US report warns Malawi on human trafficking
A 2014 Human Trafficking report by the US State Department has warned that Malawian women will continue being trafficked across the southern Africa region unless government puts in place strong measures to combat the vice.
The report, which accuses government of doing little to halt human trafficking, discloses that victims, which have been identified in African and European countries, are given false identities, travelling papers, and are forced into drugs and prostitution.
In particular, the report has expressed concern over the failure by government to pass the Anti-Human Trafficking Bill, but government has pledged to table the bill during the current sitting of Parliament.
“Malawi’s victims of sex and labour trafficking have been identified in Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Europe,” reads part of the report.
The report also discloses that the country’s borders are used for transiting victims trafficked from the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa en route to South Africa.
The US government has since urged the Malawi Government to take all measures necessary to fight human trafficking.
Minister of Home Affairs Paul Chibingu on Wednesday said government will table the Anti-Human Trafficking Bill during the current sitting of Parliament.
“As I am talking, the draft bill is under scrutiny by the Constitutional Legal Committee of Cabinet and it is expected to be presented to the whole Cabinet for approval before it is tabled in Parliament.
“I am very optimistic that the bill will be among many bills that will be tabled before the end if this meeting of Parliament,” he said.
According to Chibingu, once the bill is enacted into law, Malawians will be assured of protection against human trafficking.
US Embassy’s deputy chief of mission Michael Gonzales told Weekend Nation in an interview that passing of the bill is crucial if the country is to win the battle against human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is not a crime of movement as its name would suggest, but rather the dehumanising practice of holding another in compelled service using whatever means necessary, be it physical or psychological,” said Gonzales.
He urged Malawi’s parliamentarians to support the bill once it is bought in Parliament.
Anti-human trafficking campaigner and lawyer Habiba Osman said it is important that government speeds up the process of enacting the bill.
