Kabir, thanks for your efforts. We all know that this is a problem in our country, yet, some come to tell us it does not exist or it is fabrication or conspiracy. This is a Gambian problem and all of us should be outraged and need to do something to stamp it out. This government will not recognize a problem even if it hit them on the head. Thus, I look to the citizens and NGOs to take charge of this fight. I hope we as a people are not going to do the usual, pretend like this form of child abuse does not exist in our midst. Chi Jaama Joe Sambou >From: Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Fw: Child sex tourists hunt for new grounds >Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 09:26:07 -0500 > >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 > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _________________________________________________________________ Find a broadband plan that fits. Great local deals on high-speed Internet access. https://broadband.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us/go/onm00200360ave/direct/01/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~