Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of
conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 49
Paragraph
Paragraph text
The use of children by migrant smuggling networks also raises concerns about the misidentification of children. Within the northern triangle of Central America, children are frequently recruited by criminal gangs to work as migrant smugglers. The voluntary nature of their decision to take part in the smuggling of migrants across the Mexican border is doubtful. While interviews have exposed that, in some cases, children started voluntarily as human smuggling guides, once part of the cartels that control the smuggling routes, children were unable to leave their exploiters. Indicators of exploitation are often overlooked by State authorities, and children are not identified as child victims of trafficking.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
Humanitarian
Movement
Violence
Person(s) affected
Children
Persons on the move
Year
2017
Paragraph type
Other
Paragraph focus
Available responses to address the exploitation of children in the context of conflict and humanitarian crisis