CHILD SLAVERY
Child slave ship spotted again
(17/04/2001 05:13:07)
A ship thought to be concealing up
to 250 child slaves has
been spotted off Equatorial Guinea
amid growing concern
over the welfare of children in the
hands of a captain and
crew who face international arrest
warrants.
"The boat was seen near
(the Equatorial Guinea capital)
Malabo" yesterday, Benin's
Social Protection Minister
Ramatou Babamoussa told AFP today.
"All ports in west
and central Africa have been alerted,"
she added.
Babamoussa did not say who spotted the
vessel but said the Cotonou government
was working with the UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) and the US government to
resolve the crisis, which has sparked
urgent appeals from
humanitarian groups.
"I'm worried about the situation
of the children aboard
this ship. We have no information on
the state of the
boat," Babamoussa warned, adding
that Benin was
"prepared to offer all its aid to
get these children back".
Interpol issued arrest warrants
yesterday against the
ship's captain,
Beninois Stanislas Abanton, and crew,
heightening fears that the children
may have been
offloaded at a remote port, perhaps
in Nigeria, or even
thrown overboard.
The Nigerian-registered Etireno ha
s been at sea since
March 30 when it set sail from the
Benin capital Cotonou
headed for Gabon, where it was
refused permission to
dock.
It was also turned away from Douala,
in Cameroon, and
had been thought to be headed for
Cotonou.
Equatorial Guinea is between
Cameroon and Gabon,
farther to the south along the
west African coast.
Port authorities in Benin have
been trying to make contact
with the vessel since Friday,
but said it was not
responding to calls and had not
tried to make contact with
Benin's authorities.
Despite international efforts to
curb child slavery, the
trade persists in west and
central Africa, and over the
past five years, several thousand
children, mostly girls,
have fallen prey to well-organised
networks operating in
remote parts of southern and
central Benin.
Babamoussa said the Benin government
wanted to crush
trafficking in children.
Hundreds and possibly thousands of
children are bought
each year from destitute families
and sent to work as
domestic servants or farm workers
in richer countries of
the region.
Parents often give up their children
for as little as 13
dollars to agents who promise to
educate them and find
them jobs.
The agents sell the children on
to farmers in Gabon,
Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast
for up to $US430
($A860).
UNICEF has set up a centre in
Cotonou along with
non-governmental organisations
and government
authorities to receive the
children.
Along with cargo, reports said,
the ship was carrying
between 180 and 250 children.
Britain yesterday denounced the
practice of child slavery,
with Foreign Office minister
Brian Wilson saying "the plight
of the children on board this
ship serves as a timely
reminder that slavery and bondage
are still realities in the
world."
Wilson also appealed to British
firms in the cocoa industry
to vet their suppliers carefully.
"I would ask every company
involved in these industries
to ensure that they are not
profitting, unwittingly or
otherwise, from the slave
labour of children."
The non-governmental organisation,
SOS Children in Distress, said in
a statement here today it was "worried
about the fate of the innocent
and defenceless (children)
being transported by a boat for
many weeks."
It called on the Benin government
to deal "vigorously"
with the problem, and appealed to
international
organisations and groups concerned
with the protection
of human rights to mobilise "to save
the lives of the
abandoned children."
Meanwhile today, Gabonese President
Omar Bongo said
child traffickers did not operate
in his country, while
adding that his government was
"not responsible for
street children, nor for children
who work on cocoa and
coffee plantations."
The coast bordering the Bight
of Benin on the Gulf of
Guinea, off Nigeria and Benin,
was dubbed the "slave
coast" by European traders as it
was the principal source
of slaves from west Africa from
the 16th century to the
mid-19th century.
CHILD SEX
THE FOLLOWING LINK REVEALS SOME OF
THE WORK DONE BY AGENCIES TO STAMP OUT
CHILD SEX,whether in the home as incest
or as a trade.
In many countries sex tourism and
particularly the child sex trade is rampant.
Making it difficult is the growing numbers
of sex abusers using the Internet for their
gratification.
SEARCH LYCOS FOR CHILD SEX Be careful though some of the search results are just what we are trying to stamp out. PREVENT CHILD SEX ABUSE NOW RESEARCH INTERNET CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN 
REPORTS My elaunceston site for good child links |
