Namibia fails trafficking victims

While reports of human trafficking in Namibia have already made headlines several times this year, the country has again been placed on an international list as one of the nations that are failing to effectively combat human trafficking.Although Namibia has made some effort to combat human trafficking, it lacks in key areas such as convicting traffickers, personnel for shelters and awareness raising, while street children remain vulnerable to detention as police and immigration officials do not screen for indicators of trafficking. This is according to the 2017 US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report which was released worldwide yesterday. It says Namibia is “predominantly a country where children, and to a lesser extent women, are subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking”.“Some victims are initially offered legitimate work for adequate wages, but are then subjected to forced labour in urban centres and on commercial farms. Namibian children are subjected to forced labour in agriculture, cattle herding, and domestic service, and to sex trafficking in Windhoek and Walvis Bay,” the report says. According to the report Namibia last year conducted eight trafficking investigations of which three were for sex trafficking and five for forced labour, compared to seven cases in 2015. The government initiated prosecution in two cases involving seven defendants last year, the same as in 2015.No traffickers were convicted though, compared to one conviction in the previous reporting period. One prosecution initiated in 2014 resulted in acquittal during the reporting period.This year there was a human trafficking case reported to the police at Rundu in which parents tried to sell their children. An international human trafficking case is also being investigated involving an Air Namibia employee and his accomplice for allegedly smuggling 11 Angolans out of the country. The report says in 2015 media reports indicated that sex tourists from southern Africa and Europe allegedly exploited child sex-trafficking victims. “Namibians commonly house and care for children of distant relatives to provide expanded educational opportunities; however, in some instances these children are exploited in forced labour.”Among Namibia's ethnic groups, San and Zemba children are particularly vulnerable to forced labour on farms or in homes, the report says. In 2014, a non-governmental organisation reported that prostitutes, some of whom may have been trafficking victims, were taken aboard foreign vessels off the Namibian coast. “Children from less affluent neighbouring countries may be subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour, including in street vending in Windhoek and other cities as well as in the fishing sector. Angolan children may be brought to Namibia for forced labour in cattle herding,” the report says. It continues that there were reports in 2013 of labour violations - potentially including forced labour - involving foreign and Namibian adults and children in Chinese-owned retail, construction, and fishing operations.According to the report the government maintained modest efforts to protect trafficking victims. “It identified 12 trafficking victims, including eight foreign nationals, and referred all victims to care facilities for assistance, although the government did not report what specific services it provided. This was compared to five victims identified and referred in 2015.”However, the government did not have formal written procedures for use by all officials on victim identification and referral to care.It says government shelters for victims of gender-based violence (GBV), including trafficking, were not fully operational, and were used as a last resort to provide emergency short-term shelter in limited cases. A government-funded shelter in Windhoek provides care for women and child victims of GBV and trafficking and during the reporting period it provided care to 60 women and 85 child victims of GBV and trafficking, including four identified trafficking victims. “The government lacked standard operating procedures for shelters, which remained under development by the gender ministry.”Namibia has been placed on the Tier 2 List, which means that governments did not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to become compliant.“Namibia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, therefore, Namibia remained on Tier 2.”However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The government did not convict any traffickers.In August 2015, the Windhoek High Court handed down the country's first conviction under the national Prevention of Organised Crime Act, which made trafficking in persons a criminal offence in its own right.Government-funded shelters lacked personnel and resources to assist victims and the government did not conduct awareness activities.The report also points out that street children remain vulnerable to detention as police and immigration officials do not always screen for indicators of trafficking. According to the report the police and office of the prosecutor-general began implementing a formal policy to screen individuals who have been identified for deportation for trafficking before deportation. While the government had no formal policy to provide residence permits to foreign victims of trafficking, during the previous reporting periods, government officials made ad-hoc arrangements for victims to remain in Namibia, it says. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare employed 97 labour and occupational health and safety inspectors, who were responsible for enforcing laws against child labour. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labour. ELLLANIE SMIT

Namibia fails trafficking victims

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-29

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Namibia fails trafficking victims

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-29

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