Boy flees Islamic school that forces children to beg

Boy flees Islamic school that forces children to beg

www.cnn.com

There are 1.2 million Colis in the world today, children trafficked to work for the benefit of others. Those who lure them into servitude make $15 billion annually, according to the International Labor Organization.

It's big business in Senegal. In the capital of Dakar alone, at least 7,600 child beggars work the streets, according to a study released in February by the ILO, the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Bank. The children collect an average of 300 African francs a day, just 72 cents, reaping their keepers $2 million a year.

Most of the boys -- 90 percent, the study found -- are sent out to beg under the cover of Islam, placing the problem at the complicated intersection of greed and tradition. For among the cruelest facts of Coli's life is that he was not stolen from his family. He was brought to Dakar with their blessing to learn Islam's holy book.

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Terrible that very young children sent to learn religion end up as basically slaves.

Is it any wonder that when these children grow up - if they grow up - they are angry enough at the world to blame whoever they are told to blame and go on to become terrorists or the kind of genocidal maniacs sweeping across central Africa?

www.cnn.com
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[edit on 4/21/2008 by centurion1211]