NEW PREFECT CRACKS DOWN ON CHILD TRAFFICKING INTO SIERRA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000980 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR INL/GTIP AMY LEMAR E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KOCI ASEC GV SUBJECT: NEW PREFECT CRACKS DOWN ON CHILD TRAFFICKING INTO SIERRA LEONE ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Over the past month, Guinean border police prevented twelve young children from being trafficked, resulting in at least three pending court cases. The prefect of the district is personally providing care for those children as the authorities attempt to locate their parents. This proactive prefect is also working across borders with her counterpart in Sierra Leone in order to investigate the underlying issues and explore opportunities for collaboration. END SUMMARY. -------------- - DYNAMIC PREFECT TARGETS TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS -------------- - ¶2. (SBU) On August 23, poloff traveled to Forekaria, a small town on the Guinea/Sierra Leone border about two hours from the capital, where she met with the newly installed prefect. Immediately upon assuming her duties one month ago, Marie Guilavogui made it clear that child trafficking in her prefecture would not be tolerated. Guilavogui is the wife of a high-ranking military commandant and the former Director of Child Protection Services within the Ministry of Social Affairs. A long-time missionary in Guinea and personal friend of the prefect's reports that Guilavogui is committed to child welfare issues and has made it her personal mandate to stop child trafficking. ¶3. (SBU) Upon taking office, Guilavogui personally instructed border officials to increase their vigilance with respect to potential child trafficking cases. Within the first week, four women were arrested when police noticed they were traveling with ten small, unclothed children (aged 2 to 7 years) whose responses to standard questions raised suspicions. The four women claimed to be the children's' aunts. Upon investigation, the authorities determined that the women were in fact taking the children from Guinea to be sold in Sierra Leone. Later conversations with the children revealed that they had been "in training" for several months with the women and had learned to speak a local Sierra Leonean tribal dialect despite their Guinean origins. ¶4. (SBU A second case involved a single woman traveling across the border on a motorcycle with a six-year old girl. When questioned by authorities as to her purpose of travel, the woman said she had "merchandise to sell." Border officials asked her to show them her merchandise, which she could not do. When it finally came out that her "merchandise" was actually the young girl, the woman was arrested. The young girl was reportedly returned to her parents in Forekaria where she had been abducted by neighbors. ¶5. (SBU) Details on a third case are sketchier, but reports indicate that an unidentified child trafficker solicited a 20-year old woman to abduct a young girl known to her, for which she would be given cash. When the woman presented the child to the trafficker, she herself became a victim when the trafficker apparently abducted them both and tried to cross the border to sell them. -------------- SIDE EFFECTS -------------- ¶6. (U) Increased vigilance has caused some inconvenience as authorities apply a higher level of questioning to suspicious travelers. The prefect told poloff that border officials had recently stopped a woman traveling with six children who did not have any documentation. The authorities detained the travelers until the children's father came from Conakry with the children's birth certificates and personally acknowledged that the woman was his wife and he was aware that she was taking their children into Sierra Leone. -------------- ACTING LOCALLY - THINKING REGIONALLY -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Guilavogui is not only working on her side of the border, but has already met with her counterpart from Sierra Leone in order to discuss possible opportunities for collaboration. The two are planning a series of meetings to explore the issue, including investigation into what kind of market for children exists in Sierra Leone, whether Sierra Leone is an end destination or a transit point, and the reasons behind why children are regularly trafficked from Guinea to Sierra Leone. Guilavogui told poloff that she considers the issue a potential source of trans-border conflict that she wants to address as quickly as possible. ¶8. (U) One of the challenges to effective enforcement of child trafficking, Guilavogui said, is the lack of an appropriate facility where they can be housed upon taking custody. Eleven of the twelve children mentioned in the cases above are actually staying with the CONAKRY 00000980 002 OF 002 prefect herself for the time being. However, the locally elected Mayor of Forekaria, Hadja Macire Fofana, recently made available a vacant school facility. The building is in good repair, but lacks equipment and appropriate lodging, toilets, and a kitchen. Guilavogui said it is her dream to transform the facility into an orphanage where trafficked children can be placed and she is working to identify collaborators and funds to realize her goals. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT. With Guinea as a Tier 2 country with respect to trafficking in persons, Guilavogui's recent campaign stands out as a potential bright spot in the GoG's anti-trafficking efforts. She is an impressive woman who has already made significant progress on child trafficking issues in a short period of time. We are monitoring developments in the three existing legal cases with interest, as well as any future cases resulting from increased vigilance in Forekaria. END COMMENT. BROKENSHIRE