VZCZCXRO3777
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #2612/01 3031010
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301010Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6743
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 002612 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL/AE, AF/RSA, AF/W AND CA/OCS/CI 
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KOCI KFRD PU SG
SUBJECT: THE LOST BOYS OF BISSAU 
 
REF: A. DAKAR 528 
¶B. DAKAR 325 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (U) During a recent adoption research trip to Guinea-Bissau, 
several contacts reported that young boys continue to be victims of 
child trafficking schemes.  Children continue to be trafficked from 
Bissau to Senegal through networks of religious leaders (marabouts) 
and the GOGB has limited resources to combat this activity.  Both 
the GOGB and NGOs struggle to protect and re-integrate at-risk 
children, but limited resources and a weak judicial system frustrate 
their efforts to provide adequate protection.  END SUMMARY. 
 
THREATS TO FAMILY STABILITY 
--------------------------- 
¶2.  (U) High rates of fertility and maternal mortality, coupled with 
low life expectancy, result in a tragically large number of children 
in Guinea-Bissau whose mothers have died.  According to local 
customs, when a mother dies, the father is not responsible for his 
children's care; instead they are given to a grandmother or an aunt. 
 When these women cannot provide adequate care, they seek one of 
three options.  It appears the most common option is to send boys, 
as young as six, to wander the streets of Bissau begging or selling 
phone cards and other small items as they seek food for the day 
before they return home or to seek shelter with other adolescents. 
As these boys get older, they increasingly resort to petty crime and 
gangs for protection and food.  Second, some Muslim families send 
boys to a religious leader, known as a marabout, where they will 
learn the Koran and how to be a good Muslim.  Finally, a small 
numbe of families will take the youngest children to on of two 
centers that care for abandoned children  However, these two 
centers, Casa Emanuel Orphange and SOS Village, tend to favor 
younger childrn and some perceive they only want the children tht 
are considered easy to care for. 
 
GO TO THE ARABOUT, YOUNG MAN 
----------------------------- 
¶3.  (U) While many Marabouts provide the expectedspiritual guidance 
and training to their talibes(students), in recent years GOGB 
officials have iscovered marabout trafficking groups of up to 20 
young boys across the border into Senegal, where they are forced to 
beg in Dakar or other cities and raise money for their marabouts 
(see Ref A).  Initially, the marabouts crossed with the boys at the 
official border into Senegal, but recent training of border guards 
has led to increased scrutiny of men crossing with groups of young 
boys.  Consequently, marabouts have begun to sneak into Senegal's 
Casamance region through the lush forests that dominate the border. 
 
¶4.  (U) When interventions are successful in stopping child 
trafficking, Associacao da Mulher e Crianca or Association for Women 
and Children (AMIC), an NGO active in Guinea-Bissau, attempts to 
reintegrate children into their families and society.  The children 
they work with are almost exclusively boys and young men between the 
ages of 8 and 25 from Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Mali as well as 
Guinea-Bissau.  AMIC reports that attempts to reunite these children 
with their families are often frustrated because many children do 
not remember the name of their village or have strong ties to their 
own families.  Unfortunately, even when reunification does occur, 
the boys are often sent to a marabout again because the family still 
cannot care for them.  Neither AMIC nor the GOGB has resources to 
house or arrange formal foster care for these children.  While AMIC 
attempts to find the boys' families, they arrange informal foster 
care through their own local contacts.  AMIC currently tracks over 
40 boys that have been reunited with their families to ensure they 
are in school and receiving proper care, but the growing number of 
children makes such efforts increasingly difficult. 
 
CHILD TRAFFICKING A GROWING PROBLEM 
----------------------------------- 
¶5.  (U) While ConOff was in Guinea-Bissau to research international 
adoptions, every contact wanted to discuss the growing issue of 
child trafficking and the vulnerable status of children in Bissau. 
The Child Protection Office in the Bissau Police Department is very 
concerned about the growing number of boys engaging in petty crime 
and forming gangs.  They estimate at least 1,000 children are on the 
street without any place to go.  They do not have any facilities to 
house juveniles separately from adults, and even when they detect 
child abuse, they do not have a facility or resources to move 
children to a safe place.  The Secretary of State for Public Order 
in the Ministry of the Interior expressed his appreciation for the 
USG's concern for children's issues in Bissau and asked for 
additional USG attention and assistance to the issue of child 
trafficking, stressing the importance the current Bissau-Guinean 
government gives the issue. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The UNICEF Country Representative told ConOff that 
President Vieira had a very emotional reaction and was visibly 
disturbed when he was informed of the extent of child trafficking 
 
DAKAR 00002612  002 OF 002 
 
 
along the border with Senegal.  UNICEF is conducting a field study 
to evaluate the problem, and it has a weekly working group meeting 
with the Government and NGOs to address children's issues.  However, 
he also said the World Bank has resources available for orphans and 
vulnerable children which no one in Bissau is using. 
 
POTENTIAL FOR ADOPTION FRAUD 
---------------------------- 
¶7.  (SBU) To date, very few foreigners, mostly Spanish and 
Portuguese, have adopted orphans from Guinea-Bissau.  Most of the 
orphans were staying at the Casa Emanuel Orphanage, which is run by 
two Costa Rican and one Brazilian missionaries.  According to 
orphanage officials, the adopted children were genuine orphans. 
ConOff reviewed Casa Emanuel's screening procedures, and they appear 
to limit the potential for adoption fraud. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) However, there is considerable potential for baby and 
child-selling schemes if an adoption agency or other orphanages open 
with ill-intentioned directors.  The weak judiciary, large number of 
abandoned and vulnerable children, and overwhelming poverty create 
an environment conducive to child exploitation.  ConOff spoke to one 
adoption lawyer who mistook her for a potential client and openly 
admitted that he pays bribes to GOGB officials when processing 
international adoptions.  He bragged that the judge was an old 
friend from school who signed off on anything as long as all the 
papers were submitted, usually within two weeks. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶9.  (SBU) Child trafficking networks in Guinea-Bissau are changing 
tactics to avoid increasing GOGB attention, further complicating 
efforts to measure and stop the problem.  Resources are limited and 
the various organizations working on child trafficking are not 
integrating their efforts.  The combination of large numbers of 
vulnerable children, weak laws and government institutions, and wide 
spread corruption, has resulted in large numbers of children being 
trafficked to Senegal and could lead to adoption fraud if 
organizations learn there is money to be made in facilitating 
international adoptions.  Post has not yet received an approval or 
rejection of the anti-trafficking in persons proposal to G/TIP (Ref 
B), but we continue to believe that project is the best way to 
address this growing problem.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶10.  (U) Visit Embassy Dakar's classified website at 
http://www.state.sgov/gov/p/af/dakar/. 
 
JACOBS