Regional April 2005 |
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| Human trafficking, (New Era, 2005-04-19):-The African Union in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is to undertake studies in human trafficking to get a sense of how prevalent the problem is on the continent. Human trafficking is described as the recruitment, transportation and transfer of people by means of threat or use of force for purposes of exploitation such as sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, servitude and removal of organs. This is against the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which stipulates that "no one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms". Although the union has done some work on the phenomenon, termed an emerging issue 10 years after Beijing, the continental body can only develop a protocol on anti-trafficking once the studies have been done. "We (AU) have agreed in principle with IOM to co-operate on the subject," said Winnie Byanyima, AU's Director for Gender and Development. Human trafficking is the third largest and fastest growing criminal industry apart from drugs and arms, which victimises millions of people and rakes in billions in profit. An issue that people thought was for Asians ten years ago, according to Byanyima, has become a serious problem on the African continent. "There is serious trafficking of women and children for prostitution as well as bonded labour," she said. Many have heard about trafficking although due to lack of control mechanisms in countries, there is lack of concrete information on trafficked persons. In most cases, it remains difficult to differentiate between an illegal immigrant and a trafficked person. Victims of such a trade are vulnerable populations such as migrant populations, runaway or abused children as well as the poor. Other groups at risk are undocumented immigrants as they lack legal status and protection, and have limited language skills and employment opportunities. These groups are also poor, very far away from their homes and are socially isolated. Information from the IOM says it remains the fastest growing industry because of its high profit returns with no start-up capital and because the risk of prosecution remains negligible. In Southern Africa, human trafficking, especially for prostitution, is more pervasive in neighbouring South Africa than thought. Victims of the trade come from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, while yet others have their origins in Thailand, China and Eastern Europe - Russia, in particular. No evidence at the moment exists that the human trafficking trade has found its way into Namibia. David Coomber of IOM Namibia says that in the absence of a study to determine the extent of the problem, there are no details relating to human trafficking in the country. Although IOM did a research on human trafficking in Southern Africa - Namibia, Botswana and others were not included as the seven-month study concentrated on South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique and Lesotho. Recently, Deputy Chairperson of the National Council, Margaret Mensah-Williams, told the media that Namibia was no exception to such practices. "Child trafficking is also happening here, all we need is to carry out a survey to determine how and where exactly," Nampa quoted her as saying. According to the IOM, children are also trafficked by long distance truck drivers, who either sell them to other drivers or keep them as sex slaves. The Namibian police however said yesterday there is no concrete evidence in human trafficking in the country. "If it is being practised, it is very secret," said police spokesperson Chief Inspector Angula Amulungu. Women, boys and girls, says the IOM, are lured by traffickers with promises of work or study abroad. Testimonies posted on the Internet from some previously trafficked people indicate that the victims are sexually assaulted as a way of initiating them before they are forced to work in brothels. "They are tricked into paying hundreds of thousands of Rands as an advance for travel, accommodation and food as part of the deception," says IOM. To prevent them from escaping, all travel documents are confiscated, while others are threatened in various ways. Other information has it that there are four main syndicates operating in the world of trafficking, namely: the Chinese mafia in South East Asia, Bulgarian syndicates , the Russian mafia and African criminal groups from Angola, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Angola, it says, is a country of origin for persons trafficked to South Africa and Europe for labour and sexual exploitation, while Malawi is a source country for women and children trafficked to South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The information also names Nigerian traffickers as being active in Malawi. While it is a source country, Malawi is also a transit country for persons trafficked to the Netherlands, Germany, Italy as well as Belgium. Angola also has an internal problem of trafficking due to a large number of former combatants, displaced persons and orphans. From Mozambique, says the IOM, at least 1 000 persons are trafficked annually, a trade that rakes in N$1 million yearly. A sector project against trafficking in women in Germany says trafficking in humans can be controlled through specific measures such as awareness-raising activities among potential victims, psychological and legal support for victims, long term integration measures for victims and lobbying for the development of legal standards, and training of relevant professional groups such as police and labour inspectors, among many others. Jasna Maikoz, from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told participants to a conference last week on Strengthening Human and Women's Rights - Key to Strengthening the Millennium Development Goals, that countries would succeed in combating the big business if they could stabilize victims, seize assets and allow victims to stay in their counties. "We are mostly worried about how much we will pay and not how much the perpetrator is pocketing," she said. | |
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp |