Human trafficking: 12 girls intercepted at Entebbe airport
Trafficking. Luggage of some of the youth who were recently intercepted before leaving the country. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Police opened a general inquiry file to investigate circumstances under which these youth were recruited.
- Mr Onyango urged the relatives of these girls, or anyone who knows any of them to help Police with further investigations.
Aviation Police and Immigration officials at Entebbe International Airport has intercepted 12 female youth that were being trafficked to Saudi Arabia to work as maids.
The youth told police that they were recruited by one Awali Umaru operating at Freedom City on Entebbe Road.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said the youth are being held at Entebbe Police Station as they hunt the recruiters on allegations of trafficking in persons.
“The youth were wearing T-shirts with Arabic writings and when we cross-checked, we found out that the company that recruited them is not among the list of authorised recruitment agencies. All the youth had a one-way ticket,” Mr Onyango said yesterday.
Police opened a general inquiry file to investigate circumstances under which these youth were recruited.
Alternative routes
Incidents of victims trafficked through Entebbe International Airport had reduced after stringent measures. The traffickers had started using Busia or Malaba border posts to connect to Middle East through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Government put stringent measures on recruitment of maids to Middle East after incidents of murder, torture and sexual abuse. At least seven bodies of Ugandans killed in Middle East were returned in Uganda a month ago.
The bodies were brought back by the government after family members failed to get funds to transport their loved one back home.
Crime report
Human trafficking. According to the Annual Crime Report of 2018, 286 incidents related to trafficking in persons were registered by the police compared to 177 cases recorded in 2017.
The report indicated that majority of the registered incidents were of transnational nature and most of these involved adults.
Recruitment of labour in Uganda for Middle East is big business that reportedly brings in more than Shs1 trillion in the country annually.
Several reports by United States Trafficking in Persons report show that government employees connive with human traffickers, but they are not investigated or prosecuted.
