Yemen, children sold for a handful of dollars - Saudi Arabia/Gulf/Trafficking
29/2/08
The drama of child trafficking is a plague for Yemen, where about 1.2 million children are sold every year to criminals in Saudi Arabia and in the rich Gulf countries. For millions of young Yemenis, beyond the borders of their country the gates of hell are opened: they end up begging on the streets, working as domestic servants in the homes of the more prosperous, exploited as factory workers, or as camel jockeys. The children come from the most remote and least fertile Yemeni provinces, where not even farming provides a good enough living for the families for whom every child becomes a mouth impossible to feed. For patriarchal families, moreover, the sons must assume responsibilities from a very tender age, but the price to be paid to ‘grow up’ is truly too high.