Africa-Press – Botswana. Online businesses and marriages can expose people to trafficking and human smuggling. Detective Senior Superintendent, Selebatso Mokgosi, who is also officer commanding for Interpol, cautioned against such online activities, noting that there was an emerging phenomenon of human trafficking in which some Batswana were entering into businesses and marriage of convenience with foreign nationals through social media platforms,which put them at risk of exploitation.
He was presenting on situational analysis of the trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants phenomenon in Botswana including identified cases at the ongoing training of law enforcement officers.
He revealed that his office had stopped three such marriages through investigations.
“It is a pity that in most cases, the affected traffickers were married and wanted to marry second wives and in other instances some victims are shuffled around like commodities as the traffickers focused their efforts on making even bigger profits,” he added.
Detective Senior Superintendent Mokgosi said Botswana was one the countries which were transits route for traffickers, adding that the country was also a host and recruitment spot and targeted people were women, men and children.
Most people, he said, were promised better jobs, high wages and better life abroad. He urged Batswana to be vigilant and not to fall prey to online scams or traffickers.
Detective Senior Superintendent Mokgosi revealed that in Botswana, 36 cases of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants had been reported of which 12 had been completed before court while 15 were pending investigations.
In addition, he said, 45 were female victims, while male victims were 39 and 46 were children. He said police realised that most trafficked children in Botswana were mischievous while some women were desperate to have children and were promised miracle children.
A total number of 19 cases of smuggling involving 37 suspects, he said, was recorded of which five had been completed, four before court, four under investigations and four withdrawn.
He also pointed out that recruitment agencies were mushrooming and efforts were made to hit on the affected companies to stop their operations.
However, Detective Senior Superintendent Mokgosi called on all stakeholders to collaborate to combat the crime, saying it was essential that they continue with a holistic approach across all sectors to end the crime. He also emphasised the need for stakeholders to document everything that they were doing and submit it to the relevant authority.
Meanwhile, participants were apprised on the trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrant framework and legislation in Botswana and reminded that they were duty bound to help the government to implement the anti-human trafficking national action plan.
Acting chief administration officer from Ministry of Justice, Ms Shirley Ben, said as the coordinating office, they needed assistance of stakeholders and appreciated that the human trafficking action plan launched last year October outlined roles of all key stakeholders in the next five years.
The plan, she said, meant to provide guidance for state actors, civil society and other actors in an organised and coordinated manner, emphasising that the plan focused on the importance of prevention, protection, prosecution and partnerships.
She said the plan stipulated how stakeholders would carry out their objectives to ensure the success of the plan. “This action plan has been endorsed and after two years, we have to review it and report what we have done and as the coordinating ministry, we rely on your collaborative efforts to achieve the intended objective,” she added.
The gathering was also informed that Botswana had signed the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (PALERMO protocol) which was an additional legal framework supporting the United Nations Convention against Transitional Organised Crime.
The protocol addresses the issue of smuggling of migrant and human trafficking which are forms of transitional organised crime and by signing the protocol.
Ms Ben said Botswana gained access to an internationally recognised set of legal standards and guidelines that inform the implementation of domestic legislation and polices of human trafficking.
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