Africa-Press – Uganda. Persistent poverty and unemployment remain key push factors that thrust Ugandans into the arms of human traffickers, with the Middle East a notorious destination, a new report has revealed.
The report released by the Coordination Office for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes that cases of human trafficking in Uganda increased by 96.7 percent in 2021. This followed an increment of such reported cases from 214 in 2020 to 421 last year.
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“Incidents of internal trafficking were highest with 278, representing 66.03 percent; transnational trafficking had 113 incidents, representing 26.84 percent; while 30 incidents of suspected trafficking were unknown,” the report indicates.
Lt Gen Joseph Musanyufu, the Internal Affairs ministry Permanent Secretary, said along with the Middle East other notorious destinations include Asian nations such as Thailand, India and Malaysia.
“We need to be more alert but also come together because this is a joint effort to fight trafficking in persons,” Lt Gen Musanyufu said.
The report states that 297 victims were caught in the crosshairs of the 113 incidents of transnational trafficking, with Saudi Arabia (175 victims) leading the way. Qatar (110), the United Arab Emirates or UAE (50), Kenya (44), Oman (2) and Abu Dhabi (2) followed in that order.
According to the report, the majority of the victims were recruited and transported to their respective destinations after deceptive promises (often a nice paying job abroad) were dangled before them. The perpetrators use fraudulent means including forgery of travel documents, giving false information to government authorities and using non gazetted exit and entry routes along the porous borders of Uganda.
The report also indicates that some traffickers use fraud and deception to carry out illegal recruitment of migrant workers to countries which have signed bilateral labour agreements with Uganda such as the UAE and Jordan.
It is indicated that common human trafficking routes in 2021 were Wakiso, Kampala, Mukono and the eastern border districts to Kenya and several other foreign countries including the Middle East.
Agnes Igoye, the deputy national coordinator for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons at the Internal Affairs ministry, said they have started an awareness campaign “to inform the public about the existing trends of the crime of human trafficking and available safer options for labour migration and protection of the vulnerable children.”
It was also revealed that 403 cases were taken to court by December 31, 2021. Consequently, convictions secured stood at 30 . The cases withdrawn from court by the directorate of public prosecution totalled 11 with one case ending up in the acquitted column.
The report also indicates that 501 suspects of trafficking in persons were arrested. Of these, 279 were adults and 116 females. Elsewhere, eight of the suspects were male juveniles and four suspects were female juveniles and 12 were companies suspected of trafficking in persons.
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