Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA remains a leader in the fight against human trafficking, as evidenced by the United States of America’s (USA) latest global report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP), which indicates that Namibia achieved a tier 1 ranking, for the third consecutive year, for combatting human trafficking.
Namibia is the only country in Africa to receive the tier 1 ranking. According to the report, the ranking is awarded to countries whose governments fully meet the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
The Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights at the United States Department of State, Uzra Zeya, handed the report to the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Jennelly Matundu, on Friday and praised the country for the concerted and coordinated efforts to combat human trafficking.
“This ranking reflects the enormous efforts of thousands of individuals across Namibia to protect vulnerable individuals from exploitation. It also reflects Namibia’s close and successful coordination with its many international partners, which include several other governments, international organisations and stakeholders,” Zeya said.
She added that the USA is and will remain a proud supporter of Namibia’s National Coordinating Body (NCB) on trafficking persons, adding that she hopes that the support will encourage proactive efforts with regards to the identification and protection of victims, while bringing those responsible to justice.
“We encourage you to continue fostering collaboration between social welfare and criminal justice professionals to increase effectiveness in prosecutions and increase training of frontline responders to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations using the National Referral Mechanism,” she added.
She also praised the country for the safe repatriation of the majority of the Namibian women who were held by traffickers in Oman.
“I would like to assure the victims and family of victims, still suffering and awaiting justice, including the Namibian women who remain in Oman, held by their traffickers, we remain deeply concerned and engaged,” she continued.
Matundu, who received the latest report on behalf of the ministry, said that the government remains committed to fighting any forms of trafficking in persons.
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