UN: Drug-traffickers from Colombia and Brazil were increasingly using sub-Saharan Africa as a transit point to Europe for their illicit wares because African cargo was regarded with less suspicion by the European authorities, a senior UN official said in Dublin yesterday.
Head of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Dr Antonio Maria Costa told the Institute of European Affairs that Africa was also being used as a conduit for the same reason by drug-traffickers from the Middle East and Afghanistan.
He further pointed out that slavery was alive and well in today's Africa. Human trafficking was taking place within the continent and outwards to Western Europe in about equal proportions.
Highlighting the "vicious circle" between poverty, crime and underdevelopment, he said that in order to tackle the crime problem, strong police and judicial institutions were needed.
However, Africa was seriously lacking in these respects, he said, and pointed to statistics in a recent Office on Drugs and Crime report on Crime and Development in Africa which showed that Africa had fewer police officers per 100,000 citizens than any other continent.
The ratio of police per 100,000 citizens was as follows: Africa 180; Latin America 285; Oceania 304; North America 325; Europe 346 and Asia 363.
"A severe crime problem is not met by a strong judicial system," he said.
The homicide conviction rate in Africa was only 11 per cent, compared with Latin America's 46 per cent; Asia 63 per cent; Oceania 66 per cent and Europe 69 per cent.
Despite the report's grim statistics, Dr Costa was hopeful that the situation would improve. "I think it is fair to be optimistic about Africa," he said.
This was based on the new commitment of African leaders to tackle the problems and on measures agreed at last July's G8 summit in Gleneagles which granted extra debt cancellation and increased development aid.
Meanwhile Minister of State for Development Co-operation Conor Lenihan has announced continued support for the drugs and crime office this year.
"Funding of €1 million was made available to the office in 2005, and a similar contribution will be made for 2006," a statement said yesterday.