|
15 Apr 01 - 02:26 PM (#441187) Subject: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Fears grow for children on slave ship April 15, 2001
(Source: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/r/fcweb/World/Human_Rights/Related%20News%20Stories/Fears%20grow%) COTONOU, Benin-- Concern is growing for as many as 250 children, destined for slave labour, onboard a ship off Africa's west coast. Officials have launched a search for the vessel, which has been seeking to dock for more than a week. Benin police said the Nigerian-registered MV Etireno left Cotonou a week ago but was refused entry to Gabon and Cameroon because it was suspected of child trafficking and was on its way back to Benin. No-one has had any contact with the cargo ship since it left Douala three days ago. The vessel is said to be in poor condition, with no seats and no modern communications system. In Douala, the Beninois ambassador bought some fuel and food for the passengers but he reported that some were sick. Benin police estimate the boat carried 250 children from Benin and neighbouring Togo, although Douala police said the ship carried 28 children and 148 adults. A senior official with Benin's state shipping firm, COBENAM, which was contracted to provide docking and other services for the Etireno, said the aging vessel had made regular trips from Benin to Gabon loaded with impoverished passengers over the past five years Officials from the United Nation children's agency UNICEF and Benin's minister of social, family and women's affairs have been awaiting the ship's arrival at the port. Guluma said child traffickers offer poor families money to take their children to other countries. The families accept, believing their children will send money home, but the children are often resold as plantation workers or domestic servants and are never able to send wages to their families. "Trafficking children ... is very similar to slavery," Guluma told CNN, "because the children are normally not paid and they work very, very hard labour in the plantations and in other areas where they work. The conditions are not the same as slavery, but they work as slave labour, in essence." More than 200,000 children in West Africa are involved in this kind of labour, Guluma told CNN. Benin is one of the world's poorest countries, while Gabon, a thinly populated, oil-producing nation to the southeast, is relatively wealthy by African standards. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MORE INFO AND A SMALL DISCUSSION AT:
RELATED MUDCAT THREAD AT: ~Susan |
|
15 Apr 01 - 02:28 PM (#441188) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Songs in this thread, discussion in the other one, please. ~S~ |
|
15 Apr 01 - 02:42 PM (#441195) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Amergin I'll have to think on this one, Susan... |
|
15 Apr 01 - 03:42 PM (#441220) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg I can do the tune if you can find the words, Nathan. ~S~ |
|
15 Apr 01 - 03:53 PM (#441228) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Amergin That would be great. Unfortunately, I'm at work at the moment so it will have to wait til tonight....AAAARRRGGGGHHHH. |
|
15 Apr 01 - 03:55 PM (#441230) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Take the title too if you want it. Sold into Slavery, At Sea. ~S~ |
|
15 Apr 01 - 08:33 PM (#441398) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: GUEST,mgarvey@pacifier.com blazing sun makes us wish to die blazing sun makes us wish to die blazing sun makes us wish to die we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea port of call won't you let us in port of call won't you let us in port of call won't you let us in we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea we'll die of thirst it will not be long we'l die of thirst it will not be long we'll die of thirst it will not be long we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea they'll throw us over we cannot swim they'll thorw us over we cannot swim they'll throw us over we cannot swim we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea bought and sold for our family's bread bought and sold for our family's bread bought and sold for our family's bread we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea Mother father kiss your sons goodbye Mother father kiss your sons goodbye Mother father kiss your sons goodbye we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea God almighty hear your children cry God almighty hear your children cry God almighty hear your children cry We are children who are captive on the deep blue sea watch for us on the morning tide watch for us on the morning tide watch for us on the morning tide we are children who are captive on the deep blue sea |
|
15 Apr 01 - 10:01 PM (#441432) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Mary, yes. I took the liberty of adding line breaks. Do you have a tune? (I do if you don't.) Since hearing the story I keep thinking of the thoughts they must be having on the ship, the restless exhausted panic and the waves rocking. This does it. ~S~
blazing sun makes us wish to die
|
|
15 Apr 01 - 10:24 PM (#441451) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: GUEST,mgarvey@pacifier.com hope this isn't a duplicate..I just typed a reply and don't see it. Anyway, ;thanks for putting in line breaks and the tune is deep blue sea, as in lower him down with a golden chain etc. |
|
15 Apr 01 - 11:24 PM (#441475) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: katlaughing Mary, that is outstanding....everyone should hear that song NOW! Thank you for writing it. kat |
|
16 Apr 01 - 12:10 AM (#441494) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg It's worth being sung far and wide. I hope anyone who does will come tell us about it. Áine is going to have to come up with some new prize categories, I suspect. Now who's next? ~S~ |
|
16 Apr 01 - 02:55 AM (#441528) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Amergin Great stuff, Mary! so when do I get to hear you sing it? I do wish you had waited on posting it though....don't know if I can follow that... |
|
16 Apr 01 - 07:31 AM (#441561) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Keith A of Hertford If I sang the song at The White Horse tonight, I know that the folks there would receive it warmly. That would earn me a great round of applause gained by the misery of those children. What would that make me? I could put out a hat and again I know those good people would give generously, but where should the money go? Help please. Keith. |
|
16 Apr 01 - 09:51 AM (#441603) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Keith, every song I have ever heard (especially any I have sung) have become part of who I am, how I see the world, and what action I take. Please don't discount the power you can excercise with a song like this, and the impact that can flow into others' lives when they have "caught" a song in their hearts. As far as an organization to support... UNICEF, I suppose, or a donation to the local Red Cross designated (entailed) specifically for internatioonal relief? Best would be, I think, an organization supporting economic development (without colonization) of the place these kids come from. There are small-economy efforts that have worked elsewhere, with full regard for the area culture. Maybe there is one for this. Ask around when you sing this-- maybe someone who will hear it already knows. ~Susan |
|
16 Apr 01 - 11:10 AM (#441644) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: mousethief Once again I am uncomfortable with song challenges on a tragic subject. I can't easily make fun of human misery. Alex |
|
16 Apr 01 - 11:38 AM (#441668) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Alex, no one suggested these be funny songs! The Challenge is to put our talent to work on this terrible thing, for if we do not sing, we are failing offer our strongest tool where there is a need for great strength. ~Susan |
|
16 Apr 01 - 11:49 AM (#441679) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Dahlin Mary I have taken the words and tune and hope to perform it often and loudly.
|
|
16 Apr 01 - 12:35 PM (#441716) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: McGrath of Harlow Take these children from the sea, bring them home, and set them free if it was down to you and me, I swear we'd set those children free.
It's on the news, and I know, like me,
And they work as slaves in a distant land,
Yes they work as slaves in that distant place, I know that it's possible to come out with a song on a topic in the news on a way that's exploitive and cheap, as Keith pointed out. But it doesn't have to be like that - a song can sometimes get people thinking about things and talking about them with people they wouldn't normally talk about them with. As for where to send any money, here's one place. |
|
16 Apr 01 - 02:54 PM (#441864) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Bless you, Kevin. ~S~ |
|
16 Apr 01 - 03:09 PM (#441879) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: katlaughing Kevin, that is equally as beautiful and poignant. Thank you and thanks for the link to that very important site! luvyakat |
|
17 Apr 01 - 05:06 AM (#442336) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: McGrath of Harlow Update from the BBC |
|
17 Apr 01 - 09:04 AM (#442410) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Alice Thanks for the link to that article. So, our chocolate could be made from cocoa produced by child labor in Africa. |
|
17 Apr 01 - 09:28 AM (#442430) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: GUEST,Wesley S CHILDREN ON THE SEA
I'm just a common sailor, I work hard every day Chorus -
Sailing children, children on the sea
It's a story old as Neptune, it didn't start with me Repeat Chorus
We hear they'll try to stop our ship it really is a shame
So we'll throw children, children to the sea |
|
17 Apr 01 - 09:31 AM (#442431) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Oh Wes, that is as sharp as a knife. Excellent. Is there a tune? ~S~ |
|
17 Apr 01 - 03:03 PM (#442763) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Amergin wonderful additions posted here! Keep it up folks! |
|
17 Apr 01 - 03:42 PM (#442794) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Nathan, I love the words you sent me. I should have the tune and chords tomorrow or Thursday, and we can post it all then! ~S~ |
|
17 Apr 01 - 03:46 PM (#442797) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Amergin Great! |
|
18 Apr 01 - 11:23 AM (#443424) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: Charley Noble Maybe we should save these songs for the next incident, with better documentation that "slavery" is involved. No Child Slaves Are Found as Ship Reaches Benin By REUTERS COTONOU, Benin, Tuesday, April 17 S A ship at the center of an international hunt for scores of suspected child slaves arrived here early today, but with no more than a few children, accompanied by their mothers, on board. Benin sparked the search for the Nigerian-registered ship Etireno last week when it alerted the world that it believed that the vessel was carrying 180 children, sold by poor families to work for nothing in oil-rich Gabon. Benin's social protection minister, Ramatou Baba Moussa, suggested that there might have been a mix-up between the Etireno and another Nigerian ship spotted off Equatorial Guinea, which might be carrying Nigerian minors caught up in the illegal trade. She gave no details of the possible second ship. She told reporters on board the Etireno that there were 139 passengers on the ship, of whom 7 were children. She added that she was relieved not to discover child slaves. "There was a situation, and we had to take action," she said. "The affair is over. I don't deny that Benin is part of the traffic in children, and the government will do all it can to beat it." No move was made to arrest or question any of the ship's crew. There was no sign of the Benin businessman Stanislas Abadtan or at least two other people against whom international arrest warrants were issued in connection with the trade. Most passengers did not look to be in poor health and there was little for Red Cross workers to do. The United Nations Children's Fund had set up a receiving center in Cotonou, expecting to care for a much larger number of children after a 1,250-mile journey. The ship left Cotonou on March 30 for Libreville, in Gabon, but was turned back by the authorities there. Many passengers recounted how the ship was turned away, not because it had child slaves aboard but because it was carrying illegal immigrants seeking relative riches in an impoverished region. "When we got to Libreville, some people tried to go ashore in small boats, but when they reached the beach they were attacked by robbers," said Mamadou Fall, a Senegalese businessman among the passengers. "When the robbers found they had no money, they called the police. "Because they had no papers, the police put them all back on board the boat and said it had to leave," Mr. Fall said. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information
|
|
18 Apr 01 - 11:48 AM (#443440) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Maybe we should save these songs for the next incident... Obviously it is a relief to know there may have been some confusion over this story. But it sounds to me like there is no need to wait for a "next incident"... It sounds like it is an ongoing incident of greater proportions than many of us knew. It puts me in mind of "The Water is Wide"... thinking of all that can be happening on our seas that we here in our civilized, snug spots never have to think about. I hope the songs keep coming in. This story should not go away; it should broaden to be increasingly detailed. ~Susan |
|
18 Apr 01 - 05:20 PM (#443739) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: McGrath of Harlow As Susan said - there's no question about there being a system of child (and other) slavery on some of the cocoa plantations, and children being ferried around between various places in West Africa.
The question of whether they are going to be abe to pin anything on the people running this particular ship on this particular occasion is a very secondary matter.
The crucial quote is that one from the Benin minister: "I don't deny that Benin is part of the traffic in children".
I was pleased to see that Cadbury, the chocolate people, have called for effective action against slavery in the cocoa and chocolate plantations etc. Cynically one might say they are a bit worried about possible boycotts, and they want to make it clear that in this respect their company has clean hands. But it's a good practical development, which could achieve something.
|
|
18 Apr 01 - 05:42 PM (#443755) Subject: RE: Unofficial Song Challenge! ENSLAVED KIDS From: wysiwyg Thanks, Kevin. I would suggest though that we continue discussion in the other thread OVER HERE, where the bulk of the discussion had been occurring. ~S~ |