VZCZCXRO5207
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0196/01 1361111
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151111Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2526
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000196 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP AND DRL 
DOL FOR DIANTHA GARMS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12598:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC GV
SUBJECT: CHILD TRAFFICKING IN GUINEA'S FOREST REGION 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. Local NGOs tell Embassy officials that the Forest 
Region is a transit hub for the trafficking of children from Guinea 
to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, highlighting the need for 
cross-border coordination and information sharing. Specific cases 
provide examples of how these children are being trafficked. Despite 
general agreement that Guinea is a source of supply, reliable 
information is hard to find regarding the demand for trafficked 
children in neighboring countries. This cable is the first of a 
series of reports on child trafficking in Guinea. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) During a trip to N'Zerekore and surrounding towns the week of 
April 20-25, Asst Poloff met with local NGOs working to combat child 
trafficking in Guinea's forest region, including Sabou Guinea, the 
Association to Combat the Exploitation of Children and Women 
(ACEEF), and the Research-Action and Literacy Association (AGRAAD). 
Upon return to Conakry, Asst Poloff met with a contact at the 
Judicial Police regarding child trafficking issues in the Forest 
Region. 
 
---------------------------- 
NGO ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Asst Poloff met with Mamadou Cisse, the Regional Director of 
Sabou Guinea, who said that they participate in a working group 
started by UNICEF that monitors child trafficking incidents 
occurring in the Forest Region. Sabou Guinea trains border officials 
to identify child traffickers.  When a trafficker is apprehended on 
the border, local authorities are supposed to place the victims into 
the custody of Sabou Guinea. Sabou Guinea also identifies street 
children who were trafficked to sell products or beg in N'Zerekore. 
Sabou Guinea takes the street children into protective custody and 
reports the trafficker to the authorities for investigation. 
 
¶4. (U) Asst Poloff held a joint meeting with Jean Louis Maomy, the 
Executive Director of AGRAAD, and Serge Sossou, the Director of 
ASEEF. Both organizations outlined their respective projects to 
combat child trafficking throughout Guinea. In Guinea's Forest 
Region, AGRAAD is mapping cross-border towns and dense migration 
points to identify routes susceptible to child trafficking. ASEEF 
projects throughout Guinea focus on educational and vocational 
training for trafficking victims. Mr. Sossou said ASEEF is currently 
opening an office in the Forest Region. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
NGOS: TRAFFICKING PREVALENT IN FOREST REGION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) All three NGOs said that child trafficking is widespread in 
the forest region of Guinea because of the porous border and 
constant trans-border movement of Guineans, Liberians, and Ivorians. 
Mr. Cisse from Sabou Guinea said that their organization is active 
in other regions of Guinea, but the magnitude of child trafficking 
is highest in the Forest Region. He said that in the Forest Region, 
Sabou Guinea handles 1-2 child trafficking incidents per month, most 
of which involve cases of children trafficked from Kankan heading to 
Liberia. Mr. Cisse said he did not know where in Liberia the 
children were being taken and for what reason. 
 
¶6. (U) Mr. Maomy from AGRAAD said that the plethora of cross-border 
communities in the Forest Region creates a mechanism for traffickers 
to easily sneak children across the border. He said that AGRAAD's 
foremost problem is the lack of cross-border coordination and 
info-sharing between government and non-government partners on the 
border.  To combat this problem, AGRAAD participates in Cross-Border 
Monitoring Meetings that involve NGOs and governments from Sierra 
Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Cote D'Ivoire.  This network seeks to 
enhance coordination, share information and make recommendations for 
monitoring and investigating child trafficking cases on the borders. 
 
 
¶7. (U) During the joint meeting with AGRAAD and ASEEF, there were a 
few moments of disagreement between Mr. Maomy and Mr. Sossou. For 
example, the gentlemen debated about whether certain situations of 
guardianship, such as entrusting a family/community member to 
transport one's children, should be considered as trafficking.  In 
addition, when Mr. Sossou said that Guinea was only a TIP "receiving 
country," Mr. Maomy jumped in saying that Guinea was a "receiving, 
sending and transit country." Mr. Sossou immediately corrected 
himself and continued on with his presentation about the 
accomplishments of ASEEF. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
RECENT TRAFFICKING CASES IN FOREST REGION 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Asst Poloff met with Commissioner Bakary Camara from the 
Conakry Judicial Police, who said that child trafficking is a 
 
CONAKRY 00000196  002 OF 002 
 
 
significant problem in the Forest Region. He cited two 2008 
incidents in which Guinean children were reportedly trafficked to 
Liberia where they were to be sold. In the first case, the Liberian 
police in Monrovia apprehended a woman who was reportedly trying to 
sell a kidnapped girl from N'Zerekore.  In the second case, a man 
from Kankan was apprehended by Liberian police for trying to sell 
his son in Monrovia.  Mr. Bakary said that both alleged traffickers 
are being detained in Liberia waiting extradition to Guinea, and the 
children have been returned to relatives in Guinea. When asked why 
traffickers from Kankan would take children to Liberia rather than 
other neighboring countries, Mr. Bakary explained that nobody would 
purchase the children in Mali; the demand for children is in 
Liberia. 
 
¶9. (U) Mr. Cisse from Sabou Guinea told Asst Poloff about a February 
2008 child trafficking case where a victim escaped to local 
authorities and was turned over to Sabou Guinea.  According to Mr. 
Cisse, the boy said that a truck driver was taking three children, 
aged 11 to 14, to Liberia.  In Kankan, the truck driver reportedly 
asked the three children for assistance in transporting his shipment 
to a nearby town. Rather than stopping at the town, he continued on 
towards the Guinean-Liberian border. Mr. Cisse said the local 
authorities are investigating the case, but Sabou Guinea expects 
that the other two children are already in Liberia. In the separate 
meeting with the Judicial Police, Mr. Bakary said he was unaware of 
the case. 
 
¶10. (U) According to Mr. Maomy from AGRAAD, who provided another 
recent example, in February a man from Kissidougou allegedly took 
his son to Freetown to sell him into child labor.  The man was 
reportedly apprehended by the Sierra Leonean authorities and the 
child returned to Guinea where he remains in the custody of a local 
NGO. Mr. Maomy said that AGRAAD is working with both local and 
Sierra Leonean authorities to transfer the man to Guinea to be 
prosecuted. In the separate meeting with the Judicial Police, Mr. 
Bakary reported that the man was still being detained by Liberian 
officials but that his unit is working to have the man extradited to 
Guinea for his trial. 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Over the next several weeks, Embassy will continue to 
investigate child trafficking issues in Guinea in order to develop a 
better sense of the magnitude and nature of the problem.  With 
respect to Guinea's Forest Region, information obtained to date 
suggests that most, if not all, of the children trafficked through 
the region are part of a supply chain feeding into neighboring 
countries, rather than a response to demand within Guinea.  There 
was no indication that the Forest Region is an end destination for 
trafficked children from other countries.  For example, contacts 
could not cite specific cases of Liberian, Sierra Leonean, or 
Ivorian children being trafficked into Guinea.  END COMMENT. 
 
CARTER