A Study of Trafficking in Haitian Children
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THE USES OF CHILDREN: A STUDY OF TRAFFICKING IN HAITIAN CHILDREN By Glenn R. Smucker & Gerald F. Murray December 2004 USAID/Haiti Mission Port-au-Prince, Haiti PREFACE This study is based primarily on in-depth tape-recorded interviews with hundreds of Haitians and Dominicans on both sides of the border. Fieldwork was undertaken directly by the two co-authors of this report. Murray assumed primary responsibility for interviews and chapters devoted to the Dominican side of the issues studied, and Smucker to the Haitian side of the border. Smucker accepted prime legal responsibility for the execution of the contract and for communication with USAID. He also undertook the final editing and synthesis of the report. In all other respects the work was totally collaborative. The authors are especially grateful to Philippe Cantave and Sharon Bean and of the Democracy and Governance team at the USAID/Haiti Mission, and for the cooperation and insights of hundreds of persons interviewed in the course of study. The names of institutional personnel and certain key informants are listed in the annexes. Despite the generous help of these persons, the views expessed in this report reflect those of the authors and not of the persons interviewed nor of the USAID/Haiti Mission, the contracting agency. The authors themselves accept responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation. The authors briefed AID/Washington personnel in July 2004 and USAID/Haiti personnel and partners in September and December 2004. In September Murray was unable to participate as scheduled due to severe weather. A final briefing was therefore scheduled for December 2004 to focus on elements of the report that deal with the Dominican Republic and the Haiti/Dominican border. The authors are grateful for the stimulating questions and comments of participants in these briefings and have taken them into account in final revisions. For a summary of findings comparable to an executive summary, including a detailed listing of recommendations, see Chapter IX, Summary Conclusions and Recommendations, page 108. Readers may contact the authors as noted below: Glenn R. Smucker Gerald F. Murray Smucker Consulting Dept. of Anthropology 127 Santamaria Drive University of Florida Torrington, CT 06790 Gainesville, FL 32611 tel. (860) 482-4031 tel. (352) 392-3830 x302 email: [email protected] email: [email protected] website: http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/murray/ i ACRONYMS ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Agency BARA Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology CEDEC Centre de Développement Communautaire CIFD Comité Inter-Agences Femmes et Développement COHADDE Coalition Haitienne pour la Defense des Droits de l’Enfant DR Dominican Republic EMMUS Enquête Mortalité, Morbidité, et Utilisation des Services FAFO Institut des Etudes Internationales Appliquées de Norvège GARR Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés GRET Groupe de recherche et d’échanges technologiques HRW Human Rights Watch HSI Haiti Solidarité Internationale ID Identity card or paper IFSI Interim Food Security Information System IHRLC International Human Rights Law Clinic IHSI Institut Haitien de Statistique et d’Informatique ILO International Labour Organization IMF International Monetary Fund IOM International Organization for Migration IPEC International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO) IPSOFA Institut Psycho-Social de la Famille KADRET Komite pou akeyi ak defann rapatriye ak refijye nan Tyot MAST Ministère des Affaires Sociales et du Travail MENJS Ministère de l’Education Nationale de la Jeunesse et des Sports, Haiti MHAVE Ministère des Haitiens Vivant à l’Étranger MLIHRC Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee NCHR National Coalition for Haitian Rights OIM Organisation Internationale pour les Migrations OIT Organisation Internationale de Travail PV Plataforma Vida TIP Trafficking in persons RAMAK Rasambleman Medya pou Aksyon Kominotè (Creative Associates) UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development VDH Volontariat pour le Développement d’Haiti ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface................................................................................................................................i Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iii Chapter I. Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Purpose..........................................................................................................................1 The Concept of Trafficking .............................................................................................1 Research Domain ..........................................................................................................2 The Literature .................................................................................................................3 Smuggling and Trafficking..............................................................................................4 Research Methodology...................................................................................................5 Guiding Questions ..........................................................................................................7 Fieldwork Sites ...............................................................................................................7 The Report....................................................................................................................10 Chapter II. Childhood in Peril............................................................................................11 Historical Background ..................................................................................................11 Attitudes towards Children ...........................................................................................11 Rural Sector in Crisis ...................................................................................................14 Giving and Taking Children...........................................................................................14 How Many Children Live Outside the Home?...............................................................15 Cross-Border Migration of Children..............................................................................18 Haitians in the Dominican Republic .............................................................................19 Chapter III. Children Living with Others............................................................................21 Lexicon of Child Placement..........................................................................................21 Views of Children Sent to Live with Others..................................................................24 Inter-Household Arrangements ....................................................................................26 Class Dynamics...........................................................................................................28 Other Categories of Child Placement ..........................................................................30 Coming of Age..............................................................................................................33 Continuum of Children Living with Others....................................................................35 Trafficking .....................................................................................................................36 Indicators of Children at Risk .......................................................................................37 Chapter IV. Child Labor, the Border, and Trafficking .......................................................39 Child Labor in Haiti........................................................................................................39 The Border....................................................................................................................41 Localities near the Border ............................................................................................45 Miigrants and Smugglers..............................................................................................51 Trafficking and Abuse...................................................................................................62 Chapter V. Haitians in the Dominican Republic ...............................................................65 General Overview .........................................................................................................65 Haitians in the Dominican economy.............................................................................68 How do Haitians cross the border?..............................................................................68 Haitians in the Hands of Dominican Soldiers...............................................................69 Haitian Children and the State: The Laws of the lands ................................................70 Chapter VI. Haitian Children in Dominican Homes ..........................................................78 The Dominican Child Placement System ....................................................................78 Comparing Haitian Restavèk