Posted on 06/15/2004 11:19:36 AM PDT by NativeNewYorker
Sana'a, Yemen (dpa) - Yemeni police have thwarted an attempt by a human trafficking ring to smuggle 20 children into the neighbouring oil-rich Saudi Arabia to draw them into begging business, a state-run newspaper reported Tuesday.
The children, aged 10-12 were snared in recent days along the border at the northern Yemeni province of Sa'da, reported the al-Haris weekly, which is affiliated with the Interior Ministry.
It was the first time that police detected child-smuggling activities in Sa'da, the paper reported. Smugglers normally operated through the official border crossing at Haradh, along the western border.
Child trafficking into Saudi Arabia is a business involving Yemeni and Saudi networks that take advantage of high poverty and unemployment rates in Yemen.
Riyadh regularly deports scores of Yemeni children and sends them back to Yemen. More than 2,000 children were sent back to Sana'a along in February, according to a Sana'a government estimate.
Yemeni authorities are working with the U.N. organization for children UNICEF to build a home for victims of the notorious trade.
The Yemeni government and UNICEF are conducting an assessment of the extent of child trafficking which is expected to be made public in July.
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