HARARE-- Zimbabwe has over the past two years repatriated at least 176 victims of human trafficking, says Ministry of Home Affairs (Interior) Secretary Melusi Matshiya.
He disclosed this here Tuesday when addressing a sensitization meeting on Combating Trafficking in Zimbabwe through prevention, protection and an institutionalized national referral mechanism aimed at complementing government efforts in the fight against human trafficking which the government remains committed to fight.
With the support of co-operating partners such as International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the government of Zimbabwe has done quite a lot in line with the goals and objectives set out in the National Plan of Action to guide response to human trafficking," he said.
To date, close to 176 victims of trafficking have been identified, repatriated and offered all the necessary protection assistance upon arrival in the country, he said, without identifying the countries the victims are from.
IOM project manager Daniel Sam said the organization received 750,000 US dollars from the United States Department of States for a project to monitor and combat trafficking in persons in Zimbabwe.
This 36-month project seeks to enhance the government and civil society efforts to coordinate anti-trafficking responses, and to protect victims of trafficking through strengthened protection to identified victims of trafficking, improved capacity of targeted communities to prevent trafficking and an institutionalised national referral mechanism, said Sam.
Several Zimbabwean women were allegedly lured to Kuwait on the pretext of employment as house maids and nurses in the rich Gulf country, only to find themselves sold as sex slaves by traffickers. The plight of the women came to light in 2016, prompting the government to order a comprehensive investigation, as well as to rescue the women.
Human trafficking is a criminal act involving the trade in human beings for the purpose of exploitation and it transcends borders.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
