Human Trafficking in [Uganda Street Children in [Uganda] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Uganda] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Uganda [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] Uganda is a source and destination country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation. Ugandan children are trafficked within the country, as well as
to Canada, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia for forced labor
and commercial sexual exploitation. Karamojong women and children are sold in
cattle markets or by intermediaries and forced into situations of domestic
servitude, sexual exploitation, herding, and begging. Security companies in Kampala
recruit Ugandans to serve as security guards in Iraq where, at times, their
travel documents and pay have reportedly been withheld as a means to prevent
their departure; these cases may constitute trafficking. Pakistani, Indian,
and Chinese workers are reportedly trafficked to Uganda, and Indian networks
traffic Indian children to the country for sexual exploitation. Children from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.), Rwanda, and Burundi are
trafficked to Uganda for agricultural labor and commercial sexual
exploitation. Until August 2006, the terrorist rebel organization, Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA), abducted children and adults in northern Uganda to
serve as soldiers, sex slaves, and porters; while no further abductions of
Ugandan children have been reported, at least 300 additional people, mostly
children, were abducted during the reporting period in the Central African
Republic and the D.R.C. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report,
June, 2008 [full
country report] CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** 2006 Year in Review: Uganda July to December [PDF] [page 40] UGANDA SECURITY SITUATION - INCREASED INSECURITY IN KARAMOJA WORRYING - This is enforced by the fact that cattle are used as a “bride price” and the raids are a symbol of strength and manhood in the tradition of the community. In addition, there are continual reports of Karimojong children sold at weekly cattle markets in Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts. [page 42] CHILD ABUSE INCREASE - The alarming report reveals that child abuse is on the increase in the sub-region as desperate Karimojong parents sell their children, especially girls, to raise money to maintain the remaining members of their families. ***
ARCHIVES *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 CHILDREN - According to UNICEF estimates,
the LRA has abducted approximately 12 thousand children since 2002, and
continued to abduct children during the year. The LRA forced children into
virtual slavery as laborers, soldiers, guards, and sex slaves. In addition to
being beaten, raped, and forced to march until exhausted, abducted children
were forced to participate in the killing of other children who attempted to
escape. More than 85 percent of LRA captives were made up of children whom
the LRA abducted and forced to fight as rebels; most LRA rebels were between
the ages of 11 and 16. TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – In
addition to trafficking related to LRA abductions, adults and children were
trafficked internally for labor, commercial sexual exploitation, and criminal
activities. Trafficking in persons primarily occurred internally: the LRA
abducted children to be soldiers, sex slaves, and porters. Freelance
operators, including taxi drivers and hotel/bar operators, conducted the
commercial sex trafficking. Victims of internal trafficking
were subjected to hazardous working conditions, and commercial sex victims
were subjected to physical abuse and the risk of contracting sexually
transmitted diseases. Victims of commercial sex trafficking in urban centers
often came from small rural villages. Uganda:
Child Neglect Tops Rights Abuses In its 145-page report, the
commission was concerned that child sacrifice, child trafficking, child
labour, abduction, child soldiering, defilement, child prostitution and abuse
were persisting in Uganda.
"Police reports reveal that there were 185 victims of combined cases
of child abduction, kidnap, disappearance, trafficking and sacrifice alone
during the period between January and September 2006," the report said.
Most of the children trafficked internally were from Buganda region,
accounting for 36%, followed by Acholi (18%) and Ankole (8%). Uganda:
Forced Onto the Streets to Please the Men Most of them flee their homes due
to abuse and neglect, their heads filled with warped views of urban
existence. In reality, these dreams are not fulfilled and the end result is
there are children working and sleeping on the streets, fending for
themselves in unsafe conditions. The children are exposed to many
dangers. Many become part of child trafficking. They are persuaded under
false pretences by elders or family 'acquaintances' that they are moving to
new places with better opportunities.
Instead, they are trapped in a world of exploitation, which exposes
them to anything from child prostitution to human sacrifices. 2006 Year in Review: Uganda July to December [PDF] [page 40] UGANDA SECURITY SITUATION - INCREASED INSECURITY IN KARAMOJA WORRYING - This is enforced by the fact that cattle are used as a “bride price” and the raids are a symbol of strength and manhood in the tradition of the community. In addition, there are continual reports of Karimojong children sold at weekly cattle markets in Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts. [page 42] CHILD ABUSE INCREASE - The alarming report reveals that child abuse is on the increase in the sub-region as desperate Karimojong parents sell their children, especially girls, to raise money to maintain the remaining members of their families. Migration body to monitor human trafficking impact1 "Many girls are taken from
Iringa and brought to major cities to work as housegirls but they end up
being subjected to prostitution and other works which they did not expect,
this is internal trafficking," she said. Many young boys, she said, are
taken to work in the mining companies, something which not only denies their
rights but also are psychosocially affected. A Hero
in Hell. Former Drug Dealer Frees Abducted Child Soldiers in Sudan and Uganda The children of the LRA perform
these acts at the bidding of their adult counterparts and make up about 80
percent of the rebel group, according to the United Nations. The LRA has
kidnapped more than 20,000 children since 1988 and today its captives
constitute the largest army of child soldiers in Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study Has the
world forgotten about us? That is the question raised by children in northern
Uganda. At least 20,000 children have been kidnapped and forced into being
child soldiers in one of the most brutal rebel armies in the world. Jennifer Achoro was twelve years
old and on her way to school when she was kidnapped. "I had just put on
my school uniform and was about to eat breakfast, when some men from the
rebel army came and asked my mother whether we had a radio. When she said
‘No,' they forced their way into our hut and forced me along with them." Ex-child
soldier's path to hope Ms Keitetsi says she was enlisted
into Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army in Uganda at the age of eight
in the1980s. She was given her first
Uzi aged nine - and became a killer.
Gesturing with what was her trigger finger, she says: "When I was
a kid with a gun I felt big, I felt powerful.
"With a gun you just needed to open the safety, cock the gun, use
this finger and they are dead. Abducted
child soldier finds hope at Gulu center Agnes Abalo was spending the night
at a friend’s house when rebel soldiers beat the door down and kidnapped her.
She was 14. For the next year, she was beaten, raped and forced through
bloody initiation rites. Other children were forced to kill those who fell
behind -- or their own parents. Over
the past 18 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group based in
northern Uganda, has kidnapped more than 20,000 children. ICC: Investigate
All Sides in Uganda The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno
Ocampo, announced in London on January 29 that he would begin an ICC
investigation into crimes committed in Uganda. According to Human Rights Watch
research, the LRA has committed widespread abuses against civilians in
Uganda, including child abductions, summary executions, torture, rape and
sexual assault, forced labor, and mutilation. Recently, LRA abductions have reached
record levels, with an estimated 10,000 children abducted since mid-2002 and
forced to fight, kill civilians, and abduct other children. Children who fail
to comply with orders are murdered, often by other children who are forced to
kill them. DEMOBILIZATION AND CHILD PROTECTION
PROGRAMS - Children
“rescued” from the LRA by the UPDF were kept in military confinement,
sometimes for protracted periods, to gather intelligence before being
transferred to the Child Protection Unit, and then to rehabilitation programs
operated by NGOs including World Vision and the Gulu Save Our Children
Organization (GUSCO).285 The 120 recruits identified
at the Lugore training camp were demobilized and were taking part in
counselling and reintegration programs. In response to the influx of “night
commuters”, child protection agencies and church groups established programs
to feed and shelter these children. Ugandan
child soldier activist wins Anti-Slavery Award George Omona, Project Co-ordinator
of the Gulu Support the Children Organisation (GUSCO), will receive the 2000
Anti-Slavery Award from the UK human rights organisation, Anti-Slavery
International, on 7 December at Waterstones Bookshop. Trevor Phillips OBE, Chair of the Greater
London Assembly, will present the award to George Omona for his outstanding
work with children affected by armed conflict. 1. The linked
article has been taken down, moved or restricted All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
Human Trafficking in [Uganda Street Children in [Uganda] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Uganda] [other countries]