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West
Africa Aid Workers Accused of Sex Scandal
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| Aid workers force
refugees to have sex with them in West Africa |
LONDON,
Feb. 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees has sent a team of investigators into refugee camps in west Africa
following the revelation that large numbers of children have been sexually
exploited by aid workers there.
The
scale of the problem - revealed in an overview of a report by the UNHCR in
conjunction with the British-based charity Save the Children - has surprised
relief personnel, BBC’s online news service reported.
The
unpublished report covers Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and is based on a
study of more than 1,500 people interviewed over six weeks last October and
November.
An
unspecified number of interviewees complained that they or their children had to
have sex in order to get food and favors.
Over
40 aid agencies - including the UNHCR itself - were implicated, and 67
individuals - mostly local staff - named by the children.
Some
under-age girls said United Nations peacekeepers in the West African region were
involved. Most of those who said they were abused were girls under the age of
18, but the mission said it had heard from some who were much younger.
The
report said that the practices were rife in locations with established programs,
including refugee camps in Guinea and Liberia.
It
cited lack of regulation and an absence of international staff as possible
contributing factors. But it said that poverty was the principle cause, with
parents feeling compelled to offer their children to aid workers for sex in
order to survive.
"They
want us to love to them so they can give us money," one refugee told the
BBC. Another said she was continually sent to the back of the queue for aid
because she had refused to have sex with one aid worker.
Sex
could buy items of food, as well as such things as loans and scholarships.
Condoms were said to be rarely used by the staff involved.
Save
the Children says it was determined to use the information obtained in the study
to put a stop to the practices. "The very people who are meant to be
providing services are the exploiters themselves," said Save the Children
Liberia country director Jane Gibril.
"We
are going to sit down and look at what we do and how we do it and try and do
things very differently... to ensure children do not have to sell sex for
services," she added. The charity has already sacked three employees.
The
UNHCR has drawn up a package of remedial measures, including increasing security
and the international presence in camps and the deployment of more female staff.
Other
steps include establishing a mechanism to give refugees a secure channel for
raising complaints with senior UNHCR staff.
"It's
a problem we know has been around for some time. There have been abuses in the
past. What this does is show, in very stark terms, in the words of children
themselves, the kinds of experiences they are being subjected to," Paul
Nolan, child protection manager for Save The Children, said in a telephone
interview in London.
"A
whole range of people in a position of authority and trust were abusing those
positions. All in return for sexual favors," Nolan added.
Most
of the alleged abusers were male national staff who targeted girls but Nolan
said some boys had also been exploited by the actions of women.
"The
kids are in a desperate situation. In order to survive, they have to make the
choice between going without food or selling themselves, the only currency they
have left to them," he said.
Some
of the consequences were early pregnancy, teen-age motherhood, and high-risk
behavior that exposes children to sexually transmitted disease, like HIV.
Nolan
said the UNHCR and Save The Children were withholding the names of agencies
allegedly involved until the investigation is complete, but added: "It's a
problem that cuts across the whole of the sector."
The
report, which said the problem was worst in places that had well-established aid
programs, said the allegations made by children could not be independently
verified.
"Nevertheless,
the number of allegations leaves no doubt that there is a serious problem of
sexual exploitation," the two organizations announced.
Ron
Redmond, UNHCR spokesman, said the findings had been released before the report
was complete "because of the disturbing nature of these allegations,
because of the apparent scope of the problem, and because of the need for an
immediate and coordinated approach to implement measures by a wide range of
agencies and organizations."
Redmond
said the UNHCR was planning to introduce measures to combat child abuse,
including more international workers at camps and increased privacy for women
and girls.
A
complaint mechanism would be established to allow refugees to raise problems
with senior UNHCR officials, Redmond said. "What is happening is the
refugees have told the team there that they don't have anyone they can complain
to," he said.
Hundreds
of thousands of people have been displaced over more than a decade of violence
in that region of Africa. Liberia was destroyed by a 1989-96 civil war, while
Sierra Leone's decade-long conflict was officially declared over last month.
Guinea
for years was spared the violence that convulsed its two neighbors, whose
citizens it welcomed by the hundreds of thousands. But the country's reputation
as a haven was shattered two years ago when fighting broke out along its borders
with Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The
clashes sparked an exodus of refugees, who decided to take their chances back
home. While clashes have subsided in Guinea, a recent upsurge of fighting in
Liberia has sent tens of thousands of civilians on the move again.
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