SDGI Signs Declaration Against Child Abuse
Sustainable Development Group International - 26 Jun, 2010
June 28, 2010
Mr. Abdoulaye Wade
President of the Republic of Senegal
Dakar
Dear President Wade,
We, the undersigned 23 human rights and humanitarian organizations working in Senegal and the sub-region of West Africa, demand collectively that immediate and concerted measures be taken to protect the rights of tens of thousands of begging children who are exploited and mistreated in Senegal.
Many of our organizations have documented the manner in which these children – who are commonly called “talibés” and are under the control of imposters and some marabouts in centers of exploitation and in some daaras – are forced to beg on the streets for long hours and are beaten, often brutally, when they fail to return with the demanded daily quota. The boys, the vast majority of whom are less than 12 years old, have described to us how they were chained or bound and beaten until they had open wounds. The marks from these abuses are forever left on their flesh and their souls. The health workers among us have treated their injuries from beatings as well as the numerous illnesses they suffer resulting from lacking sanitation and food. The psychologists and mental health workers among us can attest to the psychological toll from being forced to beg. The regular exposure to the dangers of the street is the source of many other, hidden wounds. Though they often bring back significant sums of money, rice, and sugar to their teacher, the sanitary, physical, and psychological situation for many of these “talibé” children remains extremely precarious; these inhumane conditions are indeed a form of modern slavery.
This system of child exploitation is also a growth industry in Senegal – the number of begging children has significantly increased during the last decade in a number of cities where our organizations operate. The widespread abuse in these exploitative centers and some daaras, run by imposters claiming to be marabouts, has likewise contributed to the number of children permanently on the street, as more than one thousand young boys run away from their daaras each year without the ability to return home to their families...
To read the rest of the declaration and learn more about our work please follow this link to our project page. You may also download the letter via the links below.