'Slave ship' was involved in child trafficking - UN
A ship at the centre of a frantic search in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea was involved in child trafficking, officials confirmed today.
Aid workers who interviewed the 43 children and young adults removed from the Nigerian-registered Etireno when it docked in Benin said those old enough to be aware of what was happening confirmed they were headed to Gabon to work.
Five children told authorities that a ‘‘financial transaction’’ had taken place before their departure, according to a joint statement issued by the Benin government, the UN children’s fund and the Terre des Hommes aid group. Eight said they were travelling with a person they did not know.
‘‘It is confirmed that the adventure of the Etireno ship enters effectively in the category of a regional traffic in minors,’’ the statement said.
It stopped short, however, of saying that the children were destined for slavery.
The Etireno grabbed world headlines when Benin’s government, citing officials in Cameroon, said a ship loaded with child slaves had been turned away from two African ports and was headed back to the commercial capital, Cotonou.
After days of searching, international officials were confounded when a ferry marked as the Etireno pulled into port April 17 with a load of exhausted and frightened men, women and children - not the 100 plus children they had expected.
Unicef believes some 200,000 children are trafficked across West and Central African borders every year.
