Human Trafficking In Sudan: A Fustercluck of Conflict and Apathy

Every year, the U.S. State Department releases a Trafficking in Persons report which rates countries on their efforts to combat human trafficking.  Each week, I'll be providing a brief glance at human trafficking in one of those countries, based off the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, with my own (often snarky) analysis added.  This is just a snapshot of what's going on in the country.  For more information, you can check out the full text of the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report here.

This Week's Country ...  Sudan

Basic Info

The U.S. State Department ranks Sudan on Tier 3, meaning that the human trafficking prevention, protection, and prosecution there is about as stable and functional as the rest of their infrastructure. Of course, they would probably love to prevent the various armed factions from recruiting and abducting child soldiers, if for no other reason than to reduce the insurrectionists' ranks. The brutal combination of ongoing conflict, poverty, and a lack of rule of law and infrastructure has meant Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficking victims.

So does Sudan have the political and economic stability to truly tackle trafficking? Trafficking prevention efforts in Sudan are, to use my favorite euphemism, a bit of a fustercluck. The ongoing conflict makes it nearly impossible for the government to get a handle on human trafficking and the significant child soldier problem. Not that they've shown much serious effort.

Who Are the Victims and What Are They Doing?

The image of Sudanese children being lured or kidnapped from their homes to become child soldiers has become a cliche, but one steeped in a painful reality for many Sudanese families. Several different rebel factions use child soldiers in Sudan, as well as the Sudanese army and affiliated groups. Less-publicized but also a significant issue is the rampant use of Sudanese men, women, and children for forced labor within Sudan. This is especially true for women and girls, who are often forced into domestic servitude in private homes and sometimes used for sex there. Women and girls are also forced into commercial sex, and children are forced into begging on the streets.

Where Are They Coming From and Where Are They Going?

A significant portion of human trafficking in Sudan is internal, but it is also a source and destination country. Sudanese women and girls are trafficked to the Middle East and Europe for commercial sexual exploitation, where they can fetch a higher price. Children are also trafficked to the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia and Yemen, to beg. On the flip side, children from other African countries have been trafficked to Sudan -- girls usually as domestic servants and boys usually as soldiers.

What's Gotta Happen?

Sudan won't be able to seriously address human trafficking until they address the conflict, poverty, and displacement which seriously exacerbate the problem. They recently took a good first step by enacting anti-trafficking legislation, but have yet to really enforce it. They need to arrest people for forcing others into labor and make an effort to identify cases when that happens. They also need to demobilize all the child soldiers in the country and work to reunite them with their families or find them other shelter. And yes -- that means the child soldiers in the Sudanese Armed Forces and affiliated militias.

Photo credit: sidelife