EXPLORATIONS - As Long as It Remains Profitable, Child Traff

EXPLORATIONS - As Long as It Remains¹ Profitable², Child Trafficking Will Continue
By Jill Moss³

Broadcast: Wednesday, June 22, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about child trafficking and efforts to stop this crime.

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VOICE ONE:

 
Children can be forced to become soldiers or forced into the sex trade
Child trafficking is the transportation of children for forced labor⁴ or sex or other illegal activities. It is internationally recognized as a crime. Political leaders and human rights activists⁵ everywhere condemn⁶ it. Yet, trafficking in children has become a huge industry affecting every part of the world.

The United Nations Children's Fund estimates as many as one million children are being trafficked every year. The exact number is hard to find, however, because trafficking is done in secret.

VOICE TWO:

 
Children can be forced to become soldiers or forced into the sex trade
Many VOA reporters around the world have written about this issue recently. In Washington, the State Department released its yearly report on human trafficking earlier this month. The report named fourteen countries for failing to take acceptable⁷ steps to fight the problem. They are Bolivia, Burma, Cambodia, Cuba, Ecuador, Jamaica and Kuwait. Also on the list are North Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Togo, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

These countries could face possible restrictions⁸ on American aid if they do not take action by the end of September. State Department officials say the goal of the report is not to punish governments. It is to get them to take action to put the traffickers in jail and free the victims.

VOICE ONE:

The State Department says the largest numbers of child trafficking victims are from Asia. Activists, non-governmental organizations, aid groups and world leaders recognize that child trafficking is a widespread problem. But fighting it has been difficult. Organized criminal groups and individual traffickers use many methods to get children.

UNICEF officials in the Philippines told VOA reporter Nancy-Amelia Collins that traffickers often trick parents into selling their children into forced sex or slavery. Children are taken from villages across the country with promises of high-paying jobs in and around the nation's capital, Manila. But once there, most girls end up in prostitution -- providing sex for money. Boys often end up working as slaves on farms and in fish markets.

VOICE TWO:

Cecilia Flores Oebande heads a private organization in the Philippines called the Visayan Forum⁹ Foundation. The group works with the Philippine government and the country's largest shipping¹⁰ company to help rescue trafficked children. Most victims come to Manila by boat. Visayan Forum has operations in four main ports in the capital. The group says it rescues between twenty and sixty children a week. However, officials believe thousands more are never found.

Miz Oebande said that child trafficking is the most profitable industry in the Philippines after the illegal drug and arms trade.

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VOICE ONE:

Thousands of children in Africa face similar problems. In Ethiopia, for example, officials estimate tens of thousands of poor children are trafficked each year.

Yitna Getachew heads the International Organization for Migration¹¹ in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. She told VOA reporter Alisha Ryu that Ethiopia is different from other countries. She says organized crime or criminal groups support child trafficking activities in many nations. But in Ethiopia, children are trafficked by individuals.

VOICE TWO:

Miz Getachew says people promise village children an education and a better life in a bigger city. The children are taken from their families and transported to Addis Ababa. But for some, the trip does not stop there.

Officials believe thousands of Ethiopian girls are sent out of the country each year to countries like Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Traffickers can earn as much as eight hundred dollars for each victim.

VOICE ONE:

The International Organization for Migration says most of the child trafficking takes place inside Ethiopia. Many boys are forced to work in Addis Ababa making clothing for more than ten hours a day. They are given little food. If they cannot perform their jobs, they are left to live on the streets. Young girls usually become slaves for families living in the capital. They are often beaten or sexually¹² attacked by the children of their employers.

The Ethiopian government has established a national committee to protect children and arrest traffickers. Non-governmental organizations in Addis Ababa have also joined local police to find young victims and reunite them with their families.

VOICE TWO:

West African nations are also dealing¹³ with the problem. Officials in Sierra Leone estimate more than one thousand five hundred children live on the streets of the capital, Freetown. The children's parents were killed in the civil war. Or the children left home because their families are too poor to care for them. These street children face the dangers of trafficking, prostitution and illegal drugs. In Ivory¹⁴ Coast, soldiers have been accused of sexually attacking girls working as prostitutes. And in Liberia, Eastern European girls have been brought to the country for foreigners who want European prostitutes. In these countries, some of the sex workers are girls as young as ten years old.

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VOICE ONE:

Boys are also victims of human trafficking. Each year, thousands of boys are taken from Pakistan and other poor Muslim countries in Asia and sent to the Middle East. There they are forced to race large animals called camels. They become camel jockeys. Human rights activists say the boys are treated like slaves. They are beaten, starved, often permanently¹⁵ injured and left to live on the streets.

Ansar Burney heads a human rights organization in Pakistan. He told VOA reporter Benjamin Sand that many boys in Pakistan are kidnapped from their parents and secretly transported out of the country. An estimated forty thousand child jockeys ride in camel races in countries like Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

VOICE TWO:

For years, international aid groups have urged Middle Eastern governments to end the use of children in camel races. Most Persian Gulf¹⁶ countries have laws banning child jockeys. However, activists say the rules are not followed at private race grounds. They say there is no real effort to charge violators under existing laws because many influential¹⁷, powerful people enjoy the sport. UNICEF estimates there are about four thousand child jockeys in the United Arab Emirates alone.

However, the United Arab Emirates has recently signed an agreement with the United Nations to take action against child traffickers. The government has promised to enforce an existing ban on children in camel races. It also has agreed to create two treatment centers for former child jockeys.

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VOICE ONE:

A new program aims to fight child trafficking in Russia. A non-governmental organization based in Switzerland started the program. The group is called Terre D'Homme. Natalia Chuard [pronounced chew-AHRD] is the head. The program is designed to stop the illegal flow of children into Russia from other former Soviet¹⁸ republics.

The program will start by helping¹⁹ one hundred children from Moldova who are working for criminal groups in Moscow. The children are forced to ask strangers for money on the streets of Moscow. Miz Chuard told VOA reporter Lisa McAdams that the program will send the children back to their country and guarantee that they will not become victims again.

VOICE TWO:

Efforts to stop child trafficking have grown as more people learn of the problem. The United Nations, World Trade Organization and private groups operate campaigns to fight this crime. Many people believe these campaigns are starting to have an effect.

The United States government says at least thirty-two countries now permit their citizens to be tried in court for traveling to other countries to have sex with children. Also, more than fifty international travel companies have signed a promise to urge travelers not to take part in such activities.

Still, human rights activists believe the problem will never be solved until buying and selling children is no longer profitable. Human trafficking is an estimated ten thousand million dollar a year industry. Activists argue that it is because people are making money that more pressure, more laws and more public education are needed.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

 

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

3 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

7 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

10 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

11 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

12 sexually   

adv.性别上地；按性别地；性欲地；两性之间地

参考例句：

• to be sexually promiscuous 性生活淫乱
• I was depressed,withdrawn and sexually frigid. 我郁郁寡欢，离群索居，没有什么性要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

14 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

15 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

16 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

17 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

18 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

19 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。