VZCZCXRO6908
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0096/01 0501504
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191504Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0028
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BAMAKO 000096 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, AF/RSA, AF/W 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PHUM PREF SMIG ASEC ML
SUBJECT: 2008 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT - MALI 
 
REF: 08 STATE 132759 
 
1.(U) This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified. 
 
2.(U)  Embassy Bamako TIP Point of Contact is 
Economic/Commercial Officer, Manoela Borges: Office Tel: 
(223) 2070-2436; Office Fax: (223) 2070-2387; Email: 
borgesmg@state.gov. 
 
3.(U) The following is post's 2008 TIP information report, 
with responses keyed to questions 23-27 in reftel. 
 
4.(U) THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION (Reftel Question 23) 
 
-- A. The lack of infrastructure, resources, and centralized 
data collection make any attempt at a comprehensive 
understanding of TIP statistics in Mali impossible.  Some 
information on TIP is available through non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs) involved in anti-TIP activities and the 
U.N. International Labor Organization (ILO).  The data 
collected by NGOs includes only those cases identified by NGO 
networks; as such, this data can be assumed to comprise a 
fraction of all trafficking cases.  The Malian government 
does not keep current data on TIP. 
 
-- B.  Mali is a country of origin, transit, and destination 
for international trafficking.  While there are notable cases 
of international trafficking, most trafficking occurs within 
Mali's borders for the purposes of forced labor.  Press 
reports and other sources indicate that many Africans, 
including Malians, transit through Mali to Mauritania, 
Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe.  Accurate 
figures are not available; however, piecemeal data from NGOs 
indicate children are trafficked between Mali and Niger, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.  The 
largely unpopulated and sparsely-governed northern region is 
a common route for smugglers trafficking guns, drugs, 
commericial goods and perhaps human beings.  From April 2008 
to February 2009, Malian NGOs identified the following cases 
of trafficking: 
 
- a group of seven children trafficked by a Koranic teacher 
from Burkina Faso to Mali, December 2008 
- a group of 22 children Malian children trafficked to 
Burkina Faso, November/December 2008 
- a group of seven Malian children trafficked to Niger, 
December 2008 
- a group of 22 children trafficked to Niger by Koranic 
teachers, January 19, 2009 
 
There have been no changes in this pattern since the 2007 TIP 
report. 
 
-- C.  Victims are trafficked into a variety of situations. 
Children are mostly trafficked into domestic servitude, 
agricultural work, begging, and mining.  Young girls are 
predominantly trafficked into domestic positions and 
agricultural work while boys are forced to work in 
agricultural, begging, and mining positions. 
 
-- D.  While all groups risk being trafficked in Mali, 
children comprise the vast majority of trafficked persons. 
No singular ethnic group seems to be at particular risk, but 
poor, rural communities are more often the source of 
trafficked children than are urban or higher-income 
communities.  There is evidence that hereditary relationships 
continue to informally link different ethnic groups, 
particularly in the north.  Additionally, members of the 
black Tamachek community reportedly continued to live in 
forced servitude and were deprived of civil liberties by 
members of other ethnic groups, and forced servitude often 
extended to their children. 
 
-- E.  Most traffickers are believed to be involved with 
small, regionally-based groups or networks.  There is no 
evidence of large international organizations involved in 
trafficking in or through Mali. Family friends, extended 
family, acquaintances and strangers have all been used to 
approach victims' families.  Families are offered gifts or 
money for their children, with promises of more to follow if 
their children are allowed to work elsewhere.  Another common 
tactic is for traffickers to offer education, whether 
religious or otherwise, to young boys to entice families to 
release children to the traffickers' care.  Victims are moved 
using private vehicles and public transport. 
 
BAMAKO 00000096  002 OF 005 
 
 
 
Mali is a large country.  Its northern border is vast and is 
largely unregulated, given the lack of government resources. 
Border officers along other frontiers may occasionally be 
bribed to facilitate international trafficking.  There is no 
evidence of regular use of certain businesses as a front for 
trafficking. 
 
¶5.  (U) SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP 
EFFORTS: 
 
-- A.  Mali's government acknowledges that trafficking is a 
problem in the country. 
 
-- B.  Four government ministries are involved in 
anti-trafficking efforts: the Ministry for the Promotion of 
Women, Children, and the Family (MPFEF), the Ministry of 
Labor, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Internal 
Security and Civil Protection.  MPFEF is the lead ministry 
and has, within its organization, an anti-trafficking 
department. 
 
-- C.  Mali's efforts are hampered by severe resource 
constraints.  Mali ranked 173 of 179 on the UNDP's 2008 human 
development index, a ranking that clearly illustrates the 
limitations faced by Malian authorities seeking to combat 
trafficking.  Security forces and the judiciary are 
underfunded and corruption is pervasive.  Compounding these 
constraints is an apparent lack of communication between the 
various ministries charged with implementing anti-TIP 
activities.  Poor government coordination on anti-TIP 
activities, widespread poverty, and lack of resources remain 
the largest obstacles to addressing TIP in Mali. 
 
-- D.  The Malian government lacks centralized monitoring and 
reporting mechanisms. 
 
¶6.  (U) INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
 
-- A.  Mali's law for criminalizing the trafficking of 
children is Article 244 of the criminal code enacted in 2001. 
It does not differentiate between victims of internal and 
external trafficking.  This article defines the trafficking 
of children as "the process by which a child is displaced in 
or outside the country under conditions that treat the child 
as merchandise with one or more people participating, 
regardless of the reasons for displacement.  All acts dealing 
with the recruiting, transport, bartering, or sale of the 
child; and all acts which contribute to the displacement of 
the child inside or outside of a country will be punished by 
imprisonment of five to 20 years of any person convicted of 
trafficking a child."  Articles 242 and 243 prohibit 
servitude and other unfair labor practices.  Pimping is 
proscribed by Article 229.  This law covers both internal and 
transnational trafficking.  There are also laws prohibiting 
forced work, including forced prostitution.  These laws are 
used for prosecuting trafficking cases.  No new legislation 
has been enacted since the 2007 TIP report. 
 
-- B.  The penalty for sex trafficking, forcible sexual 
assault or rape is five to 20 years in jail.  If the victim 
is younger than 15, the penalty is 20 years.  There have been 
no changes since the 2007 TIP report. 
 
-- C.  The penalty for exploiting forced labor ranges from 
five to 20 years in jail. For labor recruiters who engage in 
the recruitment of workers using knowingly fraudulent or 
deceptive offers with the purpose of subjecting workers to 
trafficking in the destination country, the Malian laws 
regarding trafficking only apply if the recruiting occurred 
in Mali.  There have been no changes since the 2007 TIP 
report. 
 
-- D.  The penalty for rape or forcible sexual assault is the 
same as for sex trafficking, five to 20 years in jail. 
 
-- E.  During the reporting period, the government has not 
prosecuted any cases against human trafficking offenders. 
Three alleged traffickers who had been placed under arrest in 
March 2008 and were awaiting trial for the trafficking of 26 
children - 2 Malian and 24 Guinean - were subsequently 
released, purportedly pending further investigation.  There 
are no known cases of prosecution of labor recruiters using 
fraudulent practices for the purposes of trafficking, nor 
prosecutions in cases of employers who confiscate workers' 
 
BAMAKO 00000096  003 OF 005 
 
 
documents or employ other methods to maintain workers in a 
state of service. 
 
-- F.  There is no uniform training for officials.  In the 
reporting period, the government organized two training 
sessions on the collection and sharing of information on 
child trafficking.  The training was addressed to personnel 
in charge of collecting information about trafficking. 
 
-- G.  Collaboration between Mali and neighboring countries 
remains good, resource limitations notwithstanding.  During 
the reporting period, the Malian government collaborated with 
the governments of Niger, Guinea and Burkina Faso on two 
known trafficking cases to secure the repatriation of 
victims.  No statistics or information about other joint 
investigations are available. 
 
-- H.  There have been no reports of extraditions or requests 
for extradition during the reporting period. 
 
-- I.  There is no evidence to suggest the Malian government 
has been involved in trafficking at the local or 
institutional levels.  There may be a perception amongst some 
officials that some types of trafficking - such as the case 
of a parent or family member entrusting a child to a Koranic 
teacher who then exploits the child for labor - are less 
egregious and difficult to discern.  This perception 
sometimes impedes the investigation and prosecution of 
alleged traffickers. 
 
-- J.  There are no known cases of government officials 
involved in trafficking over the reporting period. 
 
-- K.  Prostitution is legal in Mali; the legal minimum age 
for prostitution is 18.  Profiting from the activities of 
prostitution, or pimping, is prohibited and punishable by one 
to three years in prison. 
 
-- L.  Approximately 100 members of the Malian military are 
deployed worldwide in peacekeeping and observer missions. 
There have been no reports of them being involved in 
trafficking or exploitation. 
 
-- M.  Mali does not have an identified problem of child sex 
tourists coming to the country.  Mali's laws pertain only to 
activities committed within its borders. 
 
¶7.  (U) PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
 
-- A.  The government is unable to provide protections for 
victims or witnesses. 
 
-- B.  Due to a lack of resources, most services and 
facilities available to any trafficked victims are provided 
by NGOs and funded entirely through foreign grants.  The only 
care facilities available to trafficked victims, all run by 
NGOs, are in Segou, Sikasso and Mopti.  Some smaller 
facilities throughout Mali, run by religious institutions, 
may also provide some assistance to trafficked victims on an 
ad-hoc basis.  No distinction is made between foreign and 
domestic victims by the NGOs.  Most of these facilities 
specialize in the care of children.  The Malian central 
government provides non-monetary assistance to these NGOs, 
including land and buildings.  NGOs must pay the travel and 
per diem costs for government officials involved in public 
awareness campaigns and repatriation activities.  The 
government is unable to quantify the value of assistance 
given. 
 
-- C.  The government relies on NGOs to assist with access to 
legal, medical, and psychological services. 
 
-- D.  Due to enormous resource constraints, the government 
focuses its assistance to foreign trafficking victims on 
repatriation. 
 
-- E.  The government does not provide longer-term shelter or 
housing benefits to victims or other resources to aid victims 
in rebuilding their lives. 
 
-- F.  While there is no formal referral process to transfer 
victims detained, authorities are well aware of local NGOs 
that provide assistance to trafficking victims.  In addition, 
each of Mali's nine regions has a trafficking committee to 
provide coordination among village level surveillance 
 
BAMAKO 00000096  004 OF 005 
 
 
committees. 
 
-- G.  Victims are usually identified by and referred to 
various NGOs.  There are no figures available on the number 
of persons referred to the government or NGOs. 
 
-- H.  There is no formal system for authorities to identify 
victims of trafficking among high-risk persons with whom they 
come into contact.  However, a number of NGOs have trained 
some government officials in regional workshops covering 
identification of trafficked victims and trafficking 
prevention. 
 
-- I.  Malian authorities respect the rights of trafficking 
victims.  There have been no reports of jailing, fines, or 
mistreatment of victims. 
 
-- J.  Victims are not discouraged from assisting in the 
investigation of trafficking.  No prosecutions have taken 
place over the reporting period.  Victims may sue traffickers 
and employers.  Post is unaware of any attempts to impede 
access to legal redress by victims.  As children comprise the 
vast majority of victims, the preference is to repatriate 
them to their home countries and families.  The primary means 
by which a victim may obtain restitution is by civil suit. 
 
-- K.  In 2007, the government introduced a child trafficking 
component in the curriculum of the national police training 
academy.  It focuses on identifying trafficked children.  No 
specialized training is given to Malian diplomats.  Mali's 
embassies and consulates do not have ongoing relationships 
with NGOs and IOs that serve trafficking victims, but do turn 
to them when seeking assistance for repatriating victims to 
Mali.  There have been no reports on trafficking victims that 
have been assisted by Malian missions abroad during the 
reporting period. 
 
-- L.  The government relies on NGOs to assist with medical 
needs and reintegration of repatriated trafficking victims. 
 
-- M.  UNICEF, Save the Children, IOM, ILO, and local NGOs, 
such as Mali Enjeu and ENDA Tiers Monde, all work with 
trafficking victims.  In addition, several religious missions 
are involved in anti-trafficking activities.  These 
organizations undertake a broad range of activities, 
including research into trafficking and child labor, the 
primary reason for child trafficking; public awareness 
campaigns; the training of public officials; the provision of 
assistance with repatriation; and the provision of assistance 
to victims of trafficking, such as shelter.  Local officials 
rely on these organizations for their anti-TIP activities, 
which would otherwise be severely restricted.  The government 
is supportive of these activities. 
 
¶8. (U) PREVENTION 
 
-- A.  The government participated in one public education 
campaign over the reporting period.  This campaign was 
organized by a local NGO and travel and per diem costs of the 
participating government official was paid by the NGO.  There 
is no estimate available of how many people were reached by 
this campaign.  The campaign targeted potential trafficking 
victims, primarily children, as well as their families and 
communities.  In addition, NGO campaigns target border police 
and bus, taxi, and truck drivers to help in identifying child 
trafficking and to encourage these groups to report 
suspicious activity to the authorities. 
 
-- B.  The government does not have the capacity to monitor 
immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of 
trafficking.  Mali's borders are porous, and monitoring of 
the sparsely-populated northern region, thought to be a 
primary route for traffickers, is costly and difficult.  Save 
the Children works with border officials to assist them in 
recognizing trafficking cases. In such cases, the children 
are repatriated with the assistance of Malian government 
officials and NGO networks. 
 
-- C.  Mali continued to work toward the creation of 
trafficking committees in each of Mali's eight regions to 
provide coordination among local surveillance committees, 
NGOs and the government.  A National Steering Committee, 
established in 2006, met five times over the reporting 
period.  The Committee is comprised of 43 members, including 
government ministries, NGOs, and civil society 
 
BAMAKO 00000096  005 OF 005 
 
 
representatives. 
 
-- D.  The government of Mali's 2002 National Plan was 
drafted in collaboration with local and international NGOs, 
including CARE, WorldVision, Winrock International, and 
UNICEF, and created the division within the MPFEF that 
addresses trafficking.  The National Plan also established a 
National Committee (Comite de Suivi et de Coordination du 
Plan d'Action) to coordinate activities with the responsible 
ministries and NGOs.  The Committee was intended to serve as 
a coordinating body and source of information for the various 
actors working trafficking issues.  The MPFEF's 
Anti-Trafficking Department was intended to take the lead on 
assembling the Committee, which never became active.  As 
cited above, the National Steering Committee, created by 
decree from the Ministry Labor, serves as the central active 
and coordinating body on trafficking issues. The government 
has made the National Plan available to government 
organizations and NGOs involved in anti-trafficking 
activities. 
 
-- E.  No activities have been conducted by the Malian 
government in furtherance of reducing the demand for 
commercial sex acts. 
 
-- F.  No activities have been conducted by the Malian 
government in furtherance of reducing the participation in 
international child sex tourism by Malian nationals. 
 
-- G.  As cited above, the Malian government currently has 
100 members of the military deployed abroad as peacekeepers 
and observers.  The government has not adopted any specific 
measures to ensure that those troops do not engage in order 
facilitate severe forms of trafficking or exploit victims of 
such trafficking.  There have been no reported incidents of 
those individuals involved in trafficking or exploitation of 
victims of trafficking. 
 
 
MILOVANOVIC