Child trafficking sneaks into Botswana, preying on ignorance

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Friday June 11, 2010 00:00

At 13, she looked even too miniscule for her age in the old school uniform that now came to her rear, she had pulled out of school to work for a friend to her mother's farmer employer. 

She had come from school and had barely dropped her school bag when her mother told her to pack her few clothes because she was leaving with the woman. 

'You know how we have had it tough since your father passed on. This woman will take care of you and also give us some money,' said the mother. That was three years ago - she thinks. 

Katlo lives alone in the back room and has on more than one occasion been sexually assaulted by the woman's husband, when she was away.  He has always told her that it is their little secret and she will die the day she talks about it. 

She vaguely remembers that once she wanted to become a doctor when she grows up.  That dreams appears so far away now. Sometimes she just thinks of running away, but she would be caught, as she does not have travel fare. She has no shoes, no decent clothes and would most likely get lost.  She is a prisoner. 

Little Katlo is only one of around two million children trafficked every year.  According to UNICEF, child trafficking is the second largest money making crime after drugs. 

It is startling to realise that a big number of people do not understand this vice. Out of twenty people Mmegi interviewed yesterday, only four people knew about child trafficking. 

'We do not know about it. But we are glad that you called to let us know about it.  It is an inhuman practice and I should be more protective to my children,' said Keletso Morakenyane in Mogapinyana. 

'I have heard about it a few weeks ago when there was a commemoration in Maun.  Otherwise, I did not know about it before,' said Kitso Kitso, another resident of Mogapinyana. 

He said that now after hearing of what a crime it is, he has took it upon himself to spread the message to other people, especially the elderly, who might not be able to read for themselves.

Maria Motsumi of Molalatau says she has never heard about child trafficking before. 

Abram Semele of Oodi believes that Batswana are not informed about a lot of things only because they do not read. 

'Melaetsa e teng mma, dibuka di kwadilwe and if people could read more they would be aware of such crimes,' he said. 

Now that the world cup is here, he always advises that unnecessary movements that could lead to people falling victim to human traffickers be reduced. 

He also appeals to the public to be aware that urbanisation brings challenges and they should be on the look out for new criminal acts. 

UNICEF, in its website, says that child trafficking is lucrative and linked with criminal activity and corruption. It estimates that 1,000 to 1,500 Guatemalan babies and children are trafficked each year for adoption by couples in North America and Europe.

It says that girls as young as 13, mainly from Asia and Eastern Europe, are trafficked as 'mail-order brides'.  In most cases these girls and women are powerless and isolated and at great risk of violence.

UNICEF also says that large numbers of children are being trafficked in West and Central Africa, mainly for domestic work but also for sexual exploitation and to work in shops or on farms.

It says that nearly 90 percent of these trafficked domestic workers are girls. It reveals that children from Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana are trafficked to Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Gabon.

Children are trafficked both in and out of Benin and Nigeria. Some children are sent as far away as the Middle East and Europe, says UNICEF.

However, Director of the Department of Social Services, Loeto Dilampi, says that they have realised that human trafficking is a fairly new phenomenon in Botswana and both professionals and the public generally view it as a foreign concept.  'The fact is that it puts our children at an even higher risk of human abuse.  Our lack of knowledge on the subject may render us incapable of tackling the problem.  Capacity building and community building are therefore very essential in this regard,' he said.