Burkina Faso authorities investigate child trafficking for gold mining

Authorities in Burkina Faso are investigating cases of child trafficking involving minors being transported to foreign gold mining sites.

In Koudougou, security forces intercepted five unaccompanied minors, aged 13 to 17, traveling on a public transport bus. The adolescents were reportedly heading toward Bobo-Dioulasso with the intention of being moved to mining sites in neighboring countries. The bus driver was detained for transporting unaccompanied minors, and the children have been returned to their families.

In a separate incident in Bobo-Dioulasso, a regional child protection brigade reported that three children, aged 13 to 14, were recruited and taken to a mining site abroad without parental consent. One 13-year-old child died during the expedition, while the other two were successfully returned to Burkina Faso. A suspect has been apprehended upon returning to Bobo-Dioulasso, and a judicial investigation is underway regarding the transnational nature of the trafficking.