UNICEF Urges Action Against Child Trafficking
On the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked around the world each year, says UNICEF. The organization urges for increased efforts on global and local levels to tackle the problem.
According to UNICEF, an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked every year to be used as domestic servants, factory workers, camel jockeys, child soldiers and sex slaves around the world.
Human trafficking generates an estimated $9.5 billion a year, attracting organized criminal gangs and leading to corruption on a global scale.
"The breakdown of the protective environment leaves children vulnerable to traffickers who exploit the desperation of families. The social factors which lead to this desperation need to be addressed in order to put a stop to this crime. It is also critical to tackle the demand side of human trafficking. Laws must be enforced against those who exploit children" the UN organization said.
In 2005, UNICEF and the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement to return children involved in camel racing, many of them victims of trafficking, back to their countries.
More than a thousand child camel jockeys -mostly from Bangladesh, Mauritania, Pakistan and Sudan- returned home and were reunited with their families.(EÜ)
New york - BÄ°A News Center
26 March 2007, Monday