years of work. But they were only given 50,000 FCFA ($70), prompting them to run away. But they were apprehended by Ivorian police who informed Benin's embassy in Cote d'Ivoire.

Child trafficking in West Africa was acknowledged as a scourge in 1998 and initiatives started against it. Regional meetings have been held to discuss efforts to combat it. Cote d'Ivoire and Mali signed a cooperation agreement in September 2000, while a similar agreement exists between Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.

The governments of West and Central Africa are set to ratify a regional convention against child trafficking in 2004.

During the 8-10 May UN special session on children, Rima Salah, West Africa regional director of the UN children's fund reported that studies had estimated the number of children trafficked in West and Central Africa at 200,000 a year. "Yet for many parents in the region the idea of harming a child is alien to reality," she said.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) reported to the UN session its support for anti-trafficking activities in Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Nigeria through a sustainable tree crop program.

"The program addresses forced child trafficking labour in West Africa's tree crop industry. It brings together cocoa producers and processors, labour unions, governments, and civil society groups to ensure small producers get a fair price for their harvest and the crop is not cultivated through child labour," Andrew Natsios, USAID administrator said.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that globally, 1.2 million children below the age of 18 are victims of trafficking. But because it is a hidden problem it is difficult to trace and counter, according to Frans Roselaers, director of ILO's international program on elimination of child labour.