Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Gabu (Agenzia Fides) – Each year a minority of Koranic students, or talibés, put under the care of a religious leader, are at risk for abuse. In trying to find a solution to this serious problem, several agencies working for the protection of children organize reunions with their families, in the hope of returning them to their biological family. However, this be difficult as they have known little more than begging and beatings since their infancy. According to a recent report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), the vast majority of the estimated 50,000 talibés are from Senegal or from Bafata and Gabu 80km and 200km east of Bissau respectively. “Finding their families is difficult because many of the children leave when they are very young and they can only give the first name of the person who has raised them, or the name of their grandparents’,” said the head of the Bissau-Guinean NGO AMIC (L’Association des Amis de L’Enfant), based in Gabu, which has been working since 2004 to transport children back to Guinea-Bissau. Families in these mainly Peule Muslim areas, send their children through middlemen to attend Koranic schools in Tambacounda in western Senegal, east to Ziguinchor, or to cities in the north, including Thiès, Dakar, and St. Louis. However, often the religious leaders instead force the boys to raise money by begging, do not feed or clothe the boys, and regularly beat them. A 2007 report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Labour Organization and the World Bank, found most children begging in Dakar, including the talibés, were malnourished, often severely. According to Human Rights Watch many are regularly beaten, and poor health, worms and scabies are common. AMIC’s transition centre can house up to 40 children at a time, and 20 additional boys are expected soon. Since November 2005 the organisation has reunited 253 boys. Supported by the Swiss government, the International Organization for Migration, and the Geneva Institute for Human Rights, AMIC pledges to pay for each child’s secondary school education until completion. In the past, some boys found the transition too difficult and there were many runaways: 30 in 2006. Many of the families who send their children away live in poverty. Their villages may be miles from the nearest school or health center. There are few studies outlining what happens to talibés over the long-term, though some child protection experts say they become hawkers, selling telephone cards or second-hand products, on city streets. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 2/8/2010)
