’80 children’ released from traffickers in Khartoum

Authorities in Khartoum have freed 80 children from a container that was ready to be trafficked across the border.

An official in the Public Prosecutor's Office announced that the children aged between 13 and 17, were found by the authorities in a container being prepared for trafficking at Sharjel Nil area in Khartoum. The nationalities of the children have not been publicly announced.

The under-secretary of the high state security prosecutor’s office, Mutasim Abdallah, said that the children have been transferred to a shelter centre in Soba in Khartoum state.

Abdallah said that the victims were beaten and suffered from physical and mental traumas during their time in the containers. He said that they require medical and psychological support.

In Kassala, police chief Yahya El Hadi Suleiman reported this week the release of five children from the hands of a human trafficking gang in the state.

He said that the perpetrators demanded that the mother of the children, who lives in Germany, pay $25,000 for their release.

Last week, 139 people who were held hostage by smugglers were released in El Ghaba in Kassala. Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir imposed a State of Emergency in the state in December to combat the frequent smuggling of human beings and goods. The national parliament recently made the decision to extend it, despite calls against this decision.

Together with the European Union (EU), Sudan endeavours to combat human trafficking. Anti-smuggling committees met in Khartoum last week for the first conference to combat human trafficking, with the participation of officials of the EU.