More has to be done to curb human trafficking

The Police in Busia District this week rescued 10 suspected victims of human trafficking.  Seven suspects were also arrested to help with investigations. Nine women and one man -picked from different parts of the country- had lived in Busia for close to three months. 

Once investigations are completed, the suspects who claimed to work for Empowered Consumerism, will be arraigned in court on charges of human trafficking and extortion.  The organisation allegedly gives business opportunities to unemployed youth.

The victims, aged between 18 and 23, said they had been charged between Shs900,000 and Shs1.2m in order to get  jobs.

One of the victims from Amolatar District said his family sold two cows to raise Shs1.3m to pay the group after they promised him a job in a bank.

The 10 rescued victims are just a fraction of the huge numbers of Ugandans who have over the years, been trafficked especially through Kenya and other porous border points to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kenya and Oman.

A 2021 UNHCR report says a total of 1,295 persons were recorded as victims of trafficking in persons. About 790 were victims of transnational trafficking, 475 internal trafficking while 30 victims were unknown. A total of 713 were female adults, 285 were female juveniles, and 181 victims were male adults while 86 were male juveniles.

Most of these are taken through labour export companies that have mushroomed across the country for commercial sex or labour exploitation.

Although the country has taken steps to counter human trafficking, including the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime in 2005 and the enactment of  the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act in 2009, more still has to be done.

The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act  calls for the prosecution of offenders, as well as the protection of the rights of victims and survivors of trafficking. 

But according to the US government State Department 2021 trafficking report,  Uganda does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so.

The report says in 2020, the government investigated fewer cases compared to 2019, citing government officials who deliberately stifle investigations involving top government officials involved in trafficking of persons. During the same period, 11 traffickers were convicted under the anti-trafficking act in nine cases,  six for sex trafficking and five for forced labour, a decrease compared to 16 traffickers in 2019. Two traffickers received prison terms of seven years; one trafficker received a prison sentence of two years.

This has to change.  Offenders should not receive a slap on the wrist. The prescribed punishment for offences involving adult trafficking victims is 15 years’ imprisonment and up to life imprisonment for those involving child victims.

And that is what anyone found guilty ought to receive in order to curb human trafficking.

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