Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Agenzia Fides) - On June 12 we celebrate the Day Against Child Labour, and for this occasion the Salesian Missions, in their campaign "No estoy en venta", have denounced over a million children worldwide who are victims of trafficking and more than nine million slaves. The missionaries claim that more than 300,000 children in West Africa and young girls are sold and end up in the ranks of the mafia, who in turn sell them to make them work as domestic servants, in the fields, in the mines, in the markets or to make them work as prostitutes. Despite countries like Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, have signed international conventions for the protection of minors, the States do not invest the necessary funds, and it is easier for criminal gangs to pay a child less than 50,00 EUR promising the family a better life, education and money. Among the main causes that aggravate the phenomenon, the Salesian missionaries claim poverty, the demand for cheap labor, conflicts, tradition or gender disparities. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 04/06/2013)
