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

Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery

In the first ten years of the 21st Century  -  2000 to 2009

Republic of Liberia

Civil war and government mismanagement destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around the capital, Monrovia. Many businesses fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them, but with the conclusion of fighting and the installation of a democratically-elected government in 2006, some have returned. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a producer and exporter of basic products - primarily raw timber and rubber.  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Liberia is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Most victims are trafficked within the country, primarily from rural to urban areas for domestic servitude, forced street vending, forced begging by religious instructors and sexual exploitation in brothels or private apartments. Children may also be trafficked for labor on rubber plantations and in alluvial diamond mines. Some children in Liberia are subjected to sexual exploitation by international peacekeeping troops and personnel from international organizations.   - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009  [full country report]

 

 

CAUTION:  The following links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Liberia.  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.

*** FEATURED ARTICLE ***

Mississippi in Africa: The Promised Land

www.prometheus6.org/node/4418

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Of the many tragedies set in motion by the enslavement of African people in the United States, few are more sorrowful than the history of Liberia.

Rather than ending slavery, Liberia became both a place of enslavement and a host to other forms of coerced labor that differed from slavery in name only. The immigrants and their offspring mercilessly exploited the indigenous African population.

 

*** ARCHIVES ***

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – NGO estimates of the number of persons trafficked to the country during the year ranged between 20 and several hundred. Victims were trafficked within the country and from neighboring countries for prostitution and labor. Young children were at a particularly high risk for trafficking, especially orphans or children from extremely poor families. Trafficking victims were often subjected to harsh living and working conditions.

There were reports of forced labor; however, none had been confirmed. There also were reports of the recruitment of child soldiers, but the reports had not been confirmed, and the matter was under investigation at year's end.

Traffickers enticed their victims with promises of a better life. Parents of trafficking victims were persuaded that their children would have better food and educational opportunities in another country and that they would eventually return home.

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

[58] The Committee notes that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 18 August 2003 recognizes the special demobilization and reintegration needs of child combatants. However, the Committee expresses its extremely deep consternation at the very high number of children who have been forcibly recruited into armed forces and armed groups by all parties involved in the conflict, including children as young as nine years old. The Committee is also concerned that these children have been forced to carry goods and weapons, guard checkpoints and often fight in the front line, while girls have been raped and forced to become servants of the soldiers as well as combatants.

Amnesty International Calls for UN Resolve, Sufficient Peacekeeping Presence to Ensure Fulfillment of Liberia's Peace Accords

Only the deployment of sufficient numbers of troops with logistical support by UN member states will provide the protection that civilians so desperately need.  An Amnesty International delegation that traveled to Liberia in November found that civilians live in fear of increasingly undisciplined and desperate groups of armed fighters who continue to kill, rape, and use men, women and children as forced labor.

The Guns are in the Bushes - Continuing Abuses in Liberia [PDF]

IV. ABUSES BY ALL THREE FACTIONS - FORCED LABOR - An employee of a church group noted that There’s a lack of food in the area to feed the fighters, that’s why this forced labor is happening. If people refuse, they are humiliated, beaten, tied, and tortured.

Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 3   Civil Liberties: 4   Status: Partly Free

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

Amnesty International Report 2008 - Liberia

www.amnestyusa.org/annualreport.php?id=ar&yr=2008&c=LBR

thereport.amnesty.org/eng/regions/africa/liberia

SECURITY SECTOR REFORM - Deficiencies in the judiciary remained a huge challenge. Court officials administered rules and procedures in an inconsistent manner, failed to observe basic human rights standards and engaged in corrupt practices. Although state prosecutors are assigned to every circuit court, the majority of the circuit courts did not have defence counsels. Trial by ordeal – a practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a painful task – remained in wide practice in rural areas. Few improvements were made in the juvenile justice system during the year.

Amnesty International Report 2004 - Liberia

web.amnesty.org/report2004/lbr-summary-eng

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

CIVILIANS TARGETED IN ARMED CONFLICT - Civilians lived in constant fear of undisciplined armed groups who killed, raped, forcibly recruited children and looted. After the peace agreement, violence increased in some areas as command structures broke down and combatants made last-ditch attempts to seize territory and property before deployment of UNMIL forces. The gravity of abuses against civilians prompted an emergency report by the Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 8 August which described the grievous abuses against civilians and called for international support in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls, including those who had been internally displaced and Sierra Leonean refugees, by government, LURD and MODEL forces were widespread. Young women and girls were abducted and forced into sexual slavery.

Mississippi in Africa: The Promised Land

www.prometheus6.org/node/4418

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

Of the many tragedies set in motion by the enslavement of African people in the United States, few are more sorrowful than the history of Liberia.

Rather than ending slavery, Liberia became both a place of enslavement and a host to other forms of coerced labor that differed from slavery in name only. The immigrants and their offspring mercilessly exploited the indigenous African population.

UNMIL’s Crackdown on Trafficking Puts Women at Risk

www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/960/

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

In Liberia, crime has returned with vigor after the civil war. In addition to street crime and burglary, there are increasing reports of Ukrainian and Moroccan women being trafficked into Monrovia to serve as prostitutes in popular bars that double as brothels. The UN Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, says it is taking the problem seriously. UNMIL’s Civilian Police (CIVPOL) has hired an officer to address human trafficking. However, by not coordinating her efforts with NGOs and other supporting organizations, her independent actions may actually be exacerbating the problem.

Child Soldiers of Liberia

www.liberia-leaf.org/reports/trials/childsoldiers/soldiers1.htm

At one time this article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]

The people of Liberia were harassed and intimidated by the different factions. Civilians were repeatedly robbed and murdered. During the seven year war, villages and towns continually changed hands, and each time a new faction moved in, they would plunder, torture and commit atrocities.  Many children were forced to join one of the warlords. Their parents, siblings or other villagers would be tortured until they agreed to join.

US names human trafficking offenders

FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION - He added: "It is... morally unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are exploited, abused and enslaved by peddlers in human misery."  Apart from Greece and Turkey, the other major offenders named were Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burma, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Liberia, North Korea, Sudan, Suriname, and Uzbekistan.

All material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.  PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.  Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - Liberia", http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Liberia.htm, [accessed <date>]

 

 

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