Trafficking in Persons: Assumptions and Reality
Described by some as a modern form of slavery, trafficking in persons, which is often also referred to as human trafficking, has captured the attention of many special interest groups, policy makers, and government agencies.
Annette Hübschle, Senior Researcher, Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme, ISS Cape Town
Described by some as a modern form of slavery, trafficking in
persons, which is often also referred to as human trafficking, has
captured the attention of many special interest groups, policy makers,
and government agencies. With its connections to sexual, labour and
other forms of exploitation, human trafficking has evoked divergent
views on how to best address it. Some of the proposed measures appear
to be similar to the anti-terrorism strategies that have dominated
global and African security agendas since the unfortunate events of
September 11, 2001.
In recent times, the US and other countries in the northern
hemisphere have prioritized the campaign against human trafficking.
South Africa is in the process of finalizing a law against trafficking
in persons, while Zambia, Mauritius and Mozambique have adopted
relatively comprehensive laws. Pressure is also mounting on other
countries in the region to criminalise and act against human
trafficking. Some reports suggest that in several southern African
countries, the disbursement of development aid has been linked to the
adoption and implementation of anti-human trafficking measures. At the
same time, the lack of empirical evidence on the levels of trafficking,
and on the nature of its impact continues to feed the apprehension of
many decision-makers to expend resources on combating human
trafficking. One gets a sense that governments are not convinced that
human trafficking provides a serious security threat to southern
Africa.
In its annual report on trafficking in persons (called the TIP
Report), the US State Department, categorizes countries into one of
three tiers. Placement into a tier is largely based on the extent of
government action to combat trafficking in persons. The State
Department evaluates whether countries comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. Governments that comply
fully are placed in Tier 1, while others are assessed on the degree of
compliance. According to the latest TIP Report, only Mauritius received
a Tier 1 rating. Most southern African countries including South
Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana are
placed in Tier 2, suggesting that they are making an effort to achieve
compliance. Lesotho and Angola are on the Tier 2 Watch list due to
showing little efforts to address trafficking on a year on year basis,
while the total number of victims of trafficking appears to be
significant or increasing. Swaziland and Zimbabwe are Tier 3 countries
due to a perceived lack of effort to combat trafficking.
Law enforcement officials from the region criticise elements of the
TIP Reports and associated ratings because they appear to rely on
anecdotal accounts and tainted data. Regardless of the veracity of the
reports, it is rather curious that the provision of training to judges,
prosecutors and government officials may change a country’s rating.
The incidence of human trafficking per se is a contested topic. A
two-year study by the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force
(SWEAT) and the ISS on the sex industry in Cape Town failed to uncover a
single case of human trafficking. However, several cases of
exploitation were revealed. Studies undertaken by Molo Songololo and
the International Organisation for Migration were constrained to
provide an evidence-based understanding of the nature and scale of the
problem. Ongoing research into organized crime in southern Africa by the
ISS has noted that the concepts of ‘human trafficking’ and ‘people
smuggling’ continue to be applied interchangeably by various
stakeholders. The research has shown that the conflation of the two
concepts, which mean different things, tends to distort the way the
threat of human trafficking in the region is presented. What
differentiates ‘human trafficking’ from ‘people smuggling’? The
principal differences between the two concepts relates to the elements
of volition and motive. People smuggling involves a business
arrangement between the smuggler and the smuggled person. Both parties
knowingly commit an offence by violating national boundaries. A
trafficked person is deceived and may be exploited. The offence in this
instance is not against the state only but also against the individual.
Most people encountered during the course of our research could not
distinguish between the two crimes. When asked about the prevalence of
human trafficking in the region, the initial reaction of many was to
allude to very high volumes of human trafficking. As the difference
between human trafficking and people smuggling was explained, however,
it became clear that human trafficking occurred on a rather limited
level. Yet, with the exception of terrorism, no other type of
criminality receives as much interest as the fight against human
trafficking. The trafficking of drugs, which poses the single largest
organized crime threat to the region, attracts rather less resources.
African people have been moving across the continent since time
immemorial, long before artificial lines to demarcate borders were drawn
across African countries by colonial powers. Like the demarcation of
national boundaries, the key aspect of anti-trafficking laws appears to
be control over the movement of people. Are we trying to protect the
human rights of victims of trafficking or are we trying to keep foreign
nationals out of spaces regarded as sovereign? It is the same
uncontrolled movement of people through porous unpatrolled long African
borders that continues to provide a headache to the anti-terrorism and
organized crime lobby. A key tenet of anti-terrorism strategies is the
control of the flow of people in and out of a country, the security of
travel documentation and the protection of national borders. On the
face of it, anti-trafficking laws and policies appear to deal with
victim support services. Yet, many anti-trafficking policies profess
stricter border control and enforcement of immigration policies. Thus,
the fight against human trafficking appears to overlap with the
objectives of the war on terrorism when it comes to stemming the tide
of migrants seeking refuge in countries away from home. Strict
immigration regulations are advocated in many developed countries.
Perhaps the anti-trafficking policies feed conveniently into draconian
and much less palatable anti-terrorism strategies?
