Assessing the impacts of trans-border child abduction on the human rights of children: the case of Gambella regional state Agnwua zone

Abstract

Transnational crime has become a major global concern that significantly affects human rights, especially child abduction. This thesis investigates the significant impacts that cross border kidnapping has on children's human rights in the Gambella Regional State's Agnwua Zone. The study emphasizes how these kidnappings continue to pose a threat to national security and violate human rights; these issues have been made worse by the actions of the South Sudanese Murle community. Although there is a dearth of literature on this subject, the effect of cross-border kidnapping on children's human rights is investigated. The study's main focus is on how trans-border abduction affects children's human rights in the context of the Gambella Agnwua zone. A hybrid study design that included non doctrinal and doctrinal methods was used. In-depth, unstructured interviews, observations, and focus groups with pertinent stakeholders were used to gather the data, which were then subjected to theme analysis and critical legal appraisal. To ensure a thorough understanding, the sampling technique comprised snowball sampling for abduction victims and a purposeful selection of security officers. According to this study, victims of transnational abduction suffer grave physical, psychological, and financial consequences. International human rights norms are violated by these abductions, which often lead to torture, rape, and killings, resulting in enduring psychological impacts and major interruptions to education and fundamental rights. The results highlight how urgently measures are needed to support the impacted children and deal with these violations. The activities of the Murle community, especially in Gambella State, worsen these effects, creating serious security risks and infringing against the fundamental human rights of children. The study concludes that both governmental and non-governmental entities must provide effective interventions. It suggests a comprehensive, cooperative plan involving the governments of South Sudan and Ethiopia, especially in Gambella, Jonglei, and Upper Nile, to guarantee the safety and welfare of impacted children and to lessen and eventually abolish cross-border abduction.