Human Trafficking in Refugee Camps

Refugee camps are intended to be a place of safety for those who are fleeing war and conflict. Unfortunately militias, government forces, peacekeepers and even other refugees have used the camps as a captive source of vulnerable people who can be easily exploited.

Men and women fall prey to human traffickers in the refugee camps. However, children, especially unaccompanied children, are especially vulnerable to human trafficking. Children, some as young as five years old, are taken from refugee camps and forced to become soldiers. In Africa, child soldiers are forced to take drugs such as "Brown Brown" (cocaine mixed with gunpowder) and "Tik-Tik" (crystal meth) to dull their fear and to heighten aggression and brutality. The children are forced to take "Mandrax" (Methaqualone aka. Quaalude), which are sleeping pills, in order to bring them down from their high. These drugs are so highly addictive that after being rescued, some children return to their traffickers in order to obtain drugs to feed their drug habit. Children are often rejected by their communities because of the atrocities they committed while they were forced to be soldiers.

In addition to being exploited as forced combatants, both boys and girls are forced into sexual slavery and are exploited for forced labor as porters, cooks, cleaners and firewood gatherers. Girls who return from the war with children of their own face stigmatization and rejection by their families and communities.

In order to prevent the exploitation and suffering of refugees, there must be increased security in the refugee camps. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees must include combating human trafficking in its mandate for refugee camps. Demobilization programs must include drug rehabilitation programs in order to successfully transition children back into civilian life. Refugees who have been trafficked need psychological and physical care as well as help reintegrating into their communities.