VZCZCXRO6238
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0255/01 0610701
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020701Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1952
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 DAKAR 000255 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR INL, DRL, AF/W, AF/RSA, INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KFRD KTIP KWMN PHUM PREF SMIG XY PU
SUBJECT: GUINEA BISSAU: ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: 2008 SECSTATE 132759 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (SBU) Guinea-Bissau is a source of children trafficked for 
begging primarily in Senegal.  Muslim Koranic teachers or their 
intermediaries convince parents to send children purportedly for a 
religious education.  Those children are routinely beaten and 
subjected to harsh treatment; often their families never hear from 
them again.  There are few statistics or reliable estimates on the 
scope of the problem.  The GOGB has the political will to combat 
this issue and has instituted jail time for parents who collude with 
traffickers.  Police are proactive in stopping traffickers and 
assisting victims.  Lawmakers have drafted legislation that would 
prohibit all forms of trafficking in persons.  An inter-ministerial 
committee is leading the effort to combat trafficking nationwide. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Children have been required to beg for food and money to 
receive education from Koranic schools for generations.  Some 
fathers and community leaders who send children away to learn to 
read the Koran experienced similar situations, although abuse 
appears to be growing and education dwindling.  Public discussion, 
radio programs, and solid NGO efforts, often in conjunction with 
police and government, are making it harder for traffickers to 
operate.  Arrests of traffickers and complicit parents also serve as 
a deterrent. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) One NGO, "Associaco de Mulher e Crianca" (the Association 
for Women and Children, known as AMIC in Portuguese) leads 
coordination efforts for government, police, and civil society in 
terms of prevention and helping returned victims find their 
families, and holding parents accountable to the courts if their 
children become re-trafficked after participating in the 
reintegration program.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Responses are keyed to questions in reftel. 
 
Begin TIP report: 
 
PARA 23.  THE COUNTRY'S TIP SITUATION 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶A. Reliable information on trafficking in persons in Guinea-Bissau 
is difficult to obtain.  Few studies have been conducted and data 
collected by international organizations, NGOs, and the GOGB is 
incomplete.  Local police forces, as well as UNICEF, maintain data 
on trafficked children intercepted at the border.  Courts maintain 
records on arrests.  The International Organization for Migration 
(IOM) and NGOs maintain data on trafficking victims repatriated to 
Guinea-Bissau.  The GOGB office of the Institute of Women and 
Children also collects nationwide data. 
 
¶B. Guinea-Bissau is a country of origin for trafficked children for 
forced begging, primarily to Senegal and to a lesser extent Mali and 
Guinea.  Children are sent by their parents with a teacher, or 
someone purporting to represent a teacher, for Koranic studies.  Key 
source areas are the predominantly Muslim areas of Bafata and Gabu 
in the east.  Instead of getting an education, children are 
generally forced to beg and remit daily payments of anywhere from 50 
cents to one U.S. dollar plus a kilo of rice to the teacher. 
Failure to meet daily quotas earns severe beatings.  Some Koranic 
schools in Guinea-Bissau also require children to beg in the 
long-standing tradition of these schools, but with less abuse and 
more education than they get abroad. 
 
Few studies have been completed on the scope of human trafficking in 
or from Guinea-Bissau.  UNICEF estimates that 200 children are 
trafficked out of Guinea-Bissau each month.  A study by the 
Senegal-based African Centre for the Advanced Studies in Management 
released in August, 2008, found that thirty percent of the 8,000 
religious students begging on the streets of Dakar are from 
Guinea-Bissau.  In 2008, at least 168 trafficking victims reportedly 
were intercepted at the Senegalese border on their way to beg on the 
streets of Dakar. Also in 2008, with the assistance of the Embassy 
of Guinea- Bissau in Dakar, 63 trafficking victims, who were 
enduring harsh conditions and forced begging on the streets of 
Dakar, were repatriated to Guinea-Bissau. 
 
¶C. Living conditions for trafficked children on the streets of 
Senegal's cities can be heartbreaking.  Victims frequently roam the 
streets barefoot in tattered rags, their skin rife with sores and 
lesions.  Children who cannot raise the daily payment are beaten so 
severely that they often don't return, choosing to sleep in the 
street rather than face punishment.  It is common for families to go 
years without receiving any word from children.  Some children seek 
help from NGOs, neighborhood women whom they adopt as mother 
figures, or the Bissau-Guinean Embassy in Dakar.  Others simply walk 
back to Guinea-Bissau.  Many make a go of it on their own, living in 
abandoned buildings and making do with begging as a profession. 
 
 
DAKAR 00000255  002 OF 005 
 
 
¶D. Boys, the beneficiaries of the purported religious education, are 
the principle targets of the traffickers.  Some girls may be 
trafficked as well to work as domestic labor in Bissau or Senegal, 
although there is no reliable evidence of this practice. 
 
¶E. Men, often former trafficking victims, from the regions of Bafata 
and Gabu are the primary traffickers.  They may be teachers in 
Koranic schools, or they may say they are working on behalf of a 
teacher.  In most cases, they are known to communities in which they 
operate, AMIC, and the police.  Some have been photographed by 
police for the purpose of prevention.  They operate in the open, 
protected by their stature in the Muslim community and the fact that 
politicians in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal do not have the temerity to 
confront them.  Parents of young children are approached by 
religious leaders or intermediaries, usually from Guinea-Bissau, and 
offered the chance to send children for a religious education where 
they would be taught to read the Koran.  Because of traditional 
links between Islamic communities across borders and the existence 
of extended families where distant relatives may be considered 
"uncles," the trafficker is often known to the parents.  Also in 
some cases, children sent away are not wanted any longer, especially 
in the case of a second marriage where the new wife does not want to 
raise her husband's children with a first wife. The primary route to 
Senegal is through the town of Pirada, where there are police and 
migration controls.  Another key exit point is the town of Sao 
Domingos in the west.  Almost all traffic is overland, reportedly by 
foot, taxi, or animal-driven carts to the border.  Non-vehicular 
traffic can easily avoid border outposts by using foot trails 
through the bush.  Border guards are aware of the problem and, 
according to the leading national NGO on trafficking, AMIC, 
cooperate on interdiction and repatriation.  Yet remoteness, low 
salaries that are sometimes unpaid for months at a time, and 
respect for Koranic teachers makes guards vulnerable to bribes. 
 
 
PARA 24 SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶A. The GOGB readily acknowledges that trafficking is a problem in 
the country.  The Government contributes eight million CFA francs 
(CFAF) (about USD 16,000) per year to the operating budget of AMIC, 
the country's strongest advocate in fighting trafficking of 
children. 
 
¶B. Political will exists to assist victims and prevent trafficking 
through raising awareness, especially in key institutions such as 
the government's Institute of Women and Children, the Department of 
Justice, the Foreign Ministry, and among individuals throughout the 
police force.  An inter-ministerial committee, chaired by President 
of Institute of Women and Children, meets regularly in an effort to 
coordinate the GOGB and civil society response. 
 
¶C. The GOGB faces constraints in its ability to tackle the popular 
tradition of sending boys away from home to get a religious 
education.  Porous borders make it easy for the traffickers to evade 
detection.  Local law enforcement officers lack vehicles and gas to 
patrol the borders.  Civil servants, including police and border 
guards, are frequently not paid for months at a time, making them 
vulnerable to bribes.  In the absence of a specific law 
criminalizing trafficking, prosecutors rely on other related 
statutes such as kidnapping.  However, the country has no 
operational prison and only ad hoc detention facilities, further 
eroding the already limited capacity of the judicial system. 
National coordination efforts were hampered by the August 2008 
dissolution of the government and National Assembly and the August 
and November attempted coups.  A new government was installed in 
January 2009. 
 
¶D.  The GOGB does not make systematic efforts and does not publish 
assessments of its performance.  A police inspector under the 
auspices of the Ministry of Interior has official responsibility for 
coordinating the government enforcement response and cooperation 
with UNICEF, but these efforts are poorly organized. 
 
PARA 25.  INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶A.  Since the last report, the National Assembly drafted legislation 
specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons.  However, the 
legislation was not adopted before the National Assembly was 
dissolved in August, 2008.  There is no law specifically prohibiting 
trafficking in people.  Other laws are currently being used, 
although they are weakly applied.  Laws against removal of minors, 
sexual exploitation, abuse, and kidnapping of minors may be used to 
prosecute trafficking cases. Prostitution is illegal, as is 
pimping. 
 
¶B.  There is no trafficking law, but the law against kidnapping, 
which may be used in child trafficking, carries a penalty of two to 
ten years in prison. 
 
DAKAR 00000255  003 OF 005 
 
 
 
¶C.  Guinea-Bissau is not a source or destination country for labor 
abuses and as such has no specific legislation dealing with the 
crime.  When children are exploited for labor, it is usually through 
promises of education that traffickers lure them into servitude, not 
through legitimate offers of employment with contracts. 
 
¶D.  The penalty for rape is between one and five years in prison. 
Sex trafficking is not specifically covered under the law and in 
fact does not appear to be a widespread problem in Guinea-Bissau. 
 
¶E.  During the year, nine people were arrested for 
trafficking-related offenses; however, there have been no successful 
prosecutions of traffickers, due largely to systemic failures that 
pervade the judicial system.  Instead, local law enforcement is 
using the laws in place related to parental responsibilities for 
child protection to go after parents who send their children with 
traffickers.  Police are keenly aware of their responsibility when 
it comes to protecting children from traffickers, and they often 
take appropriate action.  In most cases, this involves coordinating 
with NGOs on repatriations.  When these children, known as 
"talibes," go through the repatriation and reinsertion process, 
parents are required to sign a contract with the regional court that 
holds them criminally responsible for the safety of their children 
if they should be re-trafficked. 
 
¶F.  The Government does not provide any special training on 
trafficking but has said it welcomes any training that foreign 
governments or international organizations can provide. 
 
¶G.  The GOGB, in particular the Bissau-Guinean Embassy in Dakar, 
works closely with the government of Senegal.  Together, they 
repatriated 63 children to Guinea-Bissau during the reporting 
period. 
 
¶H.  The Government is not prohibited from extraditing its nationals 
but has no record of being asked to do so for TIP. 
 
¶I.  There is no evidence of government involvement in TIP. 
 
¶J. Not applicable. 
 
¶K. Prostitution and associated activities are illegal.  Such laws, 
however, are not strictly enforced. 
 
¶L. Not applicable. 
 
¶M. There is little tourism in Guinea-Bissau, and there are no 
reports of child sex tourism. 
 
 
PARA 26.  PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶A.  Under existing laws, the government can intercept and return 
victims domestically and repatriate them from abroad.  The 
government can hold the victims indefinitely in transition shelters 
in order to increase the likelihood of successful family 
re-integration.  No special protections are afforded to witnesses. 
 
 
¶B. The only care facility expressly for TIP victims is a rented 
house in Gabu.  AMIC pays the rent through its support from 
international NGOs and the GOGB.  AMIC isseeking a permanent 
solution to this problem.  Another care facility, run by SOS Talibe, 
is under enovation in Bafata. 
 
¶C. SOS Talibe and AMIC proide victims with access to medical and 
psychologcal services.  Most significant funding comes fromabroad, 
including PRM support to IOM for a regionl repatriation and 
reinsertion program.  The Govrnment continues to contribute about 
USD 16,000 o AMIC's annual operating budget.  It cooperates ad 
coordinates closely with IOM, UNICEF, Save theChildren (Dakar), SOS 
Talibe, and other foreign NGOs. 
 
¶D.  Guinea-Bissau is not a destination country for foreign victims 
of trafficking. 
 
¶E. No. SOS Talibe and AMIC provide longer-term shelter as needed, 
however.  SOS Talibe, for example, provided shelter for several 
months for a trafficking victim repatriated from Senegal.  The child 
was unable to recall the name of the area from where he originated. 
Upon investigation, care workers suspect that he may have come from 
Guinea and not Guinea-Bissau as he mistakenly told officials in 
Senegal. 
 
¶F. The GOGB refers victims to NGOs and international organizations 
for care. 
 
¶G. UNICEF estimates that there are 200 victims per month.  Over the 
 
DAKAR 00000255  004 OF 005 
 
 
course of the year, 168 intercepted victims received care, while 
another 63 victims repatriated from Senegal received care. 
 
¶H. Not applicable. 
 
¶I. Victims are not punished or persecuted in any way by anyone other 
than their traffickers. 
 
¶J. Victims are frequently too young to contribute significantly to 
any prosecution.  Family members of the victims, however, are 
encouraged to assist in any investigation or prosecution of 
traffickers.  Given the widespread cultural acceptance of the 
practice of sending young boys away from home for an Islamic 
education, family members, however, often support the traffickers. 
 
¶K. AMIC provides all training.  Government agencies provide full 
cooperation with AMIC and attend any and all training events. 
 
¶L.  As noted above, the Government has no funds to support even a 
modest victim assistance program.  It relies heavily on NGO and 
international donor support not just for TIP assistance, but for 
many basic government functions, including payment of civil service 
salaries.  The Bissau-Guinean Embassy in Senegal is a leader in the 
fight against trafficking.  It coordinates closely with NGOs in 
Senegal and the Red Cross to identify, assist, and repatriate 
victims.  It uses its operating budget to fund assistance efforts 
and is reimbursed upon justification to the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs. 
 
¶M. A non-exhaustive list includes the Red Cross, AMIC, SOS Talibe, 
RADDHO(Dakar), Save the Children (Dakar), UNICEF, and IOM. 
 
PARA 27.  PREVENTION 
-------------------- 
 
¶A.  The Government contributed to training for religious leaders 
designed to shed light on the pernicious effects of trafficking. 
 
¶B.  The Government does not systematically monitor its borders for 
TIP, but border guards have been educated by AMIC.  Immigration 
officials described a process they follow when they identify a 
potential trafficker: they detain the male adults if they cannot 
prove they are the fathers, contact the police in Gabu, and arrange 
transportation back to police headquarters in Gabu.  Unfortunately, 
these are barely treated as crimes, and traffickers are generally 
released while parents are contacted to pick up their children.  For 
example, on Thursday, 17 December, the border guards in Gabu stopped 
18 children and 2 traffickers at the border.  Unfortunately, the 
border guards had no means to transport them back to Gabu, so the 
guards, victims and traffickers spent that night at the border.  The 
next day, the victims were transported to the AMIC center in Gabu. 
 
With a number of security concerns in the country, such as increased 
international drug trafficking and the urgent need for security 
sector reform of the bloated, violence-prone military and numerous 
social problems such as a lack of access to adequate education and 
health care for most of its citizens, TIP has not surprisingly been 
low on the priority list.  However, even with these other issues, 
the Government is doing what it can with the few resources it has 
available to it.  The Ministry of Interior has an inspector in 
charge of crimes against children who is responsible for 
coordination on law enforcement of TIP and cooperation with UNICEF. 
The Institute of Women and Children has taken the lead with respect 
to public awareness and 
marshaling efforts of the government and the international 
community.  The most effective actors continue to be NGOs and 
international organizations. 
 
AMIC conducts regular awareness efforts on radio stations in the 
Gabu area and through tireless visiting of villages in source areas. 
 Guinea-Bissau's Ambassador to Senegal has also contributed to 
awareness efforts on the radio.  These efforts are aimed at parents 
in Muslim communities, notifying them of the dangers of sending 
their children away for Koranic studies.  One program aimed at 
prevention was the creation of evening Koranic studies after the 
regular school day.  A group of religious village elders say the 
believe this has had a positive impact and they know of many 
children that come from nearby villages to study at night so they do 
not have to go as far away as Senegal for the religious education 
they seek. 
 
¶C.  Relevant actors cooperate well and recognize the importance of 
close coordination.  An inter-ministerial committee meets regularly 
to share information and coordinate activities.  AMIC reports that 
it gets very good cooperation from local police in assisting 
repatriated children and finding parents.  Local police laud the 
strong work of AMIC to help them monitor villages to ensure victims 
are not re-trafficked.  There is a good understanding of issues and 
updated policies by border police and migration officials to stop 
traffickers from moving children out of the country.  AMIC and 
 
DAKAR 00000255  005 OF 005 
 
 
police work with religious and community leaders in the regions of 
Gabu and Bafata.  Even the regional court, which was the biggest gap 
in the past, has started to play an instrumental role in making the 
parents understand that they will be held legally accountable if 
they send their children to beg in a foreign country.  This is 
accomplished by serving as an intermediary to explain child 
protection laws to parents and requiring them to sign a contract in 
which parents of returned victims promise not to send their children 
away again under penalty of jail.  AMIC monitors the agreement 
through visits to kids and one man has been jailed for 72 hours 
under this system. 
 
¶D.  A national action plan does not yet exist. 
 
¶E.  Not applicable. 
 
¶F.  The GOGB took no such measures. 
 
¶G. Not applicable. 
 
¶5.  (U) The TIP officer for Guinea-Bissau, Lance Kinne, 
who is resident in Dakar, Senegal, can be reached by phone at 
221-33-829-2245 and by e-mail at kinnelb@state.gov. 
Embassy TIP officer spent approximately 40 hours preparing this 
report. 
 
BERNICAT