BURKINA FASO:WOMAN INDICTED FOR SELLING 19 BABIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L OUAGADOUGOU 000126 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2020 TAGS: PHUM PREL KTIP PGOV UV SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO:WOMAN INDICTED FOR SELLING 19 BABIES IN EUROPE Classified By: CDA Samuel C. Laeuchli for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: A Burkinabe woman was arrested and charged in an international human trafficking ring that took poor pregnant women from Burkina Faso to Chad, through Libya and finally to Italy. Once the babies were born they were sold to Italians couples and the mother sent home with a meager financial compensation. The trafficker was extradited from Libya where she was transiting to Burkina Faso on February ¶16. Charged with human smuggling she is now in the Ouagadougou city jail awaiting trial. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Franceline Silga, an unwed mother of two, is accused of having masterminded and run an international human trafficking ring that originated in Burkina Faso and culminated in Italy. According to Burkinabe police officials, Silga recruited destitute near-term pregnant women and offered to sell their babies in Europe. She would drive the expectant mothers overland from Burkina Faso to Ndjamena (Chad),fly them to Tripoli (Libya) and then to Rome (Italy). Silga travelled on two Burkinabe passports, one tourist and one official. Having arrived in Italy, the women would give birth and Silga would sell the baby to Italian couples, giving a meager financial compensation to the mother and keeping the rest for herself. While Silga claims she is the President of an NGO that helps street kids and orphans (Association d'Aide aux Touts Petits Orphelins),Burkinabe authorities say the organization, illegally opened in 2005, was formally shut down in 2009 for lack of an operating permit. ¶3. (U) Burkinabe government officials found a number of incriminating files in Silga's luggage and believe that she trafficked and sold the babies of at least nineteen women in Italy. At the time of her arrest authorities discovered the passports of two Burkinabe women. When interrogated Silga admitted that one of those woman was currently in Italy and the other in Tripoli. Both had given birth but had yet to "place" their babies. ¶4. (C) According to police sources we spoke to, Silga was about to be arrested in Tripoli and fled to the Burkinabe Embassy for assistance. She was extradited to Ouagadougou on February 16th. Silga has been indicted by Burkinabe judicial authorities on the grounds that she is human trafficker (Law # 029/2008/AN of May 2008). She is currently detained in the women's quarters of the Ouagadougou city jail and is expected to be arraigned for trial in the coming days. ¶5. (C) Comment: This is the first case of this kind to be prosecuted in Burkina Faso recently. The government is clearly taking the case seriously, and given the international implications will be on the hook to ensure the woman receives an appropriate sentence. The judicial system in Burkina Faso is often considered the weak link in terms of prosecutions, so this will be an important test case to determine the country's ability to combat trafficking in persons. LAEUCHLI