Help our local partners realise their vision of hope for their communities
8 February 2022
The 8th February is the international day of prayer and awareness against human trafficking. Our partners in Burma, Thailand and Nigeria work with communities who are afflicted by modern slavery, abductions, kidnappings and human trafficking.
In Nigeria’s middle belt, abductions are increasingly common as religiously motivated violence continues to rise astronomically. The profitability of abduction and the Nigerian Government’s failure to deter kidnappers has seen the issue continue to worsen. According to Amnesty International, in the first half of 2020, more than 1,100 people were killed by bandits, whilst over 3,125 people were killed and over 2,700 people were abducted in Northern Nigeria in 2021. Just last month, 18 people were reported to have been kidnapped in Udawa, Kaduna State.
With your donations and support our Roads to Hope: Mobile Education Units are providing education and opportunity to children who have been displaced by religious violence. By using a specially customised van and bringing education to isolated children, the van minimises the risk of abduction and makes children harder to find for potential attackers. They also help to bring education to isolated communities who otherwise wouldn’t have access to schooling. We are so proud of how our partners have produced a sustainable and long-term strategy to combat kidnappings and violence aimed at schools. With your help, we will be able to support even more children by helping our partners purchase and run more vans in the future.
In Thailand, hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrant workers are employed in jobs which Thai workers deem to be too, “dangerous, dirty and demeaning.” According to Amnesty International, over 80% of migrant workers in Thailand are Burmese. Many have been forced to flee from Shan, Kachin, and Kayah State, as the Burmese Government continues its violent oppression of these regions. Many of these workers meet the threshold of being modern slaves.
In 2010, HART’s partner SWAN became a Thai-registered organization to better respond to the needs of the displaced communities along the Thai-Burma border. With your support, SWAN have established community schools for migrant and refugee children. Since then, SWAN have supported a boarding house for children who are orphaned or who’s parents cannot afford to care for them. Students are provided with meals, transport and hygiene kits. SWAN have also supported teachers with training and school supplies to provide the children with the best possible start in life.
