VZCZCXRO2919
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0320/01 1771210
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251210Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2688
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000320 
 
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 MIDDLE GUINEA 
 
REF: CONAKRY 00220 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. A recent trip to Middle Guinea reveals that Guinea's 
border with Senegal may be a transit point for significant 
trafficking activity.  Although there have only been a few 
"official" trafficking cases, the lack of information and resources 
on the part of the local authorities, as well as hundreds of 
kilometers of unmonitored border crossings, suggests that there is 
probably much more going on than what has been officially reported. 
Local NGOs express serious concerns about the need for education 
campaigns in order to combat child trafficking in the region. 
Authorities report frequent border crossings by marabouts, often 
accompanied by several children, which has proven to be a source of 
trafficking and exploitation in other parts of the country.  This 
cable is the fourth in a series of six reports on child trafficking 
in Guinea. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) During a trip to the prefectures of Koundara and Labe (Middle 
Guinea) the week of June 2, Asst Poloff met with local authorities, 
police, local NGOs and border security officials to discuss the 
prevalence of child trafficking over Guinea's northern Senegalese 
Border. Asst Poloff also traveled to the two major border 
checkpoints to speak directly with border police/gendarme and 
inquire about two marabouts recently arrested on Koundara's border 
for allegedly trafficking 11 children into Senegal. 
 
-------------------------------- 
AUTHORITIES: DON'T HAVE INFORMATION ON CHILD TRAFFICKING 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Secretary General of Koundara (the deputy to the 
prefect), Mamadou Allou Diallo, refused to comment on child 
trafficking in the region, saying only that he "is not well placed 
to say if it is occurring."  He said he had been officially informed 
of one case (reftel), but is not aware of any other cases. In a 
separate meeting, the Mayor of Koundara, Eihad Abdoullay Boiro, said 
that Koundara has few official cases of child trafficking, but that 
the border is incredibly porous without any natural barriers that 
could force people to go through border checkpoints in order to 
cross into Senegal. Mr. Boiro requested assistance to implement 
training modules for border security and sensitization programs in 
order to combat this problem. He also said that residents of 
Koundara are becoming more vigilant about child trafficking because 
they have heard of radio reports of trafficking incidents occurring 
in Forecariah. 
 
----------------------------------- 
NGO ACTIVITIES IN KOUNDARA AND LABE 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In Koundara, Asst Poloff met with the Coordinator of the 
Association of Model Mothers, Amadou Lamine Diallo, who said that 
his organization is combating child trafficking through education 
programs. Mr. Diallo said the primary reason for child trafficking 
and exploitation is poverty so his organization focuses on providing 
education and training to children. Souman Hamidou, program 
coordinator for the NGO Guinean Volunteers for Development (VGD), 
said that while his organization does not directly work to combat 
child trafficking, the issue arises during the course of some of 
their education programs. He said that VGD is concerned about the 
children taken by marabouts to Senegal, who are exploited instead of 
receiving the promised Koranic education. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Asst Poloff also traveled to the town of Labe, which 
connects the rest of Guinea to Koundara, to meet with a group of 
NGOs including Save the Children, Club Amis du Monde (CAM) and the 
Association de Soutien aux Enfants Dshrits (ASED). The NGOs are 
part of a network in Labe that is working to combat child 
exploitation. Souleymane Barry, coordinator of Save the Children, 
said that the network coordinates educational and vocational 
training for children. According to Mr. Barry, the NGOs are using 
the network to try and decrease the number of children working on 
rural farms, working as domestic servants, and those being taken to 
Senegal for Koranic education. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
NGOS PROVIDE RECENT CASE AND EXPRESS CONCERN 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ibrahima Toutouroun Sow from ASED in Labe told of a recent 
child trafficking case from April where a woman was arrested in 
Kouramangui, a town near Labe, for allegedly trafficking three 
children, aged five to seven. Mr. Sow said the woman was reportedly 
heading towards Koundara to cross into Senegal with the children. 
Mr. Sow said another man in the taxi realized the hungry and scared 
children were not hers so he reported the woman to the police before 
they reached Koundara. Mr. Sow said the NGOs were only made aware of 
the case afterwards, and were told that the police returned the 
 
CONAKRY 00000320  002 OF 003 
 
 
children to their villages, but the woman escaped. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The NGOs from Labe shared their collective concern about 
child trafficking in Koundara, saying that while the border police 
have been told to "be vigilant" they do not know what to look for or 
what questions to ask. They added that border police are 
ill-equipped to transport alleged traffickers and children to the 
police in Koundara so they are forced to release them. Furthermore, 
the police in Koundara do not have the resources to care for the 
children while they conduct an investigation or to return them to 
their villages if necessary. Mr. Barry from Save the Children said 
that his organization is looking to open an office in Koundara in 
order to conduct sensitization campaigns for border police, care for 
victims of child trafficking, and help repatriate children to their 
villages. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
KOUNDARA'S POROUS BORDER IS THE PROBLEM 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Koundara Police Commissioner Bangaly Deiakitate told Asst 
Poloff that the region is experiencing incidents similar to those 
seen in Forecariah.  However, he said they do not have statistics as 
to the prevalence. Mr. Deiakitate reported that the primary problem 
with catching child traffickers is Koundara's porous border, which 
is 252 kilometers long with four official checkpoints: Botomele, 
Kandika, Boundoufordou, and Missira. He said that because there are 
no natural barriers on the border like rivers or mountains, there 
are "hundreds" of unofficial routes by which child traffickers can 
transport children to Senegal, undetected. He explained that with 
only 65 border police and no transportation, it is difficult to 
monitor the border for people crossing illegally.  However, he said 
that when border police do encounter vehicles with children, they 
require parental consent documents for entry in Senegal. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Harouna Sangave, the Gendarme Commander in Koundara, 
reported that the gendarmes have not seen any official cases of 
child trafficking. He said that Border Gendarme require all children 
crossing the border to be traveling with their parents, and he 
expressed confidence that gendarmes do not allow marabouts to cross 
the border with children, even if they have parental consent. Mr. 
Sangave said that he knows that marabouts are taking children across 
the border on unofficial routes, explaining that because of limited 
transportation, gendarmes cannot monitor the border outside of 
official checkpoints. He reported that in May, one of his gendarmes 
heard people in the Koundara Market talking about sending their 
children to Senegal for Koranic studies. The gendarmes on the border 
were reportedly ordered to be extra vigilant, but no marabouts 
attempted to cross. 
 
¶10. (U) Asst Poloff asked Police Commissioner Deiakitate about the 
recent alleged trafficking case that occurred in Koundara (reftel), 
he said that the investigation occurred in Sangaredi and not in 
Koundara because they lacked the resources to care for the children 
and alleged traffickers.  He said that if it has been only one or 
two children they would have held the investigation in Koundara. Mr. 
Deiakitate then said that he is very disappointed that the alleged 
traffickers were released, and that he would have convicted them of 
child trafficking. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
BORDER CHECKPOINT OFFICIALS TELL THE REAL STORY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Asst Poloff traveled to two border checkpoints, Missira 
and Boundoufordou (both located within the prefecture of Koundara), 
to speak with border police and gendarmes about child trafficking 
incidents. At the Missira checkpoint with Senegal, Chief of Police 
Mamadou Salion Bah said that there are nine border police staffing 
the checkpoint, working alongside border gendarmes. He also 
mentioned that the Missira checkpoint experiences a flux of traffic 
on Wednesdays, as vehicles head to the Diawbe Market in Senegal. Mr. 
Bah said that there is 23 kilometers separating Missira and the 
nearest checkpoint, Boundoufordou. 
 
¶12. (SBU) At Boundoufordou, Special Border Police Chief Bachir 
Diallo explained that 12 border police staff the checkpoint, working 
alongside border gendarmes. Mr. Diallo said that there are over 100 
kilometers between Boundoufordou and the nearest checkpoint, most of 
which is a national park. Both police chiefs reported that there are 
many unofficial routes in the area and that the border police and 
gendarmes do not have the transportation or communication resources 
to monitor outside the checkpoints. 
 
¶13. (SBU) According to Mr. Bah, marabouts are constantly crossing 
the border with children going for Koranic studies, but that border 
police require the marabouts to present proof of parental consent. 
Mr. Bah reported that checkpoint Missira recently allowed marabouts 
 
CONAKRY 00000320  003 OF 003 
 
 
to pass into Senegal with children - one traveling with four 
children and another traveling with two children. He said that 
marabouts usually have anywhere from 2 to 15 children with them, 
some traveling in taxis and others walking with children from 
neighboring towns or from Koundara (more than 60 kilometers). He 
added that some of the marabouts appear to be mistreating the 
children since some of them are scared, hungry and tired when they 
reach the checkpoint. 
 
------------------------------------- 
MARABOUTS REJECTED AT BORDER CROSSING 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Mr. Bah confirmed that in February two marabouts were 
arrested at the Missira checkpoint for allegedly trafficking 11 
children to Senegal (reftel). He said he was present when the group 
was apprehended at the border and explained that border police 
arrested the marabouts because the group was traveling from such a 
far distance, and the marabouts clearly could not afford to care for 
the 11 children. He reported that the children appeared frightened, 
hungry, and some were not adequately clothed. He said that the 
marabouts claimed to be their guardian, but could not prove parental 
consent. Mr. Bah added that border police accompanied the group's 
vehicle to the police in Koundara, who made the determination to 
send the case to Sangaredi for investigation. 
 
¶15. (SBU) According to Mr. Bah, there have been three other 
incidents this year wherein they prevented a marabout with children 
transiting through the Missira checkpoint. When asked if they have 
details regarding those cases, he said those incidents are not 
official cases and were not investigated. He explained that the 
border police and gendarmes do not have phones to report incidents 
to Koundara, and cannot transport marabouts and children to Koundara 
for further investigation, especially if they arrived on foot. He 
added that they are forced to turn away the marabouts, essentially 
blocking them from crossing the border at that particular 
checkpoint, and instructing them to return the children to their 
families. 
 
¶16. (SBU) At the second checkpoint, Boundoufordou, Special Border 
Police Chief Bachir Diallo told Asst Poloff that the Boundoufordou 
checkpoint has not had any official child trafficking cases, adding 
that it is possible that traffickers are using unofficial routes or 
the Missira checkpoint because it is closer to the Diawbe Market. He 
said that Boundoufordou encounters two to three marabouts a month 
taking children to Senegal for Koranic studies. Mr. Diallo reported 
that in May he stopped a marabout traveling with three children into 
Senegal because the marabout did not have documents proving parental 
consent. The border police eventually decided to let the marabout 
continue on to Senegal with the children because some of the locals 
knew and vouched for the marabout. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) This cable represents a continuation of Embassy efforts to 
understand child trafficking issues in Guinea.  Embassy has recently 
received reports that suggest that child trafficking may be 
occurring over Middle Guinea's border with Senegal. While most local 
authorities, police, gendarmes, and border agents in Koundara say 
they understand the need for vigilance against child trafficking, 
they lack the resources to effectively monitor the border.  They may 
also lack a clear understanding of what constitutes child 
trafficking and how to prevent it.    It appears that there are a 
number of marabouts regularly crossing the border from Guinea into 
Senegal, with children that are not related to them.  At this point, 
it is unclear whether these children are being trafficked and 
exploited, or simply participating in legitimate Koranic study 
programs.  However, the NGOs working in the region see Koundara as a 
high-risk zone.  Recent information suggests that the region may be 
a significant transit point for trafficking activity. 
END COMMENT. 
 
CARTER