World Day Against Child Labour 2003

Child trafficking is one of the worst forms of child labour. Although no precise figures exist, an estimated 1.2 million children - both boys and girls - are trafficked each year into exploitative work in agriculture, mining, factories, armed conflict or commercial sex work.

This terrible form of child exploitation is the focus of growing global concern. On 12 June 2003, the second World Day Against Child Labour, the ILO will focus attention on trafficking in children - everywhere it occurs and in whatever form - to prevent and stop the practice.

It's high time to act. Left unchecked, the number of children trafficked may rise.

Stories of trafficked children

Camel jockeying in the Middle East: Shahid from Bangladesh

Shahid is now 12 years old. He was trafficked when he was only 7 years old. His father died when he was 5. He used to live with his family in Dholaikhal, Jatrabarim where his father earned an income as a truck driver. His father had two wives and Shahid's mother used to work in a garment factory.

"Five years ago one day while I was playing in front of my house, a man came and talked to my stepsister. I later found out that this man was a kidnapper. My stepsister helped the kidnapper to take me away to Dhaka. Later I came to know that my stepsister had sold me to that man.

In Dhaka, I was kept in a house in the Mirpur area for 4 months. I couldn't go anywhere. While I was there the men arranged my passport. Then we went to India crossing the Comilla border and went further on to Kolkata and to Bombay. In Bombay, I was handed over to two other men. The next night they took me to the airport in Bombay and again handed me over to an Indian lady. The Indian lady and I reached Dubai the following morning, where I was sold to an Arabian man for 30,000 Dinar. The lady was a pimp. The Arabian man brought me to his house and I was engaged as a camel jockey.

The Arabian master owned a herd of 50-60 race camels. At the beginning my master asked me to look after the camels and also appointed an instructor to train me in camel riding. After going through very strenuous training, I started to work as a camel jockey in the professional camel race. I was not paid for my work but now and then my master used to tip me 100-200 Dinar if the camel won the race. They did not give me very much food to eat, so I was always very hungry. Whenever I asked for some food, they beat me. I only weighed 20 kilo. When I grew a bit older, I was no longer fit for camel jockeying because I could not keep my weight under 20 kilo. I became useless for the Arabian Master, who asked somebody to send me back to Bangladesh.

Using the same route as when going to the Middle East, the man took me to India and left me near Comilla border in India. While crossing the border into Bangladesh, the border police arrested me and sent me to Camilla jail. I stayed in the jail for one and a half months, and then I finally came to a shelter by the help of a local NGO".

Shahid has now been living in that shelter home for more than 1 year. He studies in class 1. He practices song, dance and acting and plays football, cricket and he also love to watch TV. His mother comes to see him in the center as the case is still pending in the court. His mother came to know about her missing child from news-paper reports. Shahid wants to be an artist. In the future after finishing his studies, he would do a job as an artist and wishes to take care of his mother and build a house for her.

False love leads to prostitution in India: Sunita from Nepal

Fifteen year old Sunita is a girl from the Brahmin caste. She has studied up to class 5, has a stepmother and one younger stepsister. Her father used to work as a conductor in Shajha Bus Company. After Sunita's father died, her stepmother withdrew her from school.

"My father used to love me, but my step-mother detests me. She does not want to send me to school. We have our own house and land, but sometimes we need to buy food grains.

I was working as a helper in the maternity hospital, where I met and fell in love with Bishal. We started dating and lived together in his apartment for weeks. Bishal used to live with his elder brother and sister-in-law.

Gradually Bishal introduced me to Rudre, Dinesh, and other men. Bishal introduced an old man as his uncle. Bishal said that we would all go to Darjeeling, to visit his sister to borrow necessary money to buy land in Katmandu. We stayed at Pashupati Nagar for two days. Bishal had asked me to say that we were married if the police made any inquiries. I was only 14 years old at that time. In Darjeeling, they put me in a dark room. I never saw Bishal again and I was told that I had been sold to a brothel for 90,000 rupees.

I started to work in the brothel after only one day. I had to work there from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. If I refused to work, I was brutally beaten. On average I had to serve about 20 clients per day. I worked here for months. The madam did not send Nepali customers to me. There were altogether 30 to 35 girls working in the same brothel.

Condoms were not often used and I became pregnant. The madam forced me to abort when I was 7 months pregnant and even then I still had to serve the customers. I had a lot of over-bleeding after the operation, but even under such conditions I was forced to entertain clients, because if I did not work, then I was not given food".

Rudre brought six girls into the brothel, during the time Sunita was there. Some were married and one a mother of an infant. Her friend Kabita asked one of her regular Indian clients to help her and with his help they were all rescued from the brothel.

Don't talk to strangers: Mei from China

When Mei was 13 she was trafficked to Henan Province. It was 1998 and Mei was with two of her classmates from the local junior middle school.

The young girls met two strangers who invited them on a day-trip. Mei and her friends agreed on the spot and left with the strangers, without telling their families or their school. During the long journey from Jiangcheng to Kunming and then from Kunming to Henan, the girls did not suspect anything was wrong. However, when they reached Henan they realised they had been abducted and were to be sold into marriage.

Even after they realised the girls were missing, none of their parents approached the authorities. In China, according to the Interpol website, there is no specific ordinance governing the reporting and handling of missing children cases. Missing children cases are dealt with by different units, depending on the degree of suspicion of criminal activities and background of individual cases. Furthermore, the police district where the child lives is also a factor in deciding which police unit is to deal with the case.

Mei's family is of Han nationality. The Han people constitute the largest ethnic group both in China, and in the world. Mei's father was educated to primary level, while her mother has never attended school. Two younger sisters are currently in school. The family's annual net income is 3,000 RMB (375 USD).

Mei was brought up in an enclosed environment, used to simple interpersonal relations. She was curious about the outside world but was extremely naïve and trusting, with little awareness of risks or of how to protect herself. Her parent's failure to report her missing to the police also made her more vulnerable. This apparent indifference should be seen in context: extreme hardship, fear and suspicion of authority, and a lack of awareness about the dangers faced by rural girls in cities.

Luckily, one of the girls managed to escape and reported what had happened to the local Public Security Department. Mei and the other school friends were then rescued and brought home by Jiangcheng County police officers.

For a long time after she returned home, Mei was haunted by the fear of being trafficked again. She often had crying fits, and eventually abandoned her studies. Two years after being abducted, Mei found a job at a hotel in the Jiangcheng county seat, where she earns 400 RMB a month (50 USD).

I have to meet my mother's goal" R.R. from Paraguay

R.R is 10 years old. On November 30, 2002, she was found by a merchant from Ciudad del Este on Adraina Jara y Pampliega street. It was approximately 9:00 p.m. when she was found in, what is perhaps, one of the most frequented corners of the center of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

She was very dirty. Dressed in pants and a pullover, and wearing Japanese-style slippers. When she was found, she had about 12 USD (80.000 Gs, Guaraníes) in her pockets, a product of her "sexual activity". It had been 48 hours since she had returned to her mother's home, but she feared returning as had not met "the goal" which had been established by her mother.

R.R.'s first contact was with Petrona Perez, of the Local Committee of the Prevention and Elimination of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation programme in Ciudad del Este, a group which has been formed by the ILO along the Paraguay-Brazil borders. Perez had been observing the small girl and had offered to return her to her family. R.R. used the opportunity to tell Perez that she would not return home as she was certain her mother would beat her.

On December 2, 2002, Petrona together with the young girl went to the Children and Adolescents Courthouse, to enter charges and to turn over the young girl to the authorities. The Judge referred the case to Municipal Ministry for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, who then turned over the custody of the girl to a provisional guardian who would provide protection and support, in accordance with the law.

At the Courthouse, the young girl told the judge that the money found in her pockets was the fruit of her "sexual work". She explained that, encouraged by her mother, she would leave her house in the morning and at times, according to the labour market, would cross the Puente de la Amistad (Friendship Bridge), arriving in the border city of Foz de Iguazu, Brazil on the pretext of buying candies to sell later. She admitted to having an "established clientele".

The mother of the girl was detained by the police and taken into custody at the Women's Prison in Ciudad del Este. Meanwhile, R.R. was taken into provisional custody by a next door neighbour.

Prior to the involvement of the courts in R.R.'s life, she lived with her mother, an employed widow of 40 year of age, together with 7 siblings. Her sibling include a 14 year old sister, who ran away with her boyfriend; Eduardo, a 13 year old drug addict; Tito, who at 15 years of age works in the streets cleaning windshields, and; the other ones who are still very young.

Young R.R. was the first beneficiary of the Center for the Prevention and Integral Attention to Boys, Girls and Adolescents of Sexual Commercial Exploitation in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, an action program executed by the Diocese of the Ciudad del Este, with the support of the ILO.

Today R.R. goes to school, receives psychological attention, health accompaniments and takes part in personal development workshops, taking positive steps towards improving her behaviour and outlook. She's been completely taken out of the commercial sexual exploitation situation and away from the influence of the adults, including her mother and step father, who used to transport her from her home to the center of Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and Foz do Iguazu to prostitute herself. Her family is also receiving assistance from the Center.