In West Africa, trafficking brings human suffering. But removing it can set off instability
Earlier this year, police in Niger broke up a complex trafficking and forced-labor ring involved in exploiting dozens of children and hundreds of Ghanaian workers. A catchall term for illicit movement of goods and people, “trafficking” evokes images of drugs, guns, kidnapping, abuse and even slavery — and is often associated with organized crime and human suffering.
Controlling the profits from this type of activity is one driver of violent conflict in many parts of Africa, including West Africa’s Sahel region. In northern Mali, for instance, competing militias battle to control routes used to traffic shipments of illegal drugs.
But my research suggests that ordinary people elsewhere in the Sahel region may experience trafficking quite differently.… Seguir leyendo »
