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.

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DYNAMIC PREFECT TARGETS TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
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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.

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SIDE EFFECTS
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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.

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ACTING LOCALLY - THINKING REGIONALLY
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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

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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