Child trafficking threatens Iraqi society

“I was born free like a bird; I wished to fly in the sky,” says Amal. “I lived in a quiet and simple house in a village in northern Iraq. I had dreams about the future like any other young girl in the world and drew my power from the green mountains around me. Until the day my parents forced me to marry a man who was 50.”

It came as a shock for the 16-year-old Amal to lose her youth for a life with a much older man whom she did not love. “I realised too late that my parents considered me as a good that could be sold. My father asked the man for a lot of money and gold in return for marriage and kept everything for himself. Now I feel that my life is over,” she says.

Anaam Mohammed, a psychiatrist at the University of Arbil, explains the practice: “Some families sell their daughters to wealthy old men on the pretext that they want to save them but in reality they do it for the money they can earn from it.”

“Such a marriage deprives the child of its right to childhood and social welfare. If a married girl returns to her family house, she is scarred for life because she will suffer from lasting physical, but above all, psychological traumas. Terrible, bitter memories cannot easily be forgotten, especially if the girl has been abused sexually,” says Mohammed.

“I’m pregnant with my second illegitimate child because my mother forced me several times to have sexual relations with my uncle. My life was over when I was 13,” says Nubras, now 15.

Nubras has made many attempts to commit suicide. “All I wish today is to die,” she says, “because I want to wash the shame that happened to me. I don’t have any hope left.”

“First my uncle had sexual relations with my mother and I’m his second victim. I feel that my mother sold me to him,” she adds.

Nubras’ mother feels helpless too: “Nubras’ uncle raped her because she doesn’t have anyone to protect and provide for her. Her father died and I don’t have any money. It was not my fault.”

Child in Baghdad

Lost childhoods

According to sources at the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, the number of widows in Iraq has reached 108,946 in 2010. The figure for the number orphans is much higher. Altogether there are 1,371,964 orphans in Iraq, of whom 768,556 (56 percent) have lost their father, 396,498 (29 percent) have lost their mother and 206,910 (15 percent) are orphans of both parents.

These are impressive figures considering the fact that young people under the age of 18 in Iraq represent half of the total Iraqi population of around 32 million people. 

The Ministry of Human Rights specified that the figure related to the number orphans does not include the number of children living in orphanages which reaches 238,253.
 
The 8-year-old Mohammed and his 5-year-old brother suffered several sexual assaults from homosexual youths. Their mother had “rented” them in return for USD 9 a day to a “broker” who used children for as beggars.

“When I found out that my sons had been sexually abused by homosexual youths in exchange for USD 20, I wanted to get my sons back, but I was surprised to learn that the conditions of the renting contract did not allow it,” Mohammed’s mother says.

Mohammed and his brother not only lost their childhood, they also lost their mother’s love and her warm lap when she “rented” them to the broker. She also sold two other sons to the same broker who in turn sold one boy to a woman who didn’t have children and the other to a homosexual man.

Human Trafficking in Iraq, a report by War News Radio, August 2011

Severe physical and psychological damages

A psychiatrist who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject gave some insights into the practice of child trafficking in Iraq. “Children are transported in special cages to the provinces where they are exploited as beggars or rented for sex.”

“Some families whose children were kidnapped were able to recover them later. When the children returned home and went through a medical examination, it appeared that they had been sexually assaulted.”

According to the psychiatrist, “children who have been subject to sexual abuse suffer from severe psychological crises in childhood and adolescence and can develop mental disorders. The most important of these disorders is called pressure shock, which mainly affects people who have been exposed to enormous psychological blows, such as rape and the sight of killings of any kind. These symptoms can last more than six months and treatment is very difficult.”

“The effects of pressure shock on a child can also be permanent. The child will keep waking up frequently at night, and suffer from bedwetting, attention deficit disorder and severe emotional crises during adolescence. The child may end up withdrawing from society,” the psychiatrist added.

According to the NGO Children of the World, the number of homeless children in Baghdad has now reached 4,000. These children can be found in 26 areas across the capital where brokers use them as beggars.

Because of the security problems and the poor standard of living still plaguing Iraq, some children and teenagers, especially the ones who are homeless, are also being exploited by armed groups in terrorist operations.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the number of convicted teenagers in terrorist crimes has gone up rapidly from 239 in 2008 to 324 in 2009 and 383 in 2010.

Children in Baghdad

A personal encounter

In Judria, a city south of Baghdad, many children can be seen begging and selling small items near one of the biggest universities in Iraq. When I tried to talk to them they suddenly disappeared because their “masters” were watching them from behind a wall.

It looked as if their “masters” were afraid that the children would be taken to an orphanage or that the children would reveal where they lived and where they came from. 

When I managed to chat one day with the 5-year-old Sara, she replied: “Ask my brother about where we are living because he is older than me.”

She looked frightened and her behaviour seemed to indicate that she thought someone was watching her.

Sara’s 8-year-old brother Ahmed approached and answered quickly: “We live here in Baghdad. My father died of cancer but I live with my uncle now.”

As he was talking I detected that his accent was from northern Iraq and concluded that he was not originally from Baghdad and that he had moved to the capital recently.

The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights says that it is very difficult to do research about human trafficking because of the nature of Iraqi society and the islamic tradition which prevents this infamous trade.

The Ministry recommends in its annual report “that the Iraqi police should investigate this criminal activity and not wait until it appears in public under the eyes of all citizens.” 

By Maryam Mohammed Jaafar

Maryam Jaafar writes as a freelance journalist for several newspapers and also does volunteer work for Iraqi human rights organisations. She graduated in Political Science at Baghdad University in July 2011 and is the winner of the 2011 Kamel Shiaa Prize for Iraqi press freedom. Her interests lie in media, story writing, poetry, communicating with people and working with NGOs.

 

 

 

 

Posted on December 21, 2011 by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Filed under blogging.