Concerns about child slavery in Namibia

By: CHRISTOF MALETSKY

NAMIBIA may be a source and destination country for child trafficking but the magnitude is not known, according to a US State Department report released on Wednesday.

The annual "Trafficking in Persons" report, which tracks forced

labour and the sex trade, covered Namibia as a "special case" for

the first time and found that the largest percentage of trafficking

victims were children engaged in prostitution.

Namibia, Somalia, the Solomon Islands, and Tunisia, were among

countries suspected of having trafficking problems but were not

ranked because of lack of sufficient information.

 

"The existence of a significant human trafficking problem in

Namibia is suspected, but remains unsubstantiated by sufficient

reliable reporting".

 

"There is evidence that small numbers of Namibian children are

trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, as well as

forced agricultural labour, cattle herding, and possibly vending,"

the report said.

 

Cases were also reported of Zambian and Angolan children

trafficked to Namibia for domestic servitude, among others.

 

If the company scores low on human trafficking the United States

could withhold aid that is not humanitarian or trade-related,

according to the report.

 

slavery."

 

The report estimates 800 000 people are trafficked across

international borders each year, about 80 per cent of them female

and up to half minors, Namibia's Prevention of Organised Crime Act

of 2004 criminalises trafficking and prescribes up to 50 years in

prison for those convicted.

 

Existing legislation also prohibits child labour, child

prostitution, pimping and kidnapping and can be used to prosecute a

case of human trafficking.

 

Namibia, Somalia, the Solomon Islands, and Tunisia, were among

countries suspected of having trafficking problems but were not

ranked because of lack of sufficient information."The existence of

a significant human trafficking problem in Namibia is suspected,

but remains unsubstantiated by sufficient reliable

reporting"."There is evidence that small numbers of Namibian

children are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude,

as well as forced agricultural labour, cattle herding, and possibly

vending," the report said.Cases were also reported of Zambian and

Angolan children trafficked to Namibia for domestic servitude,

among others.If the company scores low on human trafficking the

United States could withhold aid that is not humanitarian or

trade-related, according to the report.slavery."The report

estimates 800 000 people are trafficked across international

borders each year, about 80 per cent of them female and up to half

minors, Namibia's Prevention of Organised Crime Act of 2004

criminalises trafficking and prescribes up to 50 years in prison

for those convicted.Existing legislation also prohibits child

labour, child prostitution, pimping and kidnapping and can be used

to prosecute a case of human trafficking.

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