Many children, both boys and girls from Ghana, Mali, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso are tricked or abducted into working in the agricultural sector of the country. (CNN) Police on Wednesday rescued 11 children and two teenagers working on cocoa plantations in southwestern Ivory Coast and arrested three farmers on suspicion of people trafficking, … Ivory Coast has a grim record on child labour, with the United States Department of Labor warning that the country plays host to some of the most egregious child exploitation enterprises documented around the world. The country’s cities and farms provide ample opportunities for traffickers. He is a "chocolate slave," one of approximately 2.1 million West African children who engage in the dangerous and taxing work of harvesting cocoa. Please click to see BBC's story about C.R.E.E.R: Rescuing the Trafficked Children of Ivory Coast … Rescuing the trafficked children of Ivory Coast Almost every country in the world is affected by human trafficking. Authorities in the Ivory Coast have detained four and rescued 42 in a sting against an alleged human trafficking operation that saw children put to work at several mines and cocoa plantations in the West African country. Authorities in Ivory Coast have rescued 137 children from being trafficked. ATU had the mandate for child trafficking, UCT was responsible for transnational trafficking, and Brigade Mondaine covered sex trafficking; however, the units lacked coordination, and no unit had a clear responsibility for internal adult labor trafficking. The police operation took place during the transportation of the children -- said to be from the neighboring nation of Burkina Faso -- from the north of Ivory Coast to the southeastern town of Aboisso, according to an official. SOUBRE, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - Police in Ivory Coast have rescued 68 children working on cocoa farms, most of whom were trafficked from neighbouring Burkina Faso, authorities said. Articles 335 and 336 of the Ivoirian Criminal Code criminalized the pimping and exploitation of adults and children for the purpose of forced prostitution with penalties of one to five … Police surrounded the southeastern town of Aboisso for 48 hours last week and searched vehicles, cocoa plantations and nearby villages for children who […] In 2020, a single operation saw local police rescue more than 130 children from forced labour and sex work. Human trafficking, or forced labour and exploitation are common realities in the Ivory Coast. Now, I choose to boycott any chocolate supplier who refuses to certify their products as free of coercive labor practices, child labor, and human trafficking. Major chocolate companies, including Mars Inc. and Nestle SA, have committed to help eradicate the problem of child labor. Protecting and supporting trafficking victims is at the heart of IOM’s work, according to IOM National Project Officer Laurent Guittey. [2] Slavery Recently, investigators have discovered children trafficked into Western African cocoa farms and coerced to work without pay. Protecting and supporting trafficking victims is at the heart of IOM’s work, according to IOM National Project Officer Laurent Guittey. Very proud to have had messages from all over the world since early this morning when the BBC's Christian Parkinson's short documentary about the centre was released. Ivory Coast had earlier rejected claims contained in the draft report. Ivory Coast police have arrested three suspected child traffickers in the Soubre, the centre of its cocoa-growing region. Looming political instability in Ivory Coast has further worsened the plight of child labourers. Children are trafficked to Côte d’Ivoire for forced agricultural work. It claims on its website that many international confectionary companies — including, but not limited to, Nestle, Hershey and Cadbury — have acknowledged the existence of child labour in West Africa’s cocoa supply chain, but have failed to take effective steps to help remedy the situation. “Ivory Coast’s image is tarnished by child trafficking,” Aboisso’s deputy police chief Kouadio Yeboue Marcellin said. [9] As the chocolate industry has grown over the years, so has the demand for cheap cocoa. "To keep the child or sell it, we don't really know," the colonel says. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Ivory Coast police on Monday vowed to ramp up efforts to stop child trafficking after rescuing 137 children from forced labour and sex work in the first major operation in several years. Police checks during an operation to rescue children from child traffickers in Aboisso, Ivory Coast. IVORY Coast police have arrested three suspected child traffickers in the western town of Soubre, the centre of its cocoa-growing region, a police official said yesterday. Child victims of trafficking are exploited in the country’s agricultural, mining, fishing, and domestic service sectors. Ivory Coast welcomed the revised results and both countries reiterated their commitment to eradicating child labour in cocoa farming. The 2010 law remained the primary law used to prosecute child trafficking, and it criminalized child sex trafficking and labor trafficking with 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 5 million to 20 million FCFA ($8,790-$35,170). More than 48 children have been rescued and 22 people arrested following the first operational phase of Project AKOMA, targeting child trafficking and exploitation in Côte d’Ivoire. Children below the minimum working age of 16 often work in agriculture, mining, domestic work and sex work. A landmark court case has begun in the US against seven major chocolate companies on behalf of eight Malian young men who claim to have been victims of child trafficking, and forced to work on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast, writes Neill Barston. The swoop was carried out in a widely-publicized operation named Nawa 2. The three Burkinabe nationals were taken into custody at a roadblock on Thursday when their bus was stopped for routine controls, said police commissioner Luc Zaka, who heads a specialized unit dealing with child labour. Seven chocolate manufacturers named in Ivory Coast cocoa sector child labour lawsuit. There are an estimated 15,000 Malian youth ages 15 to 18 who are enslaved in the Cote d’Ivoire, lured by smugglers who promise the youth and their parents high wages and training. Ivory Coast's cocoa sector faces relentless struggle with child labour. Ivory Coast produces around two-fifths of the world's cocoa, with 60% of its revenue coming from exports of that crop. 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