21 October 2010
UNICEF News (Port-Au-Prince) – UNICEF reports an influx of child trafficking from Haiti into the Dominican Republic caused by the poor economy and infrastructure caused by January’s earthquake in Haiti. UNICEF reports that child trafficking levels exceed the means of Haiti’s Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) in four border sites with the Dominican Republic. UNICEF plans to financially and administratively reinforce the Ministry of Social Affairs along with a training of BPM inspectors and guiding the development of trafficking laws. UNICEF found that traffickers obtain children with promises to parents of a better life for their children.
Source:
(Reliability: 9/10)
Comment: (Source Reliability: No issues of bias or inaccuracy apparent in the source. No reference is provided as to the extent of UN financial or administrative support will be provided to Haiti. This information may provide clues as to how pervasive the problem of child trafficking is in Haiti (subsequently providing a baseline for future comparison of UN effectiveness) or how badly damaged Haitian anti-trafficking infrastructure has been damaged.)
Comment: At present, Haitian families have been forced by the circumstances of the earthquake to find secure locations for their children. Many parents place children in the care of residential care facilities or placed in outside labor groups for family financial support. In many instances, children find themselves orphans as their parents died or been separated from the earthquake. Hospitals and orphanages attempt to care for these children yet the damage done to government infrastructure has caused traffickers to take advantage of these children. Consequently, traffickers have found ways to manipulate families and government officials into granting custody to traffickers via adoption or medical assistance.
Source for consideration:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1001820
Comment: (Source Reliability: No issues of bias or inaccuracy apparent in the source. No reference is provided as to the extent of UN financial or administrative support will be provided to Haiti. This information may provide clues as to how pervasive the problem of child trafficking is in Haiti (subsequently providing a baseline for future comparison of UN effectiveness) or how badly damaged Haitian anti-trafficking infrastructure has been damaged.)
Comment: At present, Haitian families have been forced by the circumstances of the earthquake to find secure locations for their children. Many parents place children in the care of residential care facilities or placed in outside labor groups for family financial support. In many instances, children find themselves orphans as their parents died or been separated from the earthquake. Hospitals and orphanages attempt to care for these children yet the damage done to government infrastructure has caused traffickers to take advantage of these children. Consequently, traffickers have found ways to manipulate families and government officials into granting custody to traffickers via adoption or medical assistance.
Source for consideration:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1001820
(New England Journal of Medicine)
Haiti's Prime Minister Discusses Child Trafficking Causes Post Earthquake (Source: CNN-January 27, 2010)
No comments:
Post a Comment