Interpol Issues Strong Declaration Against Child Slave Labour
By Ruth Nabakwe
Paris, France
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
October 29, 2002
The world's senior police chiefs Thursday wound up Interpol's 71st general assembly in Yaoundé, Cameroon with a strong declaration issued on the plight of children who have been trafficked for the purpose of forced labour.
A statement from Interpol Thursday said the Interpol resolution was a strong reaction to the large numbers of children on all continents that were traded for work in agriculture, mining, domestic and other industries and exploited in organised begging groups or to provide services through any form of illegal or forced activity.
The four day general assembly which wound up Thursday took note of Interpol’s long standing commitment to combating crimes against children and encouraged member states to introduce and implement legislation to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.
The national Interpol offices were urged to increase the exchange of information on international criminal networks involved in all forms of trafficking in children for forced labour and services.
In a special resolution adopted by the general assembly Interpol’s 181 member states were asked to provide police protection and support to organizations conducting projects seeking to assist and protect children from sexual exploitation and all other harmful forms of child labour.
"There has been a great deal of public and police attention on the issue of migrants smuggling where the migrants are willing actors in this organized criminal activity, the resolution now adopted by Interpol's general assembly is a clear recognition by the international police community that we must also focus on the pernicious trade which exploits our children," Interpol’s Specialised Crimes director Stuart Cameron Waller told participants at the meeting.