Children or Currency
by Brianna McDaid
November 2008
The hot summer months of June and July role around but only once a year. Ones first thoughts may be where to vacation this summer? Where can I go to bake in the sun, listen to my music and sip lemonade? One of the most popular vacation spots is the Caribbean. It has everything, beautiful clear water, a warm island breeze, and one of the worlds most poverished areas only a couple miles away, Haiti. Remaining one of the least developed nations in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. It has a per capita income of les than $500 per year and its unemployment rate is skyrocketing to nearly 40%. With eyes closed so tight, no body recognizes the awful things that happen in this country. One of the most disturbing things happening in Haiti is child slave labor and child trafficking. Although Haiti is only miles from American soil, it has some of the highest human trafficking rates and child slave labor rates due to poor economy and lack of government.
Haiti is located in the Caribbean, western one-third of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the Dominican Republic. It is in between 5 major mountain ranges, taking up about 75% of the land. It is not an isolated country; many popular American tourist areas in fact surround it. However, it is given very little attention. Only a select few people recognize the crime, poverty, and violence going on in this abandoned country, yet do very little to prevent it.
The Haitian government has not been a strong one. It has been in transition of widespread violence and political instability. Since 2006 the country has gone through three rounds of national and local elections. “The UN stabilization Mission in Haiti currently has more then 6,500 troops and 1,600 UN police on the ground to reduce gang violence and kidnapping”. This quote shows the plague of violence that Haiti has been hit with and how the government can’t seem to do anything about it. Since Haiti lacks in such important things as government institutions and well-trained and equipped national police forces, it has been unable to address its significant human trafficking challenges. Human Trafficking has become such an extraordinary problem. It serves as commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. However, until a stable government is established, it cannot be meaningfully addressed.
According to the online encyclopedia, human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage) and servitude. The total annual revenue for trafficking in persons is estimated to be between $5 billion and $9 billion.” This definition is exactly what is going on in Haiti.
“The majority of trafficking in Haiti stems from poor rural families giving custody of their children to more affluent families, in hope that they will receive an education and economic opportunities. The practice of trafficking such children is widespread and often involves sexual exploitation, physical abuse, and youths being subjected to involuntary domestic servitude, a severe form of trafficking in persons”.
An ABC news reporter went undercover to reveal a disturbing story about child slave labor in Haiti. He named his journey “How to Buy a Child in 10 Hours”. Through his story many facts are learned about human trafficking and how it is done. Dan Harris was the undercover reporter. He wrote this article on July 8th 2008. Harris Arrived in Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti. Port-au-Prince is warned by the U.S State Department as a very unsafe place. When Harris arrived he had to be assisted by two armed Haitian men in SUVs. By 4:45 p.m. he arrived at one of the cities few upscale hotels. He arranged a meeting with a man whom he had arranged to buy a child from. In order to properly document his conversation with the Trafficker, he had hidden cameras, one on his bike strap and one of the tables. Harris confronted the man and told him he wanted to buy a child that was 10 or 11 and would help take care of him. The Trafficker responded, “ I could get you one that’s 10 or 11, however a 15 year old might be more “developed””. This images in Harris’s mind disgusted him, but for the sake of receiving more information he played along. When it came time to discuss price, the Trafficker offered Harris $300. Testing the value of human life, he bargained till it was down to $150. Harris couldn’t believe that he had just bought a young girl whose life was valued at a lousy $150. In Haiti, human traffickers treat children as currency. The children don’t have a voice, an opinion or a value over $150.
One of the most alarming parts of Harris’ story was that the trafficker told him he that he could give him fake papers that would allow the girl to come into the U.S. This is so alarming because he is breaking the law. Illegal immigration can result in jail. Dan Harris illustrates how easy it is to buy a child in Haiti. Harris was able to buy a child and find out the disturbing truth about child trafficking in less then 10 hours.
Some parents give their children away in hope for a better life for them. They do receive money in return, however they also have faith in their heart that a more affluent family can give their child a better life. While in Haiti, Dan Harris found out about the life of another unfortunate girl. Her name was Onise. By talking to her he found out how empty and scared she was inside. She was only 8 years old and had a permanent sense of fear in her eyes. She missed her family and had scars on her arms from where she was beaten. Her hopes and dreams were to go to school, receive an education and learn how to drive a car.
“Her owners promised her parents they would pay for Onsie’s education.
But every day, when the other children in the tiny, one-room hovel where the
owners live head off to school, Onsie stays behind to do homework and run errands”.
“Restaveks” is the name given to the trafficked children. It is Creole meaning “stay-with.” However the trafficked children do much more than just stay with the families. The children are often forced to do work from the minute they wake up to the minute they are allowed to go to sleep. Usually these children are underfed, beaten, and sexually abused.
Another child that Harris spoke to was Ti Souer. She came from a family that lives in the country, however she is forced to do labor in the city all day. Her parents gave her away because her stepfather forced her mother too. They were not financially stable enough to support her so they sold her. Once again, a child was being treated like currency. Ti Soer can’t have friends over, never sees her family and gets whipped with an electric wire. Although all these bad things happen to her, Ti Souer has hope. She will never give up her dreams and hopes one day to get out of slave labor.
Although the government is weak, the officials in Haiti realize Human Trafficking is a problem. They are doing things such as making an effort to pass comprehensive legislation to define and criminalize all forms of trafficking. A social welfare agency that the Haitian government has been working with is NGOs. This should help improve their ability to identify, refer and provide services to restaveks and other Haitian children.
Haiti isn’t the only country that has a human trafficking problem. It is a worldwide issue. Many organizations have been created to try to prevent it. The United States has tried to fight against child slave labor and trafficking by passing the Prosecutorial Remedies and other Tools to end the Exploitation of children today (PROTECT) Act and the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Reauthorization Act. If anybody is caught violating these acts, it can result in maximum 30 years in prison.
It is obvious that human trafficking is a rapidly growing problem, especially in the island of Haiti. Many lives are being taken and no one will speak up for them. These children have no voice. As the result of a lack of government and poor economy, child slave labor and child trafficking are unforgiving actions that continue each and every day.
Sources Used:
www.childrenandthelawblog.com.
www.abcnews.go.com
www.haiti.usembassy.gov
www.atlapedia.com
www..hartford-hwp.com