CHILD TRAFFICKING IN MIDDLE GUINEA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000320

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 MIDDLE GUINEA

REF: CONAKRY 00220


1. (U) SUMMARY. A recent trip to Middle Guinea reveals that Guinea's
border with Senegal may be a transit point for significant
trafficking activity. Although there have only been a few
"official" trafficking cases, the lack of information and resources
on the part of the local authorities, as well as hundreds of
kilometers of unmonitored border crossings, suggests that there is
probably much more going on than what has been officially reported.
Local NGOs express serious concerns about the need for education
campaigns in order to combat child trafficking in the region.
Authorities report frequent border crossings by marabouts, often
accompanied by several children, which has proven to be a source of
trafficking and exploitation in other parts of the country. This
cable is the fourth in a series of six reports on child trafficking
in Guinea. END SUMMARY


2. (U) During a trip to the prefectures of Koundara and Labe (Middle
Guinea) the week of June 2, Asst Poloff met with local authorities,
police, local NGOs and border security officials to discuss the
prevalence of child trafficking over Guinea's northern Senegalese
Border. Asst Poloff also traveled to the two major border
checkpoints to speak directly with border police/gendarme and
inquire about two marabouts recently arrested on Koundara's border
for allegedly trafficking 11 children into Senegal.

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AUTHORITIES: DON'T HAVE INFORMATION ON CHILD TRAFFICKING
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3. (SBU) The Secretary General of Koundara (the deputy to the
prefect),Mamadou Allou Diallo, refused to comment on child
trafficking in the region, saying only that he "is not well placed
to say if it is occurring." He said he had been officially informed
of one case (reftel),but is not aware of any other cases. In a
separate meeting, the Mayor of Koundara, Eihad Abdoullay Boiro, said
that Koundara has few official cases of child trafficking, but that
the border is incredibly porous without any natural barriers that
could force people to go through border checkpoints in order to
cross into Senegal. Mr. Boiro requested assistance to implement
training modules for border security and sensitization programs in
order to combat this problem. He also said that residents of
Koundara are becoming more vigilant about child trafficking because
they have heard of radio reports of trafficking incidents occurring
in Forecariah.

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NGO ACTIVITIES IN KOUNDARA AND LABE
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4. (SBU) In Koundara, Asst Poloff met with the Coordinator of the
Association of Model Mothers, Amadou Lamine Diallo, who said that
his organization is combating child trafficking through education
programs. Mr. Diallo said the primary reason for child trafficking
and exploitation is poverty so his organization focuses on providing
education and training to children. Souman Hamidou, program
coordinator for the NGO Guinean Volunteers for Development (VGD),
said that while his organization does not directly work to combat
child trafficking, the issue arises during the course of some of
their education programs. He said that VGD is concerned about the
children taken by marabouts to Senegal, who are exploited instead of
receiving the promised Koranic education.


5. (SBU) Asst Poloff also traveled to the town of Labe, which
connects the rest of Guinea to Koundara, to meet with a group of
NGOs including Save the Children, Club Amis du Monde (CAM) and the
Association de Soutien aux Enfants Dshrits (ASED). The NGOs are
part of a network in Labe that is working to combat child
exploitation. Souleymane Barry, coordinator of Save the Children,
said that the network coordinates educational and vocational
training for children. According to Mr. Barry, the NGOs are using
the network to try and decrease the number of children working on
rural farms, working as domestic servants, and those being taken to
Senegal for Koranic education.

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NGOS PROVIDE RECENT CASE AND EXPRESS CONCERN
--------------


6. (SBU) Ibrahima Toutouroun Sow from ASED in Labe told of a recent
child trafficking case from April where a woman was arrested in
Kouramangui, a town near Labe, for allegedly trafficking three
children, aged five to seven. Mr. Sow said the woman was reportedly
heading towards Koundara to cross into Senegal with the children.
Mr. Sow said another man in the taxi realized the hungry and scared
children were not hers so he reported the woman to the police before
they reached Koundara. Mr. Sow said the NGOs were only made aware of
the case afterwards, and were told that the police returned the

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children to their villages, but the woman escaped.


7. (SBU) The NGOs from Labe shared their collective concern about
child trafficking in Koundara, saying that while the border police
have been told to "be vigilant" they do not know what to look for or
what questions to ask. They added that border police are
ill-equipped to transport alleged traffickers and children to the
police in Koundara so they are forced to release them. Furthermore,
the police in Koundara do not have the resources to care for the
children while they conduct an investigation or to return them to
their villages if necessary. Mr. Barry from Save the Children said
that his organization is looking to open an office in Koundara in
order to conduct sensitization campaigns for border police, care for
victims of child trafficking, and help repatriate children to their
villages.

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KOUNDARA'S POROUS BORDER IS THE PROBLEM
--------------


8. (SBU) Koundara Police Commissioner Bangaly Deiakitate told Asst
Poloff that the region is experiencing incidents similar to those
seen in Forecariah. However, he said they do not have statistics as
to the prevalence. Mr. Deiakitate reported that the primary problem
with catching child traffickers is Koundara's porous border, which
is 252 kilometers long with four official checkpoints: Botomele,
Kandika, Boundoufordou, and Missira. He said that because there are
no natural barriers on the border like rivers or mountains, there
are "hundreds" of unofficial routes by which child traffickers can
transport children to Senegal, undetected. He explained that with
only 65 border police and no transportation, it is difficult to
monitor the border for people crossing illegally. However, he said
that when border police do encounter vehicles with children, they
require parental consent documents for entry in Senegal.


9. (SBU) Harouna Sangave, the Gendarme Commander in Koundara,
reported that the gendarmes have not seen any official cases of
child trafficking. He said that Border Gendarme require all children
crossing the border to be traveling with their parents, and he
expressed confidence that gendarmes do not allow marabouts to cross
the border with children, even if they have parental consent. Mr.
Sangave said that he knows that marabouts are taking children across
the border on unofficial routes, explaining that because of limited
transportation, gendarmes cannot monitor the border outside of
official checkpoints. He reported that in May, one of his gendarmes
heard people in the Koundara Market talking about sending their
children to Senegal for Koranic studies. The gendarmes on the border
were reportedly ordered to be extra vigilant, but no marabouts
attempted to cross.


10. (U) Asst Poloff asked Police Commissioner Deiakitate about the
recent alleged trafficking case that occurred in Koundara (reftel),
he said that the investigation occurred in Sangaredi and not in
Koundara because they lacked the resources to care for the children
and alleged traffickers. He said that if it has been only one or
two children they would have held the investigation in Koundara. Mr.
Deiakitate then said that he is very disappointed that the alleged
traffickers were released, and that he would have convicted them of
child trafficking.

-------------- --
BORDER CHECKPOINT OFFICIALS TELL THE REAL STORY
-------------- --


11. (SBU) Asst Poloff traveled to two border checkpoints, Missira
and Boundoufordou (both located within the prefecture of Koundara),
to speak with border police and gendarmes about child trafficking
incidents. At the Missira checkpoint with Senegal, Chief of Police
Mamadou Salion Bah said that there are nine border police staffing
the checkpoint, working alongside border gendarmes. He also
mentioned that the Missira checkpoint experiences a flux of traffic
on Wednesdays, as vehicles head to the Diawbe Market in Senegal. Mr.
Bah said that there is 23 kilometers separating Missira and the
nearest checkpoint, Boundoufordou.


12. (SBU) At Boundoufordou, Special Border Police Chief Bachir
Diallo explained that 12 border police staff the checkpoint, working
alongside border gendarmes. Mr. Diallo said that there are over 100
kilometers between Boundoufordou and the nearest checkpoint, most of
which is a national park. Both police chiefs reported that there are
many unofficial routes in the area and that the border police and
gendarmes do not have the transportation or communication resources
to monitor outside the checkpoints.


13. (SBU) According to Mr. Bah, marabouts are constantly crossing
the border with children going for Koranic studies, but that border
police require the marabouts to present proof of parental consent.
Mr. Bah reported that checkpoint Missira recently allowed marabouts

CONAKRY 00000320 003 OF 003


to pass into Senegal with children - one traveling with four
children and another traveling with two children. He said that
marabouts usually have anywhere from 2 to 15 children with them,
some traveling in taxis and others walking with children from
neighboring towns or from Koundara (more than 60 kilometers). He
added that some of the marabouts appear to be mistreating the
children since some of them are scared, hungry and tired when they
reach the checkpoint.

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MARABOUTS REJECTED AT BORDER CROSSING
--------------


14. (SBU) Mr. Bah confirmed that in February two marabouts were
arrested at the Missira checkpoint for allegedly trafficking 11
children to Senegal (reftel). He said he was present when the group
was apprehended at the border and explained that border police
arrested the marabouts because the group was traveling from such a
far distance, and the marabouts clearly could not afford to care for
the 11 children. He reported that the children appeared frightened,
hungry, and some were not adequately clothed. He said that the
marabouts claimed to be their guardian, but could not prove parental
consent. Mr. Bah added that border police accompanied the group's
vehicle to the police in Koundara, who made the determination to
send the case to Sangaredi for investigation.


15. (SBU) According to Mr. Bah, there have been three other
incidents this year wherein they prevented a marabout with children
transiting through the Missira checkpoint. When asked if they have
details regarding those cases, he said those incidents are not
official cases and were not investigated. He explained that the
border police and gendarmes do not have phones to report incidents
to Koundara, and cannot transport marabouts and children to Koundara
for further investigation, especially if they arrived on foot. He
added that they are forced to turn away the marabouts, essentially
blocking them from crossing the border at that particular
checkpoint, and instructing them to return the children to their
families.


16. (SBU) At the second checkpoint, Boundoufordou, Special Border
Police Chief Bachir Diallo told Asst Poloff that the Boundoufordou
checkpoint has not had any official child trafficking cases, adding
that it is possible that traffickers are using unofficial routes or
the Missira checkpoint because it is closer to the Diawbe Market. He
said that Boundoufordou encounters two to three marabouts a month
taking children to Senegal for Koranic studies. Mr. Diallo reported
that in May he stopped a marabout traveling with three children into
Senegal because the marabout did not have documents proving parental
consent. The border police eventually decided to let the marabout
continue on to Senegal with the children because some of the locals
knew and vouched for the marabout.

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COMMENT
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17. (SBU) This cable represents a continuation of Embassy efforts to
understand child trafficking issues in Guinea. Embassy has recently
received reports that suggest that child trafficking may be
occurring over Middle Guinea's border with Senegal. While most local
authorities, police, gendarmes, and border agents in Koundara say
they understand the need for vigilance against child trafficking,
they lack the resources to effectively monitor the border. They may
also lack a clear understanding of what constitutes child
trafficking and how to prevent it. It appears that there are a
number of marabouts regularly crossing the border from Guinea into
Senegal, with children that are not related to them. At this point,
it is unclear whether these children are being trafficked and
exploited, or simply participating in legitimate Koranic study
programs. However, the NGOs working in the region see Koundara as a
high-risk zone. Recent information suggests that the region may be
a significant transit point for trafficking activity.
END COMMENT.

CARTER