Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Guinea, Alimamy Hassan Bangura has handed over two Sierra Leonean children found lost on the streets of Conakry to officials of the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs in Kambia.
The two are 13-year-old Amadu Barrie from Falaba District and 10-year-old Mariatu Kamara from Kenema Distruct.
The boy was said to have been lured by his friend to travel with him to Guinea without the knowledge of his parents and strayed after he had been taken to Conakry.
According to Ambassador Bangura, the girl said she was handed over to a businessman by her mother. She reportedly later absconded from the businessman named only as Mohamed, after she was persistently subjected to beatings.
They were handed over to the Sierra Leone embassy in Conakry by a UNICEF social worker in Guinea named Kadiatou Camara on 8 July.
Ambassador Bangura told Politico that this was not the first time unaccompanied Sierra Leonean children had been found on the streets of Conakry and that they had repatriated several of them in the past.
There has also been the issue of especially young Sierra Leonean women who are also said to be victims of some criminal rings in Guinea, arranging for their trafficking to especially some Middle East countries with some of whom ending up as sex slaves.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 12/07/21
