Ugandan girls trafficked for sex in India

By Henry Sekanjako

The  number of young Ugandans girls being trafficked to Asian countries under the guise of green pastures yet get turned into sex slaves is on the increase and needs urgent government attention.

According to Uganda’s High Commissioner to India and eight other neighbouring countries Nimisha Madhvani said that the young girls are trafficked into India, Singapore and other countries by businessmen who promise them good jobs.

“They bring you here and hold your passport until you pay back their money they used to transport you,” said Nimisha.

She added that: “The girls are pushed to Nigerians to have sex and after paying back the costs; they are left to fend for themselves leading to their suffering here”

Nimisha made the remarks recently while briefing the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and the Parliamentary Commission on arrival in India to attend the World Inter parliamentary Union female Speakers’ conference.

Carol Lwabi, the First Secretary Uganda High Commission in India told Uganda’s delegation that after holding onto the girls’ passports, they [traffickers] tell them not to come to the mission lying to them that they will be arrested.

“We do not have access to the girls because we can’t go to the places they stay very few of them know that they can come to the mission and get helped,” she said.

She added that; “We can’t go out there to arrest people because we are here to arrest them. We have so far helped four girls who we have even sent back to Uganda but I have no idea how many they are out there.”

The issue of trafficking of girls for sex slavery has been going on for some time now. The parliamentary committee on equal opportunities last year made visits to different Asian countries to know the extent of the problem but it’s yet to table a report to parliament.

However, Madhvani said that as they wait for government intervention, they have become strict on the matter by scrutinising people before giving out visas.

““What we have done is to expose it Malaysia, Singapore and Chinese is being handled but for the India issue we need more strength,” she said. “But now they have started to pass through Nairobi because we were catching them from here.”

Commenting on the matter, Kadaga, who is in India to attend the World Inter parliamentary Union female Speakers’ conference asked government to work out modalities of formally exporting labour.

“We need to institute measures where we can officially export labour. We may not be able to eradicate trafficking but we can bring it down. We need to know where our people have gone, who is employing them and how they are being treated,” she said. Ends.