The Corona pandemic had been a
bearer for bad times right from January 2020.This pandemic is responsible for
the global economic crisis which has caused the shunting of livelihood and
wages for many families.
Some are even forced to leave
their current settlements and to find new shelters for them and their family. This
period has also seen a surge caused in criminal activities mainly caused by
kingpins exploiting people's economic helplessness.
One such incident took place
last Wednesday in the southwestern part of the Ivory Coast. Also known by the
name of Cote d'Ivoire, the country is located on the southern coast of West
Africa.
The education scenario in the
country is not very promising, with the majority of the adult population
particularly women being illiterate. The major crime induced due to this
shortcoming is the human trafficking racquets that exploit the poor and
illiterate people around.
One such mission related to
human trafficking was being reported and with the quickness of the local police
authorities, the criminals were nabbed on time with a successful rescue of
underaged laborers.
The suspected human trafficking
gang was on the radar of the local authorities since May and June of this year
but the novel corona pandemic put a halt to the operation.
It's not the first time that
country has faced the reports of such an act, earlier in December 2019 an
operation formed with the focus to stop such heinous acts were planned and
activated which resulted in a successful rescue of more than 100 children from
the country.
The country is renowned for its
cocoa plantation and often faced a shortage of laborers to work on forcing the
young lads to be exploited for illegal cultivation and farm work.
The following mission was a success
with 11 children and 2 teenagers being freed from the clutches of the
traffickers.
The country had introduced
preventive measures against the novel coronavirus right from march 16,2020 with
restrictions being imposed resulting in the closing of schools and other
educational institutes and with the sealing of border.
Most of these measures were
lifted after observing a significant drop in the number of active cases.
Three farmers which were
arrested were charged with a judicial charge of forced labor, the details given
by the police state that children were found shelling the cocoa pods in a field
that was acquired by one of the arrested farmer with near approximately 20
adults.
The details stated by the
police commissioner indicated a delay caused in such operations due to the
pandemic.
The operation was launched in 2
major cocoa-producing cities with a clear intent to trace the farmers
associated with human trafficking.
Child labor poses one of the
major threats to the ivory coast which is termed as the world's top cocoa
producer during this time of the pandemic.
The report submitted in June
2020 by the Swiss-based international cocoa initiative brings out the shocking
numbers to the authorities.
Some of the charities working
towards this Nobel cause have indicated this figure to be over the one million
marks.
This means that there are more
than 1 million illegal workers who are currently forced to work on the cocoa
fields for a mere wage which not only is limited to physical exploitation but
also sexual exploitation.
The locals feared the
consequences that were to be faced by the local goons if they complained.
This is one of the major
reasons why many crimes went unreported. The graph of child trafficking shows
up a shooting increase in the past decade.
But the commissioner laka’s
recent interviews which state the opening of six more operational centers with
improved resources in the major cocoa-producing regions to tackle this
increasing problem of child trafficking and labor.
Zaka’s direct statement can be
well interpreted that traffickers are going to have a hard time, with the
police's efforts and deploying ability the huge area of cocoa production is
under good surveillance.
There’s also been an increase
in the local recruitments with formations of quick response teams trained to
tackle various situations including close combat fight and hand to hand fights,
these teams are backed up by the main headquarters who keep a check on every
step taken.
With this many charitable
trusts are coming forward to provide education and employment to the weakened
sections.
The country has also seen a
surge in the foreign investments which have resulted in the complete
utilization of its resources and formation of many small and large-scale
industries thus providing better employment opportunities for the locals.
We wish that police and charity
group's combined efforts will bore fruits and will result in the complete
eradication of this social evil.
Written by - Yash Bundela
Edited by – Adrija Saha
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