Mw ranks near human trafficking bad boys

Government has failed to meet minimum standards for ending human trafficking with the United States (US) ranking it near the worst countries that have been marked for economic sanctions, it has emerged.

The US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 2023 report, which assesses and ranks over 200 countries, faults Malawi for failure to intensify its investigation and prosecution of sex and labour trafficking crimes and complicit government officials.

It further observes that there are inadequate penalties for convicted traffickers and recommends “significant prison terms.”

The report released last month, maintained the country in Tier 2, its perennial rank for the past 13 years.

Though the report praises Malawi for making significant progress, the expansive recommendations which the US has prescribed cement the country near the bottom than to Tier One which has top performers.

That exclusive club contains 30 countries, including Argentina, Denmark, United States of America, Singapore and Seychelles, the only African nation.

The Tier 2 has over 100 members and among them all Malawi’s neighbours Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

“The government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Due to the lack of shelters and other available protection services, police detained some victims during the investigation process and did not take adequate measures to prevent the re-traumatisation of victims participating in criminal proceedings against traffickers.

“Credible reports of official complicity continued to impede the government’s efforts to carry out anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts and proactively identify trafficking victims,” reads the report in part.

Among the 12 recommendations, the US tasks the government to expand specialised training for police, immigration officials, prosecutors, and magistrates on investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes.

It further asks for collaboration with non-governmental organisations and international organisations to increase the government’s capacity to provide shelter and protective services to more trafficking victims.

The report adds that the government needs to “implement and consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labour recruitment companies, including by holding fraudulent labour recruiters criminally accountable.”

Meanwhile, international relations analyst Evance Mwapasa in an interview on Thursday said the country’s failure to escalate its human trafficking elimination affects its chances of striking deals that ease the citizens’ foreign travels.

“Currently other countries that allowed Malawians to enter without visa requirement, stopped because we are viewed as illegal travellers even if we have proper documentation.

“A good example is that previously we could fly to London without a visa. So, I believe if our track record improves on the human trafficking index, countries would remove some restrictions for us,” the former deputy High Commissioner to Mozambique, said.

In his earlier analysis, national project officer on Trafficking in Persons ·at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Maxwell Matewere, said lack of technical knowledge among enforcers has contributed to poor implementation of the anti-trafficking legislation and support of victims.

“There is a need for enforcement officers to be equipped with the ability to distinguish victims from perpetrators of TIP as to be able to adequately comply with the guiding principles of identification of trafficked persons under Section 27 of the Act.

“Victims cannot access assistance and support facilities unless the law enforcers have capacity to identify them as victims of TIP in order to refer them to appropriate criminal justice systems and structures,” he said.

“Lack of proper coordination mechanisms lead to problems like duplication of efforts, and failure by institutions to perform their mandate. The challenge that is currently there is that there is no policy on TIP coordination. This leads to sporadic coordination which is not effective.

Matewere further said poor investment in cross-border investigations of TIP cases and coordination between Malawi and other countries was also hindering the fight against trafficking.

“Trafficking in persons is an offence that commonly crosses the border. There is thus a need for cooperation among various law enforcement agencies across several jurisdictions.

“In a nutshell, currently cross-border investigations are mainly hindered by inadequate financial resources and lack of well-developed cooperation agreements on TIP between Malawi and other jurisdictions,” he pointed out.

The Ministry of Homeland Security and Malawi Police Service had not responded to our questionnaire as we went for press on Saturday.