Human Trafficking in  [Angola]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Angola]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Angola]  [other countries]
 

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

Republic of Angola                                                                     [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Angola [map] is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean (W), by Congo (Kinshasa) (N & NE), by Zambia (E), and by Namibia (S).  Luanda is the capital, largest city, and chief port.  Angola has been an economy in disarray because of a quarter century of nearly continuous warfare. An apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI in February 2002, but consequences from the conflict continue including the impact of widespread land mines. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population.

Angola is a source country for a small but significant number of women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Angolan women and girls are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation. In an attempt to avoid fees for the importation of goods across the border between Namibia and Angola, children are forced to be couriers by truck drivers to hand-carry goods across that border, for example at remote border crossings such as Katwitwi, in Kuando Kubango Province. Anecdotal reports point to South Africa as a destination point for trafficked Angolan women.   - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2007   [full country report]

 

 

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Angola.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to verify their authenticity or to validate their content.

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Children in Angola tortured as witches

Last month Helena was accused by her parents of sickening two of her nieces with evil spells. In retaliation, the bewildered girl says, one of her small hands was burned on a red-hot stove. Her meager possessions, including her clothes, were torched. She was choked. And finally, to destroy her reputation in the community, she was beaten in front of a large crowd. Her mother and elder sisters administered these punishments.

In Uige, a sleepy hill town near the Congo border, children's advocates said that a teenager accused of sorcery was set ablaze by a mob that included his own relatives. Another boy was buried alive, beneath the corpse of a man he allegedly hexed, rights workers said. The luckier children are merely banished from their homes. They roam the streets like pariah dogs, surviving hand-to-mouth off food scraps from the markets.

 

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Quick Search for Missing Children - Select Gender, Country (Angola), and Years Missing

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, pornography, forced labor, sexual slavery, and other forms of exploitation are reported to exist in the country.  Angola is a country of origin for trafficked children.  Children have been trafficked internally and also to Namibia and South Africa for the purposes of sexual exploitation and domestic and commercial labor.

CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - In 2004, the Government of Angola concluded its national child registration campaign, which has documented 3.8 million children under the age of 18 years since August 2002.  By providing children with accurate, official age documentation, the government worked to stem the recruitment of underage children by traffickers, and ensure underage children were not admitted to the military.[196]  In addition, 45,000 orphans or children living alone were reintegrated into family living situations.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – The constitution and law prohibit slavery; however, there are no specific laws against trafficking in persons. There were unconfirmed reports that persons were trafficked from and within the country.

The extent of trafficking in persons was unknown, but was not believed to be significant. During the year there were unconfirmed reports that a small number of children were trafficked out of the country to South Africa or Namibia. Homeless and orphaned children were most vulnerable to trafficking.

Methods used by traffickers to obtain and transport victims were unknown. The small number of traffickers working in the country was not thought to be organized.

The government operated facilities throughout the country for abandoned and abducted children; however, in many cases the facilities were underfunded, understaffed, and overcrowded. A Catholic-affiliated center in Namacumbe, near the Namibian border, assisted victims of trafficking to find and reintegrate with their families.

The government provided basic assistance to trafficking victims on an ad hoc basis, especially in the capital. Local social welfare agencies provided basic necessities. This type of program did not exist outside of Luanda, nor did the government operate shelters specifically for trafficking victims.

The government attempted to monitor its borders, but lacked resources to do so effectively. Efforts by UNICEF, supported by the government, strengthened immigration controls at airports and border checkpoints. Immigration services at the international airport in Luanda were more effective than provincial border posts and required proper documentation for children seeking to fly internationally. In July the government signed a joint Economic Community of West African States and Economic Community of Central African States counter-trafficking accord.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004

[66] The Committee is concerned about the extent of the problem of sexual exploitation of and trafficking in children in the State party and notes that internally displaced and street children are particularly vulnerable to such abuse.

Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 6   Civil Liberties: 5   Status: Not Free

Human Rights Overview by Human Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide

U.S. Library of Congress - Country Study

Children as Weapons of War

TRANSITIONING CHILDREN OUT OF WAR - In Angola, a peace agreement was reached in April of 2002, but child soldiers were excluded from formal demobilization programs and, at this writing, no special rehabilitation services had been set up for an estimated 7,000-11,000 children who served with UNITA or government forces.

Children in Angola tortured as witches

Last month Helena was accused by her parents of sickening two of her nieces with evil spells. In retaliation, the bewildered girl says, one of her small hands was burned on a red-hot stove. Her meager possessions, including her clothes, were torched. She was choked. And finally, to destroy her reputation in the community, she was beaten in front of a large crowd. Her mother and elder sisters administered these punishments.

In Uige, a sleepy hill town near the Congo border, children's advocates said that a teenager accused of sorcery was set ablaze by a mob that included his own relatives. Another boy was buried alive, beneath the corpse of a man he allegedly hexed, rights workers said. The luckier children are merely banished from their homes. They roam the streets like pariah dogs, surviving hand-to-mouth off food scraps from the markets.

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Human Trafficking in  [Angola]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Angola]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Angola]  [other countries]