Kabir,

Thank you very much for taking the time to translate this. Thanks also to all 
those who attempted to help with the translation.
Thissi very disturbing news indeed but not surprising. In the Western World, 
paedophilia and homosexuality have become rampant and the prosecution of those 
who practice paedophilia has intensified. It is not surprising that these 
people are heading for African countries where they can have free reign to 
exploit our children.
A caring government that wants to preserve our culture and protect our 
children and the morals of our socisty would take care that these things are not 
taking place.

I hope now that the possible damage to the tourism trade by having Gambia 
listed among the countries where child sex tourism thrives will spur the 
government to action. The problem being translated into dollars and cents may have an 
effect in bringing attention to this problem if that is the only way it will 
generate attention.

Jabou Joh

In a message dated 3/24/04 8:26:15 AM Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] 
writes:
> 
> Hi Jabou,
> 
> I just finished doing this translation about an hour ago and mailed it to
> the journalist who wrote it. She read through it and mailed back to say
> that she is quite happy with it.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Kabir.
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> 
> Child sex tourists hunt for new grounds
> 
> Child sex tourists hunt for new grounds where they can molest children
> with impunity. Thailand has become too dangerous. Gambia is the new target
> of paedophiles. Also Norwegian men who help poor families are suspected of
> abusing small girls in The Gambia.
> 
> Inger Anne Olsen
> Gambia
> 
> Risky work
> 
> Isa is 11 years and Sofie is 12. The two girls sell fruits and nuts at the
> tourist beach in Gambia. Their objective is to become friends with as many
> tourists as possible, get regular customers so as to get their bananas and
> peanuts sold.
> 
> Isa and Sofie say that almost all the tourists are nice. But some want to
> buy more than just fruits and nuts. Some want for example, to take
> pictures of the two – in a compromising situation.
> 
> “We let them do it, if they promise not to make postcards or such from the
> photos” says Sofie.
> 
> “Are there some who do things that you don’t like?”
> 
> “Most of them are quite nice. But some are nasty,” says the 12 year old.
> She then drags her friend with her along the beach.
> 
> According to the Gambian police it is the young fruit sellers who are most
> vulnerable to sexual abuse by Europeans on holidays. The Gambia does not
> have child prostitution as can be seen in other countries. But the country
> has many poor families. The U.N. reports that 69 percent of the population
> live under the poverty line.  During some hectic winter months, the
> country’s 1.5 million inhabitants are host to some 95 000 European charter
> tourists. They flock on some stretch of kilometres of sparkling sandy
> beach.
> 
> The fruit sellers – boys and girls in school going age – appear alone on
> the beach. For them a couple of two hundred Norwegian crones is a wealth
> and they stretch themselves long in order to secure money for the family.
> 
> According to the report “Gambia, the smiling coast,” written by The
> Gambian organisation Child Protection Alliance (CPA) and Dutch Terre des
> Hommes, many sexual abuses against children occur inside the family’s
> belly, so to speak. The report states that most of the abusers who are
> observed in The Gambia are European men over 45. They prefer girls between
> the ages of nine and sixteen.
> 
> It is in this report that an experienced child-protection worker (social
> worker) expresses her fear about what Norwegian men actually do in the
> country.  The social worker who works at the “Children’s center” told CPA
> about two families that receive economic assistance, each from Norwegian
> men. The men pay school fees for the children and are sexual partners with
> the mothers. But over time the behaviour of the children in the family has
> changed in such a way that the social worker has fears that the children
> are being abused sexually by the Norwegians.
> 
> Neither Kripos (Norwegian criminal police) nor The Gambian police have
> received any reports about the two Norwegians. But police sergeant Havard
> Aksnes of Kripos is not surprised:
> 
> “We know that paedophiles always move to places where the risk of being
> apprehended is minimal, where the price is lowest and access to children
> is best. Now it is away from Asia and over to Africa, Eastern Europe and
> South America” according to Aksnes.
> 
> For the mean time, the police in Europe know very little about what goes
> on in African countries.
> 
> “We stumble on child pornography pictures and films that are made in
> Africa but we don’t even know which countries they come from” says Aksnes.
> 
> He says the paedophiles use the same methods everywhere: They are men who
> come back to the country year after year, some as tourists, some under the
> guise of being aid workers, some as businessmen.
> 
> “For us to be able to do something about Norwegians abroad we are
> dependent on the country involved to also do something itself” says Aksnes.
> 
> Even though Norwegian Wing cut out Gambia as a charter resort in 1994,
> some Norwegians still travel to the small country. Many of them travel
> year after year and many eventually get Gambian friends and support poor
> families economically. Most of the tourists do not break the law. But it
> is in this tourists group that both Kripos and UNICEF are convinced one
> should search for abusers.
> 
> Already in 2001 UNICEF warned that Gambia is vulnerable to child sex
> tourism. In the report “The Situation of Children and Women in The Gambia”
> UNICEF warned specifically against paedophiles who exploit poor families
> and who offer to adapt or foster the families’ children.
> 
> John Staale Stamnes is Crime Intelligence Officer at Interpol’s general
> secretariat in Lyon. He is worried about what happens in poor countries as
> it becomes too dangerous for child abusers in the West:
> 
> “The focus that child abuse has had in the Western world has resulted in
> those committing child abuses travelling to poor countries in stead. If we
> don’t focus on this problem we will be guilty of adding weight to the
> already heavy burden of the children in these countries” says Stamnes.
> 
> He defied the Norwegian police to investigate abuses committed by
> Norwegians in the countries where the crime is committed. “Norwegian
> police must be willing to allocate resources and carry out good quality
> investigation under quite different conditions than we are used to at
> home” say John Staale Stamnes.
> 
> The sexual age limit in The Gambia is 16 years but in certain ethnic
> groups and some parts of the country it is not uncommon for a 13-year old
> girl to be married away to an adult husband. Therefore it does not
> necessarily cause uproar within the family if a tourist has a sexual
> relationship with a young girl as long as he also takes economic
> responsibility.
> 
> Gambian boys are not protected by any sexual age limit and homosexuality
> is forbidden. So if a 14 year old boy is abused by an adult man the boy
> can himself be prosecuted for homosexual behaviour. Up till now few cases
> of abuse of boys have been reported. But Jalamang Camara, head of CPA,
> tells ‘Aftenposten’ that he is worried about the lack of protection for
> boys.
> 
> When the UNICEF report came out in 2001 The Gambian authorities showed
> very little interest concerning child sex tourism.
> 
> In CPA’s report this is illustrated thus:
> 
> A Scandinavian man lived with a young girl. The girl’s mother got worried
> and contacted The Gambian Social Security Department. But the girl’s
> father was satisfied with the money the family was getting. The
> authorities tried to approach the case through an acquaintant of the
> family but nobody was willing to cooperate – and therefore nothing more
> happened.
> 
> “Nothing happened until it became understood that it will ruin The
> Gambia’s tourist industry if the country gets stamped as the new resort of
> child sex tourism. But now the authorities are taking this seriously” says
> Jalamang Camara. He heads the umbrella organisation Child Protection
> Alliance which organises both state and private bodies with a common goal:
> To prevent commercial and sexual exploitation of children.
> 
> Two years ago, The Gambian Social Security Department began registering
> visa application to Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Norway filed by
> children under 17 in order to prevent paedophiles ‘importing’ children
> into Europe, under cover of treating them to a holiday.
> 
> But it is unclear if this registration has had any effect. Presently, it
> is impossible to get a synopsis from The Gambian authorities on how many
> such applications that have been received. The Norwegian ambassador in The
> Ivory Coast, Egil Andhoey, also has The Gambia within his purview.  But
> Andhoey has no data on the number of Gambian children who have been taken
> on holidays to Norway.
> 
> “This is not a phenomenon we are preoccupied with but we will view with
> total scepticism, an application for a tourist visa filed by a minor who
> has been invited to Norway alone” says Andhoey.
> 
> Last winter The Gambian interior minister promised that the authorities
> will take on the problem and prevent child sex tourism from having a
> foothold in the country.
> 
> Even members of government have during the last months spoken out loudly
> against child sex tourism. The country’s vice president, Isatou Njie-
> Saidy, has read out a declaration on TV in which she condemns the
> practice. Also head of crime unit Abdou Njie has used the state TV channel
> to reach out with information.
> 
> And after many years with rumour that small girls were being abused at the
> small hotel, John’s, at Fajara, The Gambian police has now taken action
> against its British owner. He is charged with having taken pornographic
> pictures and videos and with having sexual intercourse with girl minors. A
> number of Scandinavian tourists have over the years lived at John’s, since
> Wing, for quite a while, used it as a relief alternative.
> 
> In October, the Dutch owner of another small Gambian hotel, Holland House,
> was arrested at home in The Netherlands and charged in a similar case.
> 
> “This is first and foremost about poverty,” say crime unit boss, Abdou
> Njie.
> 
> “Every single child that sell fruits alone on the beach or hangs around
> tourists, comes from a very poor family. Other families don’t allow their
> children to be alone in the tourist areas” according to Njie.
> 
> “Especially children who sell fruits on the beach – and the young boys
> who hang around there – are vulnerable. They have never in their lives
> owned 1000.00 dalasis (NOK 250.00). So a tourist comes along and gives
> them 2000.00 dalasis as a present! The children think that they have come
> into heaven, and they take the tourist home to meet the family and
> introduce him as a friend. Then the tourist has a unhindered access. In
> the few cases that we have had until now, it has been very difficult to
> get the girls to witness because they just cry. It is difficult for them
> to understand that we are on their side. Here, in this country girls are
> brought up to preserve their virginity for a husband. So therefore, this
> is a shame for them in many ways” says Abdou Njie.
> 
> Have has never had cases in which boys have been abused.
> 
> “It certainly happens with boys too. But gay sex is harder to prove. If
> the boy denies it there is nothing to see” says Njie.
> 
> 
> Places with increasing child sex tourism:
> Europe: Romania. Moldavia Ukraine, Russia, the Baltics
> 
> Africa: Gambia, Ghana, Senegal
> 
> America: The while of South America and Central America
> 
> Asia: Laos and Cambodia
> 
> And here it still exists:
> Sir Lanka Thailand Philippines, West coast of India
> 
> Source: Interpol and Kripos
> 
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