Use of trafficked children as suicide bombers - on the rise:

Use of trafficked children as suicide bombers - on the rise:

                         Use of children as suicide bombers on the rise, an article published in THE HINDU, on 27-6-11 in Hyderabad addition which is heights of pitilessness of human acts. Further the article mentions, “an eight year old Afghan girl was killed when a bomb of explosives given to her by Taliban insurgents exploded as she approached a police outpost in Southern Afghanistan said the government.”

It is a pathetic reality and shocking to note the new and innovative ways of human beings develop to abuse, torture and destroy each other.  It was naïveté that the industry of suicide bombers would not follow the rules of supply and demand that guide all other industries of trafficked persons.  But it obviously does.  And now it has the sad duty of adding a new variation of human trafficking to the long and growing list.

The use of children in war is unfortunately, not new.  Child soldiers are being used right now, in conflicts around the world.  But trafficking children to be suicide bombers feels especially evil for some reason.  Perhaps it's because, theoretically (if not practically), a child soldier would have a sliver of hope of survival, whereas a child suicide bomber is doomed.  Perhaps it's because the children being used in are so young. But most people do not understand what would push someone so young to take their own life.

It is becoming grotesques new industry of children in age group of 12 to 16 years is who are used as suicide bombers. There are more human slaves in the world today than ever before in history. There is a growing pattern of trafficking in child suicide bombers. Although human trafficking is often a hidden crime and accurate statistics are difficult to obtain, researchers estimate that more than 80% of trafficking victims are female. Over 50% of human trafficking victims are children.

1.  There are an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children around the world who are victims of human trafficking.
2. According to a 2009 Washington Times article, the Taliban buys children as young as seven years old to act as suicide bombers. The price for child suicide bombers is between $7,000-$14,000.
3.  UNICEF estimates that 300,000 children younger than 18 are currently trafficked to serve in armed conflicts worldwide.
4. The FBI estimates that over 100,000 children and young women are trafficked in America today. They range in age from nine to 19, with the average being age 11. Many victims are not just runaways or abandoned, but are from “good” families who are coerced by cleaver traffickers.
5.  About 100 would-be child suicide attackers are currently in our custody,” Lutfullah Mashal, an NDS spokesman, told IRIN, adding that the children had been trained by the Taliban, Hezbe Islami and the Haqqani Group - the three main insurgent groups which are also accused by the of using children for military purposes, including suicide missions.
6.  About 140 suicide attacks were carried out in 2010 in Afghanistan resulting in at least 228 civilian deaths,
7.  “We have evidence that the Taliban have been recruiting children aged 11-17 to carry out a range of activities - from armed combat to smuggling of weapons across the Pakistan-Afghan border and planting IEDs [improvised explosive devices],” said Dee Brillenburg Wurth, a child rights adviser with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
8.  “Non-state militant groups kidnap children or coerce parents with fraudulent promises into giving away children as young as 12 to spy, fight, or die as suicide bombers in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” the ‘Trafficking in Persons’ report said.
9. Experts say that child suicide in Pakistan is “very rare”; however, data compiled by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) reveals a drastic step-up in attempted suicides with the number going from 42 in 2009 to 80 in 2010.
10. Child trafficking is lucrative and linked with criminal activity and corruption. It is often hidden and hard to address. Trafficking always violates the child’s right to grow up in a family environment. In addition, children who have been trafficked face a range of dangers, including violence and sexual abuse. Trafficked children are even arrested and detained as illegal aliens. And using the trafficked children as suicide bombers is nightmare and symbol of cruelty in human life.

Neer Interactives, a software mission oriented organization is working for the downtrodden with the serious commitment on the subject Human Trafficking, with a project entitled as TAPAS – Trafficking Analysis and Prevention Aiding System, to work on the causes and reasons of this malady-  under the special guidance of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Women development & children welfare department and other International , National Non- Governmental Organizations and Community teams.

For further information, pls visit http:/tapasantitrafficiking.blogspot.com

OTHER References:

1.    An article published in Hindu, on 27-6-11 in Hyderabad addition.

2.    Aliban Buys Children To Be Suicide Bombers, by Amanda Kloer-July-02, 2009.

3.      Aronowitz, Alexis A. 2009. Human Trafficking, Human Misery: The Global Trade in Human Beings.Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group.

4.      Destefano, Anthony M. 2007. The War on Human Trafficking. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

5.      “Hawaii Home to Largest Human Trafficking Case in U.S. History.” ABC News. September 2, 2010. Accessed: December 26, 2010.

6.       “Human Trafficking.” Unglobalcompact.org. Accessed: December 26, 2010.

7.      “International Human Trafficking.” FBI. November 23, 2009. Accessed: December 23, 2010.

8.       Keehn Anne.  “Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance Video About . . . Sex Slavery?” FTSBlog.net. September 13, 2010. Accessed: December 26, 2010.

9.       “Kosovo U.N. Troops ‘Fuel Sex Trade.’” BBC News. May 6, 2004. Accessed: December 20, 2010.

10.   Liebelson, Dana. “Nine out of Ten Women Escaping North Korea Are Trafficked.” Human Trafficking Change. October 29, 2010. Accessed: December 26, 2010.

11.  Malarek, Victor. 2003. The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade. New York, NY: Arcadia Publishers.

12.   “Millions Suffer in Sex Slavery.” NewsMax. April 24, 2001. Accessed: December 26, 2010.

13.  Shelley, Louise. 2010. Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

14.   Skinner, E. Benjamin. 2008. A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery. New York, NY: Free Press.

15.  “Slaves Auctioned by Traffickers.” BBC News. June 4, 2006. Accessed: December 28, 2010.

16. “Taliban Buying Children for Suicide Bombers.” The Washington Times. July 2, 2009

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