CHILD trafficking is on the rise in Mali as a result of conflict and the Covid-19 pandemic which has closed schools with an estimated 6,000 children, mostly boys, working in eight gold mining sites, reported Reuters.
“As a result of conflict and socio-economic deterioration worsened by the pandemic, we are seeing some of the most egregious human rights violations in the Sahel,” UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR’s) Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, told Reuters.
“Children are being forced to fight by armed groups, trafficked, raped, sold, forced into sexual or domestic servitude, or married off,” she said in a statement, which said the victims were Malian, as well as refugees and migrants.
Some 24 children bound for the mines were rescued in June in the West African nation, one of the continent’s largest gold producers.
Millions of children were out of school for about six months due to the coronavirus pandemic in Mali, where security is worsening as militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have gained ground, making swathes of the country ungovernable.
In August, frustration over insecurity, corruption and economic hardship led to Mali’s second coup in eight years.
“COVID-19 has come to make an already challenging situation even more difficult for children,” said Amavi Akpamagbo, Mali country director for Save the Children, adding that similar trends could be seen across the Central Sahel region.
