Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08CONAKRY196
2008-05-15 11:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Conakry
Cable title:  

CHILD TRAFFICKING IN GUINEA'S FOREST REGION

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5207
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0196/01 1361111
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151111Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2526
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000196 

DEPT FOR G/TIP AND DRL
DOL FOR DIANTHA GARMS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12598: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: CHILD TRAFFICKING IN GUINEA'S FOREST REGION


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000196

DEPT FOR G/TIP AND DRL
DOL FOR DIANTHA GARMS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12598: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: CHILD TRAFFICKING IN GUINEA'S FOREST REGION



1. (U) SUMMARY. Local NGOs tell Embassy officials that the Forest
Region is a transit hub for the trafficking of children from Guinea
to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, highlighting the need for
cross-border coordination and information sharing. Specific cases
provide examples of how these children are being trafficked. Despite
general agreement that Guinea is a source of supply, reliable
information is hard to find regarding the demand for trafficked
children in neighboring countries. This cable is the first of a
series of reports on child trafficking in Guinea. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) During a trip to N'Zerekore and surrounding towns the week of
April 20-25, Asst Poloff met with local NGOs working to combat child
trafficking in Guinea's forest region, including Sabou Guinea, the
Association to Combat the Exploitation of Children and Women
(ACEEF),and the Research-Action and Literacy Association (AGRAAD).
Upon return to Conakry, Asst Poloff met with a contact at the
Judicial Police regarding child trafficking issues in the Forest
Region.

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NGO ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION
--------------


3. (U) Asst Poloff met with Mamadou Cisse, the Regional Director of
Sabou Guinea, who said that they participate in a working group
started by UNICEF that monitors child trafficking incidents
occurring in the Forest Region. Sabou Guinea trains border officials
to identify child traffickers. When a trafficker is apprehended on
the border, local authorities are supposed to place the victims into
the custody of Sabou Guinea. Sabou Guinea also identifies street
children who were trafficked to sell products or beg in N'Zerekore.
Sabou Guinea takes the street children into protective custody and
reports the trafficker to the authorities for investigation.


4. (U) Asst Poloff held a joint meeting with Jean Louis Maomy, the
Executive Director of AGRAAD, and Serge Sossou, the Director of
ASEEF. Both organizations outlined their respective projects to
combat child trafficking throughout Guinea. In Guinea's Forest
Region, AGRAAD is mapping cross-border towns and dense migration
points to identify routes susceptible to child trafficking. ASEEF
projects throughout Guinea focus on educational and vocational

training for trafficking victims. Mr. Sossou said ASEEF is currently
opening an office in the Forest Region.

--------------
NGOS: TRAFFICKING PREVALENT IN FOREST REGION
--------------


5. (U) All three NGOs said that child trafficking is widespread in
the forest region of Guinea because of the porous border and
constant trans-border movement of Guineans, Liberians, and Ivorians.
Mr. Cisse from Sabou Guinea said that their organization is active
in other regions of Guinea, but the magnitude of child trafficking
is highest in the Forest Region. He said that in the Forest Region,
Sabou Guinea handles 1-2 child trafficking incidents per month, most
of which involve cases of children trafficked from Kankan heading to
Liberia. Mr. Cisse said he did not know where in Liberia the
children were being taken and for what reason.


6. (U) Mr. Maomy from AGRAAD said that the plethora of cross-border
communities in the Forest Region creates a mechanism for traffickers
to easily sneak children across the border. He said that AGRAAD's
foremost problem is the lack of cross-border coordination and
info-sharing between government and non-government partners on the
border. To combat this problem, AGRAAD participates in Cross-Border
Monitoring Meetings that involve NGOs and governments from Sierra
Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Cote D'Ivoire. This network seeks to
enhance coordination, share information and make recommendations for
monitoring and investigating child trafficking cases on the borders.



7. (U) During the joint meeting with AGRAAD and ASEEF, there were a
few moments of disagreement between Mr. Maomy and Mr. Sossou. For
example, the gentlemen debated about whether certain situations of
guardianship, such as entrusting a family/community member to
transport one's children, should be considered as trafficking. In
addition, when Mr. Sossou said that Guinea was only a TIP "receiving
country," Mr. Maomy jumped in saying that Guinea was a "receiving,
sending and transit country." Mr. Sossou immediately corrected
himself and continued on with his presentation about the
accomplishments of ASEEF.

--------------
RECENT TRAFFICKING CASES IN FOREST REGION
--------------


8. (U) Asst Poloff met with Commissioner Bakary Camara from the
Conakry Judicial Police, who said that child trafficking is a

CONAKRY 00000196 002 OF 002


significant problem in the Forest Region. He cited two 2008
incidents in which Guinean children were reportedly trafficked to
Liberia where they were to be sold. In the first case, the Liberian
police in Monrovia apprehended a woman who was reportedly trying to
sell a kidnapped girl from N'Zerekore. In the second case, a man
from Kankan was apprehended by Liberian police for trying to sell
his son in Monrovia. Mr. Bakary said that both alleged traffickers
are being detained in Liberia waiting extradition to Guinea, and the
children have been returned to relatives in Guinea. When asked why
traffickers from Kankan would take children to Liberia rather than
other neighboring countries, Mr. Bakary explained that nobody would
purchase the children in Mali; the demand for children is in
Liberia.


9. (U) Mr. Cisse from Sabou Guinea told Asst Poloff about a February
2008 child trafficking case where a victim escaped to local
authorities and was turned over to Sabou Guinea. According to Mr.
Cisse, the boy said that a truck driver was taking three children,
aged 11 to 14, to Liberia. In Kankan, the truck driver reportedly
asked the three children for assistance in transporting his shipment
to a nearby town. Rather than stopping at the town, he continued on
towards the Guinean-Liberian border. Mr. Cisse said the local
authorities are investigating the case, but Sabou Guinea expects
that the other two children are already in Liberia. In the separate
meeting with the Judicial Police, Mr. Bakary said he was unaware of
the case.


10. (U) According to Mr. Maomy from AGRAAD, who provided another
recent example, in February a man from Kissidougou allegedly took
his son to Freetown to sell him into child labor. The man was
reportedly apprehended by the Sierra Leonean authorities and the
child returned to Guinea where he remains in the custody of a local
NGO. Mr. Maomy said that AGRAAD is working with both local and
Sierra Leonean authorities to transfer the man to Guinea to be
prosecuted. In the separate meeting with the Judicial Police, Mr.
Bakary reported that the man was still being detained by Liberian
officials but that his unit is working to have the man extradited to
Guinea for his trial.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


11. (SBU) Over the next several weeks, Embassy will continue to
investigate child trafficking issues in Guinea in order to develop a
better sense of the magnitude and nature of the problem. With
respect to Guinea's Forest Region, information obtained to date
suggests that most, if not all, of the children trafficked through
the region are part of a supply chain feeding into neighboring
countries, rather than a response to demand within Guinea. There
was no indication that the Forest Region is an end destination for
trafficked children from other countries. For example, contacts
could not cite specific cases of Liberian, Sierra Leonean, or
Ivorian children being trafficked into Guinea. END COMMENT.

CARTER