h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just watched a BBC News interview with a spokesman for the confectionary industry about the problem of child slavery in West Africa. This followed a drama that's been ongoing for the past few days where a ship, reportedly carrying up to 250 child slaves had been turned away from several West African ports. The ship was eventually allowed to dock and authorities were waiting to liberate the children and arrest the slavers. However, there turned out to be no slaves on board. It's been speculated that 1) they could have been thrown overboard when the captain got wind of his imminent arrest or 2) they might have been off loaded at other ports or 3) the authorities got the wrong ship.

The representative of the confectionary industry first expressed his astonishment that the production of cocoa and coffee might involve child slaves, then, seeming to contradict his surprise, he said that their people "on the ground" were aware of the problem but had found no actual cases, then, seeming to contradict himself again, he said they had didn't really have any or many (he was vague about this) people on the ground because of the political situations in these countries.

I was surprised and dismayed. What do you think, coffee and chocolate lovers? There seems little doubt that it's happening. Apparently a child can be purchased for around £7 and sold at a very 'healthy' profit.

Yep, it seems that it is indeed happening all the time, unfortunately.
You could try to buy only the expensive chocolate and coffee from the well known high street charity shops (are we allowed to mention them by name now that this is run by the BBC?). These are supposed to be produced in schemes which try to ensure that the workers are treated fairly and get a fair wage too for their labours.
But unfortunately, it is not just chocolate and coffee but probably an awful lot of products which we use every day.

A nightmare out of the dark pit of human history. Unbelievable and horrifying. It didn't just stop then start again. It's been going on all along and we've just been blissfully unaware of it. I just heard that 200,000 kids a year are shipped across borders in the slave trade. They are enslaved in a variety of industries including agriculture, fishing and sex. In West Africa these children are sold by their parents who expect to receive a continuous income from the children's labour, but they don't because it's a con. On the programme I watched, they said it was cheaper to buy a child slave in West Africa today than it was in Mississippi in the 1860s. They also said on the programme that British tax payers money is paid in aid to these countries who refuse to sign up to an agreement that would prohibit slavery. Only Ghana, Togo and Swaziland have signed the agreement. So our government knows about it but we don't. What should that tell us?

It does sound horrific, but I can't quite understand why it hasn't become common knowledge in the source areas that there won't be any money coming back, and/or promised education for the children doesn't happen. If relatively few people ever come back as examples of success, you'd think that rumour and word of mouth would eventually start to create a more relistic impression.
Is part of the problem that the poverty in some areas makes desperate parents think that almost any other lifestyle for their children might be an improvement?

That's an interesting point Potholer and it's reminded me of something I heard some time ago about the girls sold into prostitution by their parents in the Philippines. They interviewed these families who'd sent their daughters to the big city to work as whores and the parents said they believed they'd sent them to good jobs. But as these interviews progressed it became clear that the families knew very well what fate awaited their daughters, but they just didn't want to think about it. They were fooling themselves to make the reality easier to live with. Makes me shudder to think about that.

You're right Ommigosh. Now we know what's going on, we should make an effort to buy ethical goods. Also, I have a particular weakness for Cadbury's chocolate, so I'm going to write to them and demand an assurance that their products are made from materials grown without the use of slave labour. If everybody wrote to their favourite chocolate and coffee manufacturer, it would galvanise them into ensuring their product is ethically produced.