Ministers, parliamentarians, directors of state corporations and high profiled business magnates have been identified as those endangering over 71 percent of children in Cameroon to trafficking and child labour.

The statistics were revealed recently during activities marking the 13th world day against child labour by Love Africa Forever, an International NGO working in the North West region.

“These children are subjected to long working hours under harsh and deplorable conditions for very little or no wages,” stated an official of the NGO.

“As of 2010, statistics from the National Institute of Statistics indicated that over 71% of minors in Cameroon are trafficked and subjected to forced labour by ministers, law makers and high profiled business magnates,” said Jean Paul Mboumgne, President of Love Africa Forever.

Mboumgne further revealed that a majority of the children are between the ages of 5 and 17. “44% of these children are effectively subjected to dangerous agricultural activities,” he said. Those involved in dangerous exploitative activities have been rated at 71%, according to the NGO.

Mboumgne called on government to treat child trafficking and child labour in Cameroon as an emergency especially among its top ranking officials. While the NGO statement identified poverty as the major cause of this phenomenon, the NGO Executive challenged government to take its responsibility while urging parents to ensure effective family planning in order to control the number of children to levels they can take care of without pressure.

Government had indicated plans to eradicate child trafficking in the country by 2017 and a national committee created by the Prime Minister in 2014 to fight against the phenomenon of child labour in the country had its first working session last April 2015. The committee headed by Labour Minister has to make recommendations on strategies to eradicate and monitor the phenomenon of child labour.

“Children who are trafficked and subjected to forced labour are denied the right to education and we find them working in restaurants, hotels, farms, soldiers in tribal conflicts and homes of power wheelers. If we want to build a just and inclusive society we must ensure that the rights of these children are respected,” stated Mboumgne.