11 Sep 2007: ISS Today: Putting the Cart Before the Horse - Observations on Some Recent Southern African Initiatives Against Human Trafficking

11 September 2007: Putting the Cart Before the Horse - Observations on Some Recent Southern African Initiatives Against Human Trafficking

 

In July 2007, Mozambique`s council of ministers approved a law against human trafficking. This was against the backdrop of several reports that Mozambique has become a key route for adults and children sold into forced labour and prostitution. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that 1000 women and children from Mozambique are trafficked to South Africa annually. A spokesperson for the council of ministers explained that the goal of the legislation is to discourage human trafficking, which is very common in Mozambique and the entire Southern African region, by imposing lengthy sentences on those convicted of the offence.

 

By choosing to adopt the law against human trafficking, the Mozambique government has effectively classified human trafficking as a legislative problem. In other circles human trafficking has been perceived as a multi-dimensional issue, one which manifests itself as a human rights problem, a gender problem, a child labour problem, a health problem, and a migration issue. It is clear that the nature of the solutions adopted are determined by the manner in which the problem it is defined.

 

Previously there had not been any specific law in Mozambique against human trafficking. Nonetheless, certain aspects of this activity could be prosecuted and punished under the Penal Code and other laws relating to labour, child labour and immigration. Mozambique has, however, not prosecuted anyone for any of these aspects of human trafficking. In addition, the level of reporting of occurrences to the authorities has tended to be low. Some observers believe that this is because of the general tolerance of child labour - vigorously contested in some quarters as a misplaced European concept - as well as weak border controls.

 

What is clear is that the incidence of human trafficking in Mozambique is not simply a product of the leniency of the penalties hitherto imposed on those convicted of the offence. The primary problem is the generally recalcitrant attitude towards human trafficking. At issue is the fact that the country provides a route for the trafficking of adults and children who are sold into forced labour and prostitution. This situation piggybacks on a general tolerance of child labour, particularly in rural areas where boys are illegally forced to work on farms and mines and girls are forced to work as servants or sex workers. It appears that widespread poverty feeds indifference to, and in some cases encourages, human trafficking.

 

Any effort targeted at addressing human trafficking in Mozambique and in any other parts of the region should begin by engendering a cultural paradigm shift around the phenomenon.  Initiatives should be directed at addressing the mindset that creates and supports an environment in which human trafficking thrives. Serious efforts must be made to change the attitudes of those who do not see anything wrong with perpetuating forced child labour and other abuses on women and children. Human trafficking is a problem that should be framed within the broader context of social dysfunction. The role of the community should be a key factor in so far as both victim and perpetrator are located in the society that is affected by the criminal element. As such, robust community sensitisation programmes should be an integral part of the solution.

 

Instead of this, however, the regional pattern that appears to be emerging in the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children) is almost exclusively one of pursuing a legislative agenda. In 2003, Dr. Ugi Zveckic (then Director of the UNODC for Southern Africa) argued that it would probably take twenty years for the region to fully implement the Convention.

 

While there have been great strides to advance legislative and political agendas on organised crime in general over the last few years, there has not been equal impetus in capacity building, especially within law enforcement. As things stand, Mozambique faces various general challenges in law enforcement, including: 

  • Insufficient budget allocations for law enforcement in the face of other competing national needs.
  • Inadequate training of law enforcement agencies and the inability to rationalise relevant training methods.
  • 1200 police recruits are trained per year where 6000 recruits should be trained.

 

Until and unless these issues are addressed, dealing with any organised criminal activities will remain problematic. 

 

The case of Mozambique is, in many respects, representative of the situation in the rest of the sub-region. Africa has fewer law enforcement officials per citizen that any other continent. The average ratio in Africa is 180 police officers per 100,000 citizens, while in Asia it is 363 officers per 100,000. Consequently, complex issues like human trafficking end up low on the list of priorities as efforts are instead focused on less complex criminal activities. Adding to the challenge is the fact that African law enforcement officers are generally underpaid and government officials are susceptible to corruption. As a result, measures against organised crimes such as human trafficking are largely inadequate and unsustainable.

 

Inadequate institutional capacity in the region continues to hamper the development and sustenance of effective responses to organised crime. Effective international law enforcement cooperation, which includes the provision of technical assistance, is essential in fighting this. Technical assistance initiatives should include:

  • Institutional and operational capacity building for law enforcement and judicial bodies in the key areas of;
    • Investigation
    • Prosecution, and
    • Adjudication of serious crimes
  • Improving the flow and exchange of information between authorities responsible for border control and law enforcement agencies.

 

Such capacity building, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will eventually enable all countries to pre-empt and combat trans-national crimes before they extend beyond their national borders.

 

In conclusion, the practice of adopting and applying models crafted elsewhere in the world is counterproductive. The specific challenge for Southern Africa is to build the capacity necessary to effectively police borders, while also improving the quality of investigations and prosecutions. At the same time, the fundamental causative factors for human trafficking need to be continuously identified and addressed. No legislation aimed at ’discouraging’ human trafficking will succeed in the absence of broader efforts of this kind.

 

Jackson Madzima, Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme, ISS Cape Town