MiaFarrow.org |
Humanitarian and Advocacy Information |
Archives
| July 28, 2009 |
Lord's Resistance Army supplies children for Khartoum's slave markets
The Lord's Resistance Army has wreaked havoc on the people in the Northeast and North Central areas of the DRC. We have no way of knowing how many hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the LRA raids upon villages. Countless children have been abducted.My sources on the ground told me that covert flights carrying weapons are landing in a 'secret' airstrip near the DRC border with Sudan. These flights come in from Khartoum and they are loaded with weapons. After unloading the arms, the LRA then fills the plane with children, abducted from villages they raided in Congo. On average, about 200 children per flight are sent to northern Sudan where they are sold in the slave market for upwards of $800 each.
Due to LRA activity, displacement and fear of death, captivity and mutilations, villagers are no longer able to farm and harvest their fields and gardens. This is now causing a serious financial hardship to the populations, as well as severe food shortages.