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Children to carry mandatory travel documents

    ABIDJAN

    Malian children under 18 years must now carry travel documents as part of efforts by the government to stop cross-border child trafficking, PANA reported officials in Bamako as saying on Thursday.

    Other measures include the approval of a law by Mali’s parliament on 29 June that makes child trafficking punishable by five to 20 years in prison. An anti-trafficking agreement signed by the world’s leading cocoa producer, Cote d’Ivoire, and Mali in September 2000 has reportedly resulted in hundreds of young Malians, employed as labourers on cocoa plantations and as domestics, returning to their country. The UN Children’s’ Fund estimates that 200,000 children are trafficked in West and Central Africa every year.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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