U.S. Department of State 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report - Cameroon

Cameroon (Tier 2 )

Cameroon is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for labor and sexual exploitation. The majority of child victims are trafficked within the country, although some are also trafficked from Cameroon to Nigeria, Gabon, and the Central African Republic and to Cameroon from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Benin, and Niger. Children are trafficked for domestic servitude and street vending; as forced laborers on tea, cocoa, banana, and rubber plantations; for forced work in spare-parts shops; and for commercial sexual exploitation. A smaller number of women and girls are trafficked to Equatorial Guinea and Europe for sexual exploitation, often lured away by fraudulent marriage proposals.

The Government of Cameroon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. To strengthen its response to trafficking, the government should educate law enforcement officials and the public about its new anti-trafficking law and increase efforts to prevent trafficking.

Prosecution

The Government of Cameroon demonstrated increased progress in combating trafficking through law enforcement means over the past year. In December 2005, the government enacted a statute prohibiting child trafficking. The government expects to present a draft law against adult trafficking to the National Assembly in 2006. The government has also begun drafting a Child Protection Code and is finalizing a Family Code that will increase the minimum marriage age for girls to 18. Authorities arrested 12 traffickers during the year. Eight are awaiting trial, including one who is in police custody. One trafficker was deported to the U.S. where she was convicted for a trafficking offense. The General Delegate for National Security in December 2005 signed an order creating an anti-trafficking vice squad within the National Office of Interpol. The government does not provide specialized anti-trafficking training to law enforcement officials.

Protection

The Government of Cameroon demonstrated significant efforts to protect trafficking victims over the reporting period. The Ministry of Social Affairs continued operating temporary shelters in all 10 provincial capitals of the country that provided repatriated child victims with care while officials located their families. The government also referred victims to local NGOs and orphanages for assistance. In 2005, the government collaborated with the ILO on a U.S. Government-funded project to remove 1,200 children from cocoa plantations and provide them with schooling or skills training. In May 2005 the government collaborated with the Gabonese Government in repatriating 11 Cameroonian trafficking victims from Gabon. The government has identified three provinces with high concentrations of trafficking victims where it will begin training law enforcement and government officials to better identify and provide protection to victims. The government does not punish victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked.

Prevention

The Cameroonian Government demonstrated modest efforts to prevent trafficking. In partnership with the ILO, the government established village child labor committees to educate communities about the dangers of child labor. In November 2005, the Minister of Labor signed an order creating a National Committee for the Implementation of the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) responsible for integrating IPEC activities into national efforts against child labor. The government began drafting a National Strategic Plan Against Child Trafficking, which it plans to present to the National Assembly for adoption in 2006.