World Map Proportionate to Child Labor
Take a Look
Just by looking at the map it is evident that child labor is a massive problem in Africa. Of the ten territories with the highest proportions of child laborers, nine of them are in Africa. But why? It is theorized that poverty leads to children having to go to work to help support families. However, because these children are working at such a young age they are not getting a proper education. Without a proper education, chances of being able to sustain financial stability as an adult are greatly slimmed. Poverty is the key reason why children in Africa are working, however not all of them work by choice. Many are taken from their families and forced to work for profit or convenience of others.
Military Raids
Some children are kidnapped from their homes and then are forced to do work without pay. These children are taken during military raids through villages that are located in war zones. It may take years before the children are even reunited with their families and even then some do not even recognize their siblings. For example, there was a Dinka girl who was taken at the age of six and was brought to Sudan. There she was forced to herd animals and do housework often without food, let alone pay. While she was there, she was beaten, branded, and even given a different name. Her brother had eventually tracked her down, but she did not recognize him. Even then, it took two years to finally be released from her “master”.
In times such as these, people should be able to look to their governments to seek refuge. But in places like Sudan, the government is responsible for these actions. The government orders the military to go through these villages and it is the military that steals these children from their parents. These country’s governments are guilty of abuse against children. The country’s authorities turn a blind eye to the abuse and kidnapping of their own children.
Clean-up Camps
In the early 90’s, Sudan’s government ordered a “clean-up” of the streets. Their mission was to sort of “clean” the streets of the children who had been misplaced by the war. These children would be taken to closed camps where they were given no due process. The problem with this “cleaning” process was the screening of the children that were picked up. The authorities did not care what children they picked up, nor did they believe them if they claimed they had families in the area. Many of the children they sent to the camps were never actually displaced. One child was picked up on his way to the market, but was too scared to tell them anything. Even when parents try to get their children back and contest their capture, the camps refuse to let the courts interfere.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch has been trying to help the situation in Sudan by calling on the government to follow through with several actions meant to adjust the way things are run. They want Sudan’s government to enforce the family reunification program, which would reunite all of the taken children with their families. On top of this, the government should stop kidnapping random children on the streets and forcing them to attend this closed-off camps where they are not granted any rights whatsoever. Most of all, punish those who are responsible for the ill-treatment of children.
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