Zimbabwe: Country Mulls Human Trafficking Law

allAfrica.com: Zimbabwe: Country Mulls Human Trafficking Law

11 May 2009

Harare — ZIMBABWE is looking at ways to come up with a holistic law that deals with all crimes perpetrated under human trafficking, a legal expert with the International Organisation on Migration has said.

Speaking at a two-day workshop to sensitise the media on the challenges posed by illegal international migration, smuggling and human trafficking in Harare last week, IOM Zimbabwe legal assistant Ms Yvonne Masvora said consultations and research on what needs to be done to come up with a comprehensive act covering human trafficking and smuggling had already begun.

A draft policy document on labour and international migration is circulating in Government and could soon be brought before Parliament for debate.

"What we need to do is come up with a human trafficking Act to amend the existing laws that are scattered over a number of laws, that include the Criminal Law Reform (Codification) Act, Immigration Act, Labour Law 28:01 and Children's Act 5:06. At the moment it is difficult for legal officers to prosecute traffickers as different crimes are dealt with under different laws.

"Now that Zimbabwe has become both a transit and source, it is imperative that a legal policy be instituted so that all crimes under human trafficking are brought under one piece of legislation.

"To date we have held consultative and sensitisation meetings with civic organisations, ministries of Youth and Indigenisation, Health and Child Welfare, Home Affairs and the secretariat to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committees. We will soon be engaging senior Government officials and ministers to lobby on the need for a comprehensive law on trafficking.

"At the moment there is a draft policy on migration and development issues, at the second reading now, which seeks to regulate international migration and remittances to the country," she said.

Ms Masvora said it was unfortunate that only two countries in the region, namely Zambia and Mozambique, had laws on countering human trafficking and smuggling.

Zimbabwe is still to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime; the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress And Punish Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women and Children; and the UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air.

IOM Zimbabwe counter-trafficking assistant Mr Nyararai Kwenda said a number of programmes had been put in place to combat the problem in Zimbabwe and its neighbours that included raising awareness among the populace in addition to research on the magnitude of smuggling and appropriate interventions.

"We have embarked on a programme to sensitise the people on the dangers of human trafficking and to capacitate the victims.

"The organisation is also raising awareness among key stakeholders such as the media and various Government departments on the problem, but the challenge remains the strengthening of the laws, increasing penalties and the lack of transnational co-operation as the crimes usually occur across borders," he said.