CanadaNews’ Reporter Notes

Trafficking in persons (TIP) or human-trafficking is not a new phenomenon in Africa.  Although understood and defined by legal scholars and individuals alike, it is a modern day form of slavery.  Human trafficking differs greatly from people smuggling.  With people smuggling, people voluntarily request the smuggler’s service for a fee.  When both parties arrive to the said destination, the smuggled person is usually free to do whatever he/she wishes. With trafficking victims, the person is enslaved.  The trafficker takes away the basic human rights of the victim.

At times TIP involves a number of different crimes and criminal actions in various jurisdictions. In Africa, trafficking is internal, regional, and/or international in scope and affects primarily women and children.  In the last decade, TIP has become more prominent and alarming in its contribution to the spread of HIV/AIDS.  Trafficking in persons include:  a)  the use of force, fraud, or coercion in the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labour or services and, b)  subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, personage, debt, bondage and/or prostitution.  Even when the victim volunteers to be trafficked, the circumstances can and often do quickly change, and in such cases, the activity is still a crime. 

The American Bar Association (ABA) is looking to eliminate the process all together.  “All over Africa we want an end brought to this,” said a person within the ABA ranks. 

Some African customs have made repugnant through the desire to trade human labour and life for money.  In many African countries, for example, there is a traditional practice of impoverished parents entrusting a child to a wealthier relative or respected member of the community.  That respected member of the community takes on the responsibility of caring for the child.  While the tradition of ‘fostering’ has been successfully practiced for generations, in recent history, there are an alarming number of incidents of exploitation associated with the custom.

Young girls working as domestic servants, and boys working on farms, in mines and in the informal sector, are often subject to sexual assault, held in bondage and denied remuneration for their work. A source who had been involved with these practices said, “Parents most times are unaware of the risk to us.  There is a lot of poverty, and with the lack of effective laws of education, parents think they do have any other choice.” 

In East and West Africa, more specifically – Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania – human trafficking has resulted in a surge of women and children subjected to forced involvement in war, harsh labour condition and practices, sexual exploitation and servitude.  Young children are trafficked from rural to urban areas for work, and the children often sexually exploited or denied wages. 

In an attempt to get a response from the embassies of Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania, it turned up fruitless. 

Two days later, a source within the Nigerian Embassy was willing to speak briefly via the phone.  He requested his name and title not be mentioned.  “Of what I know about the issue, it happens everywhere; around the world.  I cannot say that Nigeria is innocent of the act; but it is possible to be just as common here as well.  Generally, trafficking is often more prevalent amongst girls, as girls are viewed as more of an economic burden on their families than boys,” he said. 

The idea that someone within the embassy was willing to talk was interesting.  The person later confirmed that human trafficking has a serious impact on women and children in Nigeria.  Nigeria is a popular source, destination and transit country for TIP.  This is because in northern Nigeria has close ties with the Arab world.  This allows people to move freely to and from the Middle East for trade and religious pilgrimages.  TIP is taking greater dimensions in northern Nigeria.

The Nigerian Embassy official said, “The Government of Nigeria has been fighting human-trafficking since 1991, with the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”  He further said, “The government also established an office of a Special Advisor to the President on human-trafficking.  Tackling this issue has been the government’s primary issue for decades.”

When I asked for any indication that there has been a significant change (i.e. arrest numbers in this area) he indicated that he did not have those numbers readily available and actually needed to get off the phone for a meeting he was late for.

The supply and demand for TIP varies.  Supply is motivated by extreme poverty which is a precursor to illiteracy, and rural to urban migration.  The unfortunately low status of women and children also helps to create vulnerability and susceptibility to TIP.  On the demand side, TIP is prompted by war, the desire for cheap labour and workers in the sex industry.  In Uganda [most commonly in the northern regions] girls and boys have been trafficked by the tens of thousands to sever as rebels, sex slaves, and porters for soldiers.

Traffickers employ a variety of means to attract and deceive their victims.  They generally take advantage of the ignorance of the victims and their families, existing misconceptions and glorification of life in urban centres and abroad.  They also use the cultural disenfranchisement of the victims and their families in a particular region.

Fighting human trafficking have many challenges; but there are three primary ones:  1)  the lack of comprehensive legislation to combat TIP; 2) limited comprehensive baseline data or studies on the scope, nature, and extent of the phenomenon; 3)  many victims don’t come forward because some don’t feel like victims; 4) law enforcement structures and institutions are ill-equipped to handle trafficking matters.  Many countries just lack the legal framework to hold the criminals fully accountable.

To combat this ill in East Africa, ABA’s Africa Department (ABA-Africa) has developed and is implementing a long-term regional anti-trafficking program.  ABA-Africa’s program is focused on effectively combating trafficking of women and children.  To that end, ABA-Africa’s program is a three-track effort compromising of:  1) legal education for judges, lawyers, the police, and NGOs; 2) media awareness; and 3) legal aid.  To facilitate implementation, ABA-Africa is providing small sub-grants to NGOs as well as government departments.

In addition, ABA-Africa has supported the creation of National Workers Group (NWG) composed of NGOs, criminal justice professionals, legistatours, judges, magistrates, prosecutors, police and immigration officials. 

During the first six months of the program, ABA-Africa successfully organised the first ever East Africa Regional Anti-Trafficking Conference.  This historic event brought judges from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the United States.  Participants said they covered many issues within the trafficking umbrella and set up formal recommendations on a way forward.