European Parliament resolution on child trafficking in Africa
Date: 2001-05-17
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Africa, UN convention, child labour, child protection, children's rights, slavery, trafficking in human beings

7.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 34 E/383

Thursday 17 May 2001

16. Forced labour by African children

B5-0359, 0365, 0372, 0379 and 0389/2001

European Parliament resolution on child trafficking in Africa

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) recalling its previous resolutions on child trafficking and on the trafficking of human beings,

(cid:129) having regard to ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour and to the UN Convention

on the Rights of the Child,

(cid:129) having regard to the meeting of the International Cocoa Association, which brings together 42 con-

sumer and producer countries, held in London to consider ways of resolving this problem,

A. whereas child trafficking is now a growing problem in parts of Africa, in particular in West Africa,
and whereas, according to Unicef, some 200 000 children are trafficked every year in West and Cen-
tral Africa,

B.

appalled that these children are for sale in West African countries as both domestic and commercial
labour and also for sexual exploitation,

C. whereas low world prices for cocoa and other commodities have contributed to the use of cheap child

labour,

D. whereas a Nigerian-registered ship (Etireno) carrying 43 children and adolescents returned to the port
of Cotonou on 16 April 2001 after being refused permission to dock in Gabon and Cameroon, and
whereas this boat had left the port of Cotonou at the end of March,

E. whereas it is not yet completely clear whether all the children on board the Etireno were victims of
child trafficking, although this seemed to be the case for at least 13 children found on the ship,

F. whereas poverty is the main cause of this phenomenon,

G. having regard to the primary responsibility of the governments of all countries concerned to imple-

ment fully the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,

H.

I.

concerned that some multinational companies indirectly use child labour to reduce the market price in
industrialised countries,

having regard to the share of responsibility borne by consumers from wealthy countries, who must
consider the conditions under which the products they consume are cultivated,

J. whereas long-term policies which provide third-world producers with a decent income are essential,

Calls on the states which have still not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the

1.
Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour to ratify and implement both as soon as possible;

2.
Urges the authorities of Benin to investigate this incident seriously so as to determine the real truth
concerning the Etireno and to take all appropriate measures to prevent acts of child trafficking in the
future; calls on all countries in West and Central Africa to combat more aggressively all forms of child
trafficking;

3.
Urges all countries to assume their full responsibility when ships carrying child slaves try to dock in
their harbours; urges the port security authorities of the countries involved to pay more attention to the
issue of human cargo;

C 34 E/384

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

7.2.2002

Thursday 17 May 2001

Calls for international arrest warrants to be issued against the organisers of and participants in these

4.
networks specialising in child trafficking;

5. Welcomes the initiative of Britain, Ghana and C(cid:244)te d(cid:146)Ivoire in setting up a task force to look into the
issue of forced labour in West African cocoa production; calls on all countries in West and Central Africa
to look into the issue of trafficking and maltreatment of children in order to step up the fight against such
practices;

Calls on the Council to help countries involved in child trafficking fight against this phenomenon

6.
and assist with the organisation of rehabilitation programmes for rescued or escaped child slaves;

Calls on the Council to support fully the (cid:145)Say Yes for Children(cid:146) campaign that strives to protect and

7.
improve the lives of children;

Calls on the Council to draw attention to this issue and to play a leading role in the preparation of

8.
and during the special session of the UN General Assembly on children to be held next September;

Issues an appeal to the United Nations Conference on LDCs in Brussels to take measures to combat

9.
child labour;

Calls on the Commission to put forward proposals designed to foster the rural development of

10.
African countries in such a way as to put an end to this phenomenon;

Calls for products to be labelled in such a way that those manufactured in an ethically sound

11.
manner can be quickly identified;

12.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, UNICEF, the co-
presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the OAU and in particular the authorities of Benin
and the governments of the countries of West and Central Africa.

17. Floods in France

B5-0382, 0383, 0390, 0391 and 0392/2001

European Parliament resolution on the floods in France

The European Parliament,

A. having regard to the severe climatic conditions and the torrential rain which has fallen in France, in
particular the Somme region, where the rainfall was three times the normal level between October
2000 and April 2001,

B. whereas dozens of communes were submerged and thousands of people evacuated,

C. having regard to the seriousness of the damage caused to infrastructure, crops and housing, currently

totalling hundreds of millions of euros,

D. whereas the damage directly affects families and their property, but also businesses (craftsmen, SMEs,

industries and farmers) and the countryside,

E.

concerned at the frequency of climatic disasters, which may be linked to the climate changes caused
by pollution,

1.

Expresses its feelings of solidarity with all the people affected;

2. Welcomes the show of solidarity and the efforts made to assist the victims of the floods, especially
on the part of the public authorities, politicians, public services, firemen, soldiers and volunteers;