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Augustinian Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign

Restaveks: Duplicity in the Trafficking of Children

“Everyone in this country knows about the trafficking of children: there are the mafias of lawyers, the leaders of churches (sects), the small, established ‘ad hoc’ power groups, the fraudulent doctors … ” (--Fr. Miguel Jean Baptiste)

The whole world was moved and indignant when it learned of the presumed kidnapping of 33 children during the full-blown crisis of the Haitian people (death, missing persons, loss of homes ….) caused by the powerful earthquake of January 12, 2010.

The government of Haiti was bothered by the public media attention that this news received. Perhaps unconsciously, this governmental reaction revealed an acknowledgement of what they assume as the normal state of affairs. Why? Because as could be drawn from the comment of Fr. Miguel that we quoted above, “this is the normal state of affairs in this country.” That is to say: it is nothing new. International trafficking has been present in Haiti since the time of French colonialism.

But let us not deceive ourselves. The matter is even more serious, I would say it is much more serious, because it is a reality in all those places in which poverty abounds, which disgracefully for humanity are not a few. And Haiti is a poor country.

THE DRAMA OF THE RESTAVEK

In Haiti it is known as restavek (the word comes from the French rester avec which means to stay with someone) to the children of poor village families who are given to families living in the city, and who work for them in a type of slavery. These children, of various ages, have poverty in common. In their new “residence” they eat little, rarely sleep and work a lot, according to persons directly familiar with the reality.

What is the cause of this situation in Haiti? Since the independence of this country (more than 200 years ago) the various governments have not bothered themselves about the cultivation of the land. Nor are there adequate schools or educational centers for children … and then what?

It then happens that many of these families do not hesitate to give their children to whomever. This is the hard reality and not only in Haiti, but in almost all poor countries.

Now we can understand why the parents of some of these 33 children, taken by a religious intermediary (the term habitually used) of some church, had said that they would give the children over to these people again, since they are not able to support them.

This is the tragedy for many families of this country who are not able to give their children a piece of bread nor take them to school.

This is the phenomenon that repeats itself automatically. The reason is that since the independence of Haiti there has not been a clear effort to free its people from a mentality of slavery. In fact, it has been cultivated.

SOME STATISTICS ON RESTAVEKS

It is calculated that there are some 300,000 restaveks. While not all of them are victims of mistreatment, a disturbingly high percentage of them are.

Ages range from 5 to 17 years old. Almost 70 per cent are girls; the majority subjected to even greater abuse. Between January, 2007 and June, 2008, 238 rapes were documented. In reality there are many more. These young boys and girls are “the poor of the poor.” The look in the eyes of these children is the saddest in Haiti. The only positive aspect is that many “welcoming families” have experienced what it is to be restavek.

Alongside these families that take in as many children as they can into their homes, there are persons who dedicate their lives for these unfortunate little ones. Fr. Miguel Jean Baptiste (a Catholic priest) is one of them. His parish is poor but it is very rich in humanitarian commitment and in fraternity.

There, on the heights of a hillside, sunny and dusty, surrounded by pitiable housing, is his parish and his work. Among the many good things there, he has created a center (a shelter) for the restaveks, in the Carrefour area of Port-au-Prince.

This shelter cares for almost 400 children. There, they are given food, taught to read and write, and given affection, which is what these children need most. Tragically, some of them disappeared forever with the earthquake.

--Adapted from a bulletin of the International Augustinian Secretariate for Justice and Peace

More from the Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign

       » Augustinians Launch Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign
             Nature, extent, causes and consequences of the trafficking of people

       » Human Trafficking and Illegal Trafficking of People
             How the two differ, along with some statistics

       » No One’s Daughters: The Nameless Girls
             Trafficking of orphans in Europe (I)

       » Teens Working the Streets
             Trafficking of Orphans in Europe (II)

       » Facing the Influx of Young Immigrants
             How Malta’s Millennium Chapel Ministers to Newly Arrived Youths

       » World Cup Soccer Championship and Exploitation
             The hidden reality behind a major sports event

Additional Resources

       » U.N.O.D.C. on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (Opens new window)
             Resources from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

       » Blue Heart Campaign (Opens new window)
             An awareness raising initiative to fight human trafficking and its impact

       » Empowerment Through Knowledge (Opens new window)
             A Web resource for combatting human trafficking

       » Human Trafficking (Opens new window)
             Facts and resources for emergency health care providers

       » Federal Bureal of Investigation: Human Trafficking (Opens new window)
             Human Trafficking in the U. S. A. and how the F. B. I. works to stop it

       » Trafficking in Persons Report 2009: U.S. Department of State (Opens new window)
             Most comprehensive worldwide report on efforts of governments to combat trafficking

       » U.S.C.C.B. Response to Human Trafficking (Opens new window)
             How the Catholic Church combats this modern-day form of slavery

This page offers one of a series of bulletins from the international Augustinian Secretariate for Justice and Peace. It explains some aspects of human trafficking, a pervasive violation of Catholic Christiam morality that has received little attention from news media in the United States.

Human trafficking is sin against human dignity and human life. Christians today are called to be aware of the suffering and harm that human trafficking causes, and to act in support policies and initiatives that will eliminate or reduce this evil. (See Matthew 25: 31-46) The Augustinian Secretariate, committed to assisting Augustinian friars and others in acquiring a greater awareness of the nature, extent, causes and consequences of the trafficking of people, has started a Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign for the years 2009 - 2011.