Government has come up with a raft of measures to fight human trafficking across the country’s borders, an official has said. Director of Media Services in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Anywhere Mutambudzi yesterday said an inter-ministerial committee has since been established to look into the issues of human trafficking.
Addressing journalists in Beitbridge, Dr Mutambudzi, said the committee had four pillars which include protection, prosecution, prevention and partnerships.
Its secretariat fall under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage.
The media briefing updated journalists on the preparations of the World Anti-Trafficking Day commemorations set for tomorrow at Dulivhadzimo Stadium where Vice President Kembo Mohadi will be the guest speaker.
He said 176 cases of human trafficking had been recorded in the country this year.
Dr Mutambudzi said over 100 victims had been successfully reintegrated into society.
“The Government is working on a number of interventions to ensure that we prevent and deal with cases of human trafficking with the urgency they deserve. You will note that I am the chairperson of the prevention pillar, under the inter-ministerial committee which is charged with raising awareness to avoid the recurrence of such issues,” he said.
“The World Anti-Trafficking in persons Day is commemorated on 30 July this year, but this year it was pushed to October 6 because the country was seized with the matter of harmonised elections. Since the enactment of the Anti-trafficking in Persons Act, the Government has been making strides in addressing this troublesome scourge.
“So far one of the kingpins linked to the Kuwait saga, Norest Marume, has been jailed 50 years. This should serve as a warning to other would be offenders,” he said.
“At the same time we want to urge people to be wary of people who promise them heaven on earth in other countries in the name of seeking greener pastures. In most case these people turn out to be dangerous criminals running modern day slavery syndicates. They trade the victims to prostitution, body parts harvesters and labour exploitation cartels”.
Dr Mutambudzi said a lot of actors in the anti-trafficking sector had been capacitated with various information and tools to effectively deal with the crime.
He said the human trafficking crime was very complex and delicate since the perpetrators had sophisticated ways of executing their nefarious missions.
“It is important that there is coherence among all the actors and partners so that we continue to prevent and effectively administer justice for the victims where such crimes are detected,” said Dr Mutambudzi.
He said efforts were being made to address issues of irregular migration across the country’s border where some illegal crossing points were being used as routes for human trafficking.
Dr Mutambudzi said they were also concerned with cases of domestic trafficking with people being taken from different parts of the country to other places where they are exploited.
Source – Herald