Human trafficking in Mali

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Mali ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in April 2002. [1]

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In 2010 Mali was a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and, to a lesser extent, forced prostitution. [2] Within Mali, women and girls were forced into domestic servitude and, to a limited extent, prostitution. Malian boys were found in conditions of forced begging and forced labor in gold mines and agricultural settings both within Mali and neighboring countries. Reports indicated that Malian children are trafficked to Senegal and Guinea for forced labor in gold mines and for forced labor on cotton and cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire. [3] Boys from Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and other countries were forced into begging and exploited for labor by religious instructors within Mali and across borders. Adult men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, were subjected to the longstanding practice of debt bondage [2] in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali. Some members of Mali's black Tamachek community were subjected to traditional slavery-related practices rooted in hereditary master-slave relationships. [4]

In 2010 the Government of Mali did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so. [5] Despite these efforts, such as assisting with the identification and rescue of 80 child trafficking victims and drafting new anti-trafficking legislation, the government failed to show evidence of progress in prosecuting and convicting trafficking offenders, and did not take action on five pending cases of traditional slavery. Therefore, Mali is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year. [4] The country was moved to Tier 2 in 2023. [6]

Prosecution (2010)

The Government of Mali demonstrated limited law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking during the last year. Mali does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, though Article 244 of the criminal code prohibits all forms of child trafficking. Conviction of child trafficking carries a penalty of from five to 20 years' imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and comparable with penalties for sexual assault. Article 229 of the criminal code criminalizes the sexual exploitation of children and forced prostitution of adult women. Malian law may not adequately criminalize other forms of trafficking. Criminal Code Article 242, passed in 1973, prohibits individuals from entering into agreements or contracts that deprive third parties of their liberty: NGOs argue that this law, which has sometimes been characterized as an anti-slavery law, is inadequate to prosecute cases of hereditary slavery. In November 2009, the Malian government participated in a conference organized by a leading anti-slavery NGO to introduce draft anti-slavery legislation to civil society organizations, and officials plan to introduce a separate law outlawing all forms of trafficking to the Malian legislature later in 2010. [4]

During the reporting period, the government made two arrests for human trafficking offenses: in both cases, the suspected traffickers were released without trial. Malian authorities reported no prosecutions or convictions of trafficking offenders. On two occasions in 2009, one suspected trafficking offender was taken into custody by Malian authorities with trafficked children in his possession as he attempted to leave the country: on both occasions, he was released with no explanation. A trial date has not yet been set for three individuals arrested in March 2008 for allegedly trafficking two Malian and 24 Guinean children to Mali from Guinea; they were released in June pending trial. Six cases of traditional enslavement remained pending in Malian courts and judicial authorities have taken no discernible action to prosecute these cases to completion in a criminal court. In one case, however, local authorities responded to an NGO request to discuss an amicable resolution, though this is not an adequate response to an alleged crime of slavery. One of these cases involves a black Tamachek child taken from his parents in Kidal in September 2007 by an individual claiming traditional ownership rights over the child; the child remains in the custody of this traditional master. [4]

During the reporting period, the government provided no training on human trafficking investigations or legislation to Malian law enforcement and judicial officials. Authorities collaborated with the governments of Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mauritania to secure the repatriation of trafficking victims. There were no reports of official complicity in human trafficking. Some officials may not perceive certain kinds of trafficking, such as forced begging at the order of Koranic teachers, as egregious human trafficking offenses, thereby impeding some trafficking investigations. Traditional conflict mediation was favored over the rule of law in some cases of child trafficking and exploitation. In several cases, for example, authorities released religious teachers suspected of forcing children to beg after it was determined that the teacher had the parents' permission to take the child. [4]

Protection (2010)

The Government of Mali demonstrated moderate efforts to protect trafficking victims in the last year. Authorities did not report a formal system for identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as child laborers. Due to its limited resources, the government did not operate any victim shelters or provide direct aid to victims. Instead, it referred victims to NGOs and international organizations for assistance, and provided in-kind support to these organizations in the form of land or buildings. Authorities reported assisting 80 child victims of trafficking during 2009. The government did not report assisting any victims of traditional slavery. Most cases of trafficking identified by NGOs are reported to the government, and an official from the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, Children, and the Family coordinates the process of repatriation with a counterpart in the government of the victim's country of origin. [4]

During the reporting period, officials interviewed victims in one suspected child trafficking case and also interviewed one victim of traditional slavery. Mali does not provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution. Identified victims are not inappropriately incarcerated or fined for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. While the Malian government stated that it has developed a system for collecting data on trafficking crimes and the number of victims identified, officials have not made this system public. [4]

Prevention

The Government of Mali made limited efforts to prevent trafficking, through awareness-raising or other means, in 2023. [5] It held two events on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in collaboration with international organizations, and organized a national forum on the fight against hereditary slavery. [5] A regional government office in the zone with the higher prevalence of forced agricultural labor operated a public awareness campaign on child trafficking and child labor. However, many government officials do not acknowledge that hereditary slavery exists in Mali. During the reporting period, the National Steering Committee Against Child Labor, which is composed of 43 government, NGO, and international organization members, reported no actions and suffered from poor interagency communication. However, the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and Children created a more streamlined committee to combat trafficking, and the Malian government decided to introduce a law criminalizing all forms of trafficking in 2010. The government took no visible measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Mali</span>

According to the U.S. Department of State's annual report on human rights in Mali for 2003, Mali's government generally respects the human rights of its citizens and observes relevant constitutional provisions and prohibitions.

Senegal ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2003.

In 2008, Sierra Leone was a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and the majority of victims were children. Within the country, women and children were trafficked from rural provinces to towns and mining areas for domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and forced labor in diamond mines, petty trading, petty crime, and for forced begging. Women and children may also have been trafficked for forced labor in agriculture and the fishing industry. Transnationally, Sierra Leonean women and children were trafficked to other West African countries, notably Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia for the same purposes listed above and to North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Europe for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Sierra Leone was a destination country for children trafficked from Nigeria and possibly from Liberia and Guinea for forced begging, forced labor in mines and as porters, and for sexual exploitation. There were also cases of children trafficked from refugee communities in Sierra Leone.

Afghanistan is one of the source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Trafficking within Afghanistan is more prevalent than transnational trafficking, and the majority of victims are children. In 2005 the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reported 150 child trafficking cases to other states. Afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the country and into Iran, Pakistan and India as well as Persian gulf Arab states, where they live as slaves and are forced to prostitution and forced labor in brick kilns, carpet-making factories, and domestic service. In some cases the boys and girls were used for organ trafficking. Forced begging is a growing problem in Afghanistan; Mafia groups organize professional begging rings. Afghan boys are subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor in the drug smuggling industry in Pakistan and Iran. Afghan women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution, arranged and forced marriages—including those in which husbands force their wives into prostitution—and involuntary domestic servitude in Pakistan and Iran, and possibly India. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) report that over the past year, increasing numbers of boys were trafficked internally. Some families knowingly sell their children for forced prostitution, including for bacha bazi - a practice combining sexual slavery and child prostitution, through which wealthy men use harems of young boys for social and sexual entertainment. Other families send their children with brokers to gain employment. Many of these children end up in forced labor, particularly in Pakistani carpet factories. NGOs indicate that families sometimes make cost-benefit analyses regarding how much debt they can incur based on their tradable family members.

Austria is a destination and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.

In 2009 Bosnia and Herzegovina was primarily a source for Bosnian women and girls who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution within the country, though it was also a destination and transit country for foreign women and girls in forced prostitution in Bosnia and Western Europe. There were four identified victims from Serbia in 2009. Most trafficked women entered the country through Serbia or Montenegro. There were reports that some girls, particularly Roma, were trafficked, using forced marriage, for the purpose of involuntary domestic servitude, and that Roma boys and girls were subjected to forced begging by organized groups. There was one case involving Bosnian males recruited for labor and subjected to coercive conditions in Azerbaijan in 2009. NGO's report that traffickers frequently use intermediaries to bring clients to private apartments, motels, and gas stations where victims are held.

Tunisia ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in July 2003.

Romania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and women and children in forced prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea</span>

In 2009, Papua New Guinea was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men were forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, were most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sold girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage were often forced into domestic servitude for the husband's extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families were prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines were subjected to forced prostitution, and men from China were transported to the country for forced labor.

The U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed Poland in Tier 1 in 2024. Below is the full copy of a webpage section relating to Poland in a report published by the Bureau of Public Affairs of the United States Department of State, entitled "Country Narratives: Countries N Through Z: Trafficking in Persons Report 2024",which is in the public domain.

Poland is a source and destination country for men and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and for women and children in forced prostitution. Men and women from Poland are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Italy and Sweden. Women and children from Poland are trafficked for forced prostitution within Poland and also in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Sweden. Women and children from Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, and Russia are trafficked to Poland for forced prostitution. Men and women from Bangladesh, China, and the Philippines are found in conditions of forced labor in Poland. Men and women from Thailand, Nigeria, Iraq, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Mongolia, Vietnam, Turkey, Djibouti, and Uganda are found in conditions of forced labor, including forced begging and debt bondage, and also forced prostitution in Poland.

Nicaragua ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2004.

In 2009, Niger was a source, transit, and destination country for children and women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Caste-based slavery practices, rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships, continued primarily in the northern part of the country. Children are trafficked within Niger for forced begging by religious instructors known as marabouts; forced labor in gold mines, agriculture, and stone quarries; as well as for involuntary domestic servitude and forced prostitution. The ILO estimates at least 10,000 children work in gold mines in Niger, many of whom may have been forced to work. Nigerien children, primarily girls, were also subjected to commercial sexual exploitation along the border with Nigeria, particularly in the towns of Birni N'Konni and Zinder along the main highway, and boys are trafficked to Nigeria and Mali for forced begging and manual labor. There were reports Nigerien girls entered into "false marriages" with citizens of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates: upon arrival in these countries, the girls are often forced into involuntary domestic servitude. Child marriage was a problem, especially in rural areas, and may have contributed to conditions of human trafficking. Niger is a transit country for women and children from Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo en route to Northern Africa and Western Europe; some may be subjected to forced labor in Niger as domestic servants, forced laborers in mines and on farms, and as mechanics and welders. To a lesser extent, Nigerien women and children were sometimes trafficked from Niger to North Africa the Middle East, and Europe for involuntary domestic servitude and forced commercial sexual exploitation."

Iraq ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in February 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Georgia (country)</span> Forced prostitution and forced labor

Honduras ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2006.

Guinea ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in November 2004.

Guinea-Bissau ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2007.

In 2009 Human trafficking in Mauritania was considered to be a controversial human rights issue. Mauritania was a suspected source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Supposedly, some women, men, and children from traditional slave castes were subjected to slavery-related practices, rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships, which continue to exist in a limited fashion in both rural and urban settings. These individuals, held for generations by slave-holding families, may have been forced to work without pay as cattle herders and household help. Mauritanian and West African boys - referred to as talibes - were recruited to study at Koranic schools, but were sometimes subsequently subjected to forced begging within the country by religious teachers known as marabouts. Girls have been trafficked internally and from neighboring West African countries such as Mali, Senegal, and Gambia for involuntary domestic servitude. Mauritanian girls have been married off to wealthy men from the Middle East and taken there in some cases for forced prostitution. Mauritanian women were forced into prostitution within the country, as well as in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf.

Human trafficking in Brazil is an ongoing problem. Brazil is a source country for men, women, girls, and boys subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution within the country and abroad, as well as a source country for men and boys in forced labor within the country. The United States Department of Homeland Security, describes human trafficking as "the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."

Ecuador ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2002.

Sex trafficking in Japan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Japan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

References

  1. ↑ United Nations Treaty Collection website, Chapter XVIII Penal Matters section, Section 12a, retrieved August 19, 2024
  2. 1 2 Isajiw, Christopher P. "Forced and Trafficked Workers of Mali". Center for Migration Studies. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Unicef" (PDF). April 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 Country Narratives - Countries G Through M". US Department of State. 2010-06-18. Archived from the original on 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2023-02-10.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  5. 1 2 3 U.S. Mission Mail (30 June 2023). "2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Mali". US Embassy in Mali. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ↑ US Government website, Trafficking in Persons Report 2023
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