NGOs want trafficking made criminal
Oct 19, 2008
PARLIAMENT has been asked to strengthen criminal laws to prevent trafficking of children. The proposal was made by members of the Uganda Child Rights Network and UNICEF while meeting MPs on the defence and internal affairs committee last week.
By John Odyek
PARLIAMENT has been asked to strengthen criminal laws to prevent trafficking of children. The proposal was made by members of the Uganda Child Rights Network and UNICEF while meeting MPs on the defence and internal affairs committee last week.
Stella Ayo Odongo, the programme officer at Uganda Child Rights Network, said the Prevention in Trafficking of Persons Bill should focus on cross-border trafficking.
“There is trafficking of children from within the country and between districts. Some of the children that end up on the streets as domestic house-helps and shamba boys are victims of such acts.â€
She added that there was need to include provisions that make trafficking criminal in the Bill.
Odongo said over two million people were trafficked globally each year. Of these, about 1,200 were children. She said while there is child trafficking in Uganda, information on the practice was not well established.
Odongo cited a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in which the Lord’s Resistance Army is reported to have abducted between 25,000-30,000 children since 1990. It adds that 1,500 children were employed and 12,000 children were engaged in commercial sex. The ILO also estimates that over 10,000 children live on the streets and many are engaged in cross-border trade, agriculture and fishing.
The US Department of State, Odongo says, classifies Uganda under tier one. This implies that the country is a source, provides transit routes and a destination for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of labour and sexual exploitation.
Some of the children trafficked out of Uganda, end up in Canada, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.
Mathias Kasamba, chairperson of the committee, said those implicated in trafficking of people would be fined sh20m and their organisations dissolved and de-registered. He added that the penalty for those involved in aggravated trafficking is life imprisonment.
The Prevention in Trafficking of Persons Bill aims at combating trafficking in persons, a contemporary form of modern day slavery whose victims are predominantly women and children. It spells out legislation for criminalising the offence of trafficking in persons and prosecution of offenders.
The Bill also seeks to provide protection, assistance and support to victims of trafficking, promote cooperation among countries to combat human trafficking and provide for the prevention and suppression of the offence.
PARLIAMENT has been asked to strengthen criminal laws to prevent trafficking of children. The proposal was made by members of the Uganda Child Rights Network and UNICEF while meeting MPs on the defence and internal affairs committee last week.
Stella Ayo Odongo, the programme officer at Uganda Child Rights Network, said the Prevention in Trafficking of Persons Bill should focus on cross-border trafficking.
“There is trafficking of children from within the country and between districts. Some of the children that end up on the streets as domestic house-helps and shamba boys are victims of such acts.â€
She added that there was need to include provisions that make trafficking criminal in the Bill.
Odongo said over two million people were trafficked globally each year. Of these, about 1,200 were children. She said while there is child trafficking in Uganda, information on the practice was not well established.
Odongo cited a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in which the Lord’s Resistance Army is reported to have abducted between 25,000-30,000 children since 1990. It adds that 1,500 children were employed and 12,000 children were engaged in commercial sex. The ILO also estimates that over 10,000 children live on the streets and many are engaged in cross-border trade, agriculture and fishing.
The US Department of State, Odongo says, classifies Uganda under tier one. This implies that the country is a source, provides transit routes and a destination for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of labour and sexual exploitation.
Some of the children trafficked out of Uganda, end up in Canada, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.
Mathias Kasamba, chairperson of the committee, said those implicated in trafficking of people would be fined sh20m and their organisations dissolved and de-registered. He added that the penalty for those involved in aggravated trafficking is life imprisonment.
The Prevention in Trafficking of Persons Bill aims at combating trafficking in persons, a contemporary form of modern day slavery whose victims are predominantly women and children. It spells out legislation for criminalising the offence of trafficking in persons and prosecution of offenders.
The Bill also seeks to provide protection, assistance and support to victims of trafficking, promote cooperation among countries to combat human trafficking and provide for the prevention and suppression of the offence.