GarciaandWestmoreland1

MariaGarciaandGracenWestmoreland
Ms.Agar
EnglishIIHonors
22March2016
Childrensnatchedfromtheiryards
Achildisplayingoutsideonaseeminglynormalday,suddenlythechildisrippedfrom
theirhomebystrangers,takenfaraway,forcedintosextraffickingandisneverseenagain.
Everydaychildrenarebeingtakenintoforcedlabor,sextrafficking,orhavingtheirorganstaken
outandsoldontheblackmarket.ThisisagrowingprobleminAfrica,andintwocountriesitis
continuingtobecomeabiggerproblem.InMalawiandBurundi,humantraffickingisshowing
upmoreandmoreoften.Withouttheproperfundingandresourcesthesetwocountriesdont
haveanefficientwaytofightit.
Childrenarethemaintargets,foravarietyofdifferentreasons.Accordingtothisarticle,
themainreasonchildrenaretargetedisbecausetheyareusedinmanydifferentways,In
Burunditheyaretraffickedforthepurposeofchildsoldiering,domesticservitude,and
commercialsexualexploitation(BurundiTrafficking).Childrenareeasierforthecriminalsto
takebecausetheyaremuchsmallerandmorenaivethanadults.Themajorityofchildrentaken
areyoungsotheycanbeeasilytaughtsomethingnew.Childrenareinmoredangerthanmost
peopleofbeingtakenbecauseofhowsmallandnaivetheyare.HenryManghostatesthatmany
girlswhoaretakenendupworkinginbarsandareforcedintoprostitution
Exploitedgirlsand
womenbecomebargirlsatlocalbarsandresthouses(HenryMhango).Theseareonlyyoung
childrenwhoareendingupinbarscenes,andtheirchildhoodsarebeingstrippedawayright

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beforetheireyes.Thisarticlestatesthattheyareisolatedandliveveryfearfullives,
Theyare
isolatedfromhelpandarefearful,indebt,ondrugs,threatenedwithviolenceandsubmissively
surrendertheirpassportoridentitydocuments(Trafficking,Malawi).Theynolongerhave
anyonethereforthem,theyhavetogrowuprightthenandultimatelyjusttrytosurvive.The
thingsthesetraffickedchildrenhavetoexperienceareterrible,andinBurundiandMalawithere
arentthepropergovernmentsorlawstostopit.
Thegovernmentdoeshavelawsinplacetotryandpreventhumantrafficking,butthey
arepoorlyenforced.Thecountrieshavemademoreeffortsrecently,butmostareinvain.This
articlestatesoneoftheirlawswhichhelpstoshowtheproblemsinthesecountries,Therevised
criminalcode,prescribesnoexplicitpenaltiesforforcedlabor,andpenaltiesofuptofivetoten
yearsimprisonmentforkidnaping(BurundiTrafficking).Thisestablisheshoweasyitisfor
criminalstogetawaywithkidnappingforthepurposeofforcedlabororsextrafficking.They
caneasilytakechildrenandforcethemintolaborwithlittletonopunishmentifcaught.This
articlestatesthatalthoughMalawihaslawstheydonothaveenoughtocomplywithminimum
standardstostophumantraffickingThegovernmentofMalawidoesnotfullycomplywiththe
minimumstandardsfortheeliminationoftrafficking(Malawi).Theyhavelawsandaremaking
aneffortbutarenotdoingasmuchastheycouldbe.Inburunditheyhaveaconstitutionthat
doesmentionhumantraffickinginitArticle241oftheBurundianConstitutionprohibits
slaveryanditscriminalcodeoutlawsforcedlaborandkidnapping(BurundiTrafficking).
Althoughtheydohavelawsinplacetheyarenteffective.InbothMalawiandBurundithereare
groupsandorganizationsthatworktoputanendtoHumanTrafficking.

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Sincethelawsdonotworkaswellasintendedtherearegroupsinplacethattryto
preventhumantrafficking.Inthisarticleitstatesthatthegovernmentdoesnothelporencourage
victimstogethelpThegovernmentdidnotencouragevictimstoparticipateininvestigationsor
prosecutionsofoffenders(BurundiTrafficking).Thiscontributestotheproblembecausethe
offendersgetawaywiththeircrimes,andthegovernmentdoesnothelpthevictimsso
organizationsmuststepin.Accordingtothisarticleorganizationshelpthewiththebasicneeds
ofthevictimsTheseunitsprovidedlimitedcounseling,andtemporaryshelter(Malawi
trafficking).Althoughthereareunitstohelpthevictims,theirsuppliesareverylimited.Notonly
dothevictimshavetogothroughhorrifyingexperiences,butwhentheydogethelp,the
resourcestheyhaveareincrediblylimited.Insomecasestheymaynevergethelpatall.
Accordingtothisarticle,themainthingthegovernmentdidwasprovidetrainingtotheirofficers
Thegovernmentprovidedbasiccountertraffickingtrainingtoallimmigrationofficerand
police(MalawiTrafficking).Providingtrainingtosomeoftheirofficer'sdoeshelpbutitis
currentlyasmallsolutiontoabigproblem.Theorganizationsandtraininghelps,butwithout
properfundingitisonlyatemporarysolution.
MalawiandBurundiandareboththirdworldcountrieswhoarestillincriticalpointsof
theirdevelopment.Theirpeoplearelivinginpoverty,soputtingmoneytowardspreventionis
notatoppriority.AccordingtoanarticleonMalawi,theyrelyonforeigncountriesforfinancial
supportMalawicontinuestodependheavilyonforeigndonorsandNGOstofundandoperate
theirantitraffickingprograms(MalawiTrafficking).MalawiandBurundiareseriously
strugglingfinancially.Thismakesitmucheasierforpeopletocommitcrimessuchashuman
trafficking.Inthisarticleitstatesthatpovertyandeconomicstrugglesareabigcausetocrime,

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Humanrightsviolationsareoftencommittedduetopoverty,vulnerability,lackofeconomic
opportunities,anddomesticviolence(MalawiTrafficking).Thisprovesthatwithoutastable
economyMalawiandBurundiwillcontinuetostrugglewithhumantrafficking.
Africaisfullofcountriesthatarestrugglingeconomically,alongwithhavingunstable
governments.MalawiandBurundiareamongtheworstofthesecountries.Withabig
population,pooreconomy,andunstablegovernmentthesetwocountrieswillcontinueto
struggle,andchildrenwillcontinuetobetrafficked.Withoutproperfundingtheeffortstoputan
endtohumantraffickingwillbeinvain.

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WorksCited
"Burundi(Tier2WatchList)."
TraffickinginPersons
.Washington,DC:U.S.Departmentof
State,2009.93+.
StudentEdition
.Web.4Mar.2016.

"HumanTraffickinginMalawi."
http://iwamlilongwe.org/
.Mar.2013.Web.8Mar.2016.

"Malawi(Tier2)."
TraffickinginPersons
.Washington,DC:U.S.DepartmentofState,2005.
149+.
StudentEdition
.Web.4Mar.2016.

Mhango,Henry."MalawiChildrenFallingVictimToSex
Traffickers."
http://www.theguardian.com/
.16July2012.Web.8Mar.2016.<

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