Human Trafficking in [Namibia Street Children in [Namibia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Namibia] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early
years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Namibia.htm
Namibia is a source, transit, and
destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor
and commercial sexual exploitation. Namibian children are trafficked within
the country for domestic servitude and forced agricultural labor, cattle
herding, vending, and commercial sexual exploitation. In some cases, Namibian
parents may have unwittingly sold their children into trafficking conditions,
including child prostitution. There have been reports of Namibian children
being trafficked to |
|
||
|
CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** John Ekongo, New Era, allafrica.com/stories/200809240219.html [partially accessed 9 September 2011 - access restricted] "After 10 years of Interpol
working group meetings on trafficking, I would argue that we still know
amazingly little. We have only a vague idea of the scale of the crime and the
way it is organized. We know fairly little about the traffickers. We
understand fragments of the recruitment process, we know a little about how
the money is moved but not enough to make an impact through the seizing of
assets." Kvigne
said the gaps in understanding this problem could be attributed to the
diversity of the crime as it differs from one country to another. Deputy Inspector General for
Administration at the Namibian Police, Major General James Tjivikua said trafficking has become a major concern in
the region. Tjivikua
added that the trafficking of persons especially women and children is
worsened by a number of factors, the leading cause being that of profit. The trafficking of human beings is a
multi-faceted area of crime incorporating crimes as diverse as trafficking
for forced labour into the agriculture sector or manufacturing industries,
trafficking in human organs and sexual services for promised better
opportunities. The clandestine nature
of human trafficking makes the scale of the illicit industry difficult to
assess and there are few reliable statistics on the number of persons
trafficked in the Southern African region. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor [PDF] www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2006OCFTreport.pdf [accessed 9 December 2010] INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In 1999, approximately 15.5
percent of boys and 13.9 percent of girls ages 5 to 14 were working in Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78749.htm [accessed 23 February 2011] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – The law
specifically prohibits trafficking in persons, and there were no reports of
persons being trafficked to, from, or within the country; however, child
prostitution occurred. The law also prohibits slavery, kidnapping, and forced
labor, including forced prostitution, child labor, and alien smuggling.
Traffickers were subject to fines of up to $166,000 (N$ one million) or up to
50 years' imprisonment. Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 28 January 1994 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/NAMIBIA.htm [accessed 23 February 2011] [10] Equally, the Committee is concerned at the
situation of children in especially difficult circumstances, including the
incidence of child labour, particularly on farms and in the informal sector,
and the number of children dropping out of school. A Baseline Assessment of Human
Trafficking in Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare MGECW, June
2009 [accessed 23 February 2011] EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY -- IV. Assessment Findings -- A. Incidence A small number of cases of human
trafficking were identified. However, it is possible that there might be more
cases. The difficulties in ascertaining the exact standing of possible cases
stemmed from two general factors: (1) limited time for follow-up
investigation where the available facts were inadequate; and, (2) conflation
of terminology and understanding of trafficking, smuggling and illegal migration. One of the
major difficulties in assessing potential trafficking cases is the lack of
definitional clarity about trafficking on the part of both lay- and
professional personnel. However, some cases of human
trafficking were found, including both labour exploitation and sexual
exploitation. Examples included: (1) a Zambian national trafficking Zambian
boys into Additional cases of suspected or
possible trafficking were also found. These were defined as fact patterns
that indicated that while trafficking was one possible scenario that would
explain or be consistent with the facts, other scenarios could not be
excluded as an explanation. Examples include trucks being stopped at border
posts and individuals being found hidden in the trucks. However, no reliable
information was available on the ultimate purpose for which the individuals
were being moved. This fact pattern could support a myriad of findings –
trafficking that was intercepted or human smuggling or a case of illegal
migration. As such, it could only be classified as a case of possible or
suspected trafficking. John Ekongo, New Era, allafrica.com/stories/200809240219.html [partially accessed 9 September 2011 - access restricted] "After 10 years of Interpol working
group meetings on trafficking, I would argue that we still know amazingly
little. We have only a vague idea of the scale of the crime and the way it is
organized. We know fairly little about the traffickers. We understand
fragments of the recruitment process, we know a little about how the money is
moved but not enough to make an impact through the seizing of
assets." Kvigne
said the gaps in understanding this problem could be attributed to the
diversity of the crime as it differs from one country to another. Deputy Inspector General for
Administration at the Namibian Police, Major General James Tjivikua said trafficking has become a major concern in
the region. Tjivikua
added that the trafficking of persons especially women and children is
worsened by a number of factors, the leading cause being that of profit. The trafficking of human beings is a
multi-faceted area of crime incorporating crimes as diverse as trafficking
for forced labour into the agriculture sector or manufacturing industries, trafficking
in human organs and sexual services for promised better opportunities. The clandestine nature of human trafficking
makes the scale of the illicit industry difficult to assess and there are few
reliable statistics on the number of persons trafficked in the Southern
African region. The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/namibia.doc [accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING - There is little evidence that
trafficking for prostitution is widespread in Freedom House Country Report - Political Rights: 2 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2009&country=7668 [accessed 23 February 2011] All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery - |
|||
Human Trafficking in [Namibia Street Children in [Namibia] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Namibia] [other countries]