Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - A network of human traffickers, most of whom are children, work in Goma, capital of North Kivu (in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo). The complaint, in a note sent to Fides Agency, is by the Co-ordination of civil society in North Kivu. "The method used by this network is simple", says the note . "Its members are using different strategies and tricks to capture their victims. They organize several brainwashing sessions and, given the victims precarious economic conditions, promise them a better life".
The victims who end up in the network of traffickers are brought to the territory of Beni (always in North Kivu ) "for purposes that are not yet precisely known", the statement said, adding: "Everything leads us to believe that their destination is the area still under control of the ADF, Allied Democratic Forces". The ADF is a rebel group of Ugandan origin that have been in the north-east of the DRC for a long time, where it commits raids and violence against local civilians. The Congolese army, backed by UN troops, is conducting a series of military offensives to make this guerrilla group harmless.
Civil society in North Kivu calls for tighter and border police controls and the judiciary to investigate thoroughly in order to curb the smuggling network. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 29/04/2014)
