ET

Monday 16 April 2001

250 slave children could have been dumped in sea By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg

FEARS were growing last night that up to 250 child slaves could have been dumped overboard from a ship off west Africa.

The Nigerian registered Etireno had been due to dock in Cotonou, the main port of Benin, but it was thought that the crew might have heard of the authorities' plans to seize it. The whereabouts of the ship, described as a "rusting hulk" with almost no amenities, were unknown. Smuggling of illegal immigrants, including children, is big business in the region and there have been several incidents of passengers being dumped in the sea.

The children are transported to work as slaves in plantations, mainly in Gabon and the Ivory Coast, where they fetch as little as £200. Esther Guluma, the Benin representative of the United Nations' Children's Fund said: "I don't want to think about them being dumped. I hope the ship has slipped into one of the many small ports of Nigeria."

Without a navy or coastguard patrols, the Benin government was unable to track the ship, last seen when it docked in Cameroon four days ago. There is no international naval presence in the area capable of tracking it. The Royal Navy kept a ship on the west African station until the 1990s, but it was withdrawn under defence cuts.

The children are believed to have been on board the Etireno for more than two weeks as it made its way on a 1,200-mile zig-zag course between ports in west Africa. When it docked in Cameroon police searched the vessel, found the children - some as young as 10 - and refused the crew permission to unload them. They alerted the Benin authorities that it was heading their way.

Unicef and the Benin authorities prepared two medical teams to provide emergency care for the children, but late last night they were still waiting. Gaston Zossou, the information minister, said: "This is a dramatic and shocking situation. We condemn this practice and we must take measures to punish those responsible."

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001

Answers

Let's see...the Cameroon folks saw the kids, assumed they were bound for the slave trade and told the smugglers they couldn't unload them and sent them on their way.

Why didn't they take the kids and arrest the smugglers????

Am I missing something?

-- Anonymous, April 15, 2001