In a bid to curb the growing tendency of exploiting people in form of human trafficking, stakeholders have called on goverment to take pivotal role to end the vice and help protect youths and children from exploitation as they are the worst victims of human trafficking.
Executive Director of Global Hope Mobilization, Caleb Thole stressed on the need for strong collaboration at all levels to end the vice saying human trafficking has been a major concern for sometime.
Thole has hinted lack of resources and knowledge gap between stakeholders has been crippling efforts to curb human trafficking.
Again, he implored government that children need to be protected as they are the most vulnerable section of the society hence the worst victims of human trafficking.
“It is unfortunate that children and youths are the worst victims when it comes to human trafficking. They are mostly trafficked to work in tobacco estates and in other areas in form of forced labour. It is also true that mostly children are trafficked to engage in prostitution in most brothels in and outside the country; if you visit brothels, you will be shocked to see that most prostitutes there are girls below the age of 18.
“It is therefore imperative that stakeholders and government must join hands and put deliberate policies and legal instruments, to protect them from such exploitative tendencies which rip their rights apart rendering them destitute and hopeless,” said Thole.
He continued saying that as victims of human trafficking, youths and children become objects devoid of human rights as their survival is at the hands and mercy of the perpetrators.
He has since called on officials along the borders to be vigilant as some children are trafficked beyond the borders to engage in forced labour citing Mozambique as one of the fertile destinations where Malawian children have been trafficked to for forced labour in estates and farms.
“It is also important that there must be cross border cooperation among nation states to reduce such practices of trafficking in persons especially children.
“Let us work in partnership to close our motherland from being a transit route of trafficking in persons especially children. It is important for us all to appreciate the gravity of the problem of trafficking in persons. It is sad that perpetrators of trafficking children are protected by the very same people who are supposed to be protecting the victims.
“Until all victims are free and until trafficking in persons stops in this country, the government of Malawi continues to fight and we fight this evil practice until we free those in bondage and are the victims of trafficking in persons especially children, “ Thole said.
In a separate interview, Chairperson for Malawi Network Against Trafficking-MNAT Rodrick Mulonya,has sounded the alarm on the increasing rate of human trafficking in the country.
He said that human trafficking is a persistent problem in Malawi, affecting individuals from all walks of life especially marginalized ones .
Mulonya said illiteracy is a significant contributing factor to the issue, but he was quick to note that even highly educated individuals, including those with PhDs, have fallen prey to traffickers.
He emphasized that the internet, particularly social media platforms like Facebook, has become a breeding ground for human traffickers.
United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) report on human trafficking provides an overview of trafficking patterns, legal steps taken in response and country specific information on reported cases of trafficking in persons, victims and prosecutions.
There is even neglect when it comes to either reporting on, or prosecuting cases of human trafficking.”
According to the 2023 UNODC report released on February 5 2021, 50 percent of detected victims of human trafficking cases worldwide is for sexual exploitation; the victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls. The report also expounds that 38 percent were exploited for forced labour, six percent were subjected to criminal activity while one percent were coerced into begging and smaller numbers into forced marriages, organ removal and other purposes.
“Worldwide, the share of children detected as victims of human trafficking has increased from around 10 percent in 2018 to over 30 percent in the year ending 2020.
“Although trafficking seems to imply people moving across continents, most exploitation takes place close to home. Data show intra-regional and domestic trafficking are the major forms of trafficking in persons,” reads UNODC report in part.
In Malawi 688 victim cases of human trafficking were rescued in the year 2020 against 147 victim cases rescued in 2019 mostly of which involve children. It is also understood of those 74 suspects of human trafficking were apprehended in 2020 against 32 suspects who were apprehended in the year 2019.
According to digital bulletin, 25 Million people in the world are victims of human trafficking, and are being sold into sexual exploitation, forced labour, organ removal and forced marriage. Victims are often coerced or convinced to go with traffickers, making it extremely hard for law enforcement authorities to follow their footsteps.
It is understood that the buying and selling of people is a business that generates profits of over US $ 150 billion a year making it one of the most prevalent money laundering offences in the world, but one that goes unnoticed- however only one percent of all global money laundering is detected.
