Kondwani Kamanga, Ministry of Homeland Security.
Human trafficking is a global crime that trades in people and exploits them for profit. Growing inequalities, climate emergencies, and record displacement have left more and more people vulnerable to traffickers.
As noted by Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “millions of victims of human trafficking are going unnoticed.”
Ahead of World Day against Trafficking in Persons on 30 July, UNODC spoke with Mr. Kondwani Kamanga, who works in Malawi’s Ministry of Homeland Security’s Trafficking in Persons’ desk to detect and support victims. UNODC works with the Ministry to help sensitize Malawi youth and citizens on how to protect themselves against human traffickers.
When I started working as the Trafficking in Persons Focal Point at the Ministry four years ago, I did not realize the scale of the problem. The level of awareness is very low in Africa.
One of my first cases was a local case, a young boy of 12. His family couldn’t take care of him, so they sent him to live with an uncle who offered to pay for his education in exchange for working in his maize mill. He was sold instead.
After a few months, his mother wanted to visit her boy. When she arrived, they told her he had fallen ill, died and was buried. She was suspicious, and her suspicion deepened as no one could agree on where her child was buried.
He had not been buried or fallen ill. His uncle had sold him to an operator of a maize mill, who killed the boy for his heart in the belief that the “offering” of the organ would help his business thrive.
This is one of the most inhumane things that I have had to address.
These experiences have changed me greatly. What might have started as a job became a passion. Addressing this crime requires a whole-of-society approach.
Detecting potential victims
At the Ministry of Homeland Security, our mandate is to provide safety and security for our citizens. [For example], just last week a young girl approached our office asking for a certification for employment to travel to Dubai. I asked her if she had a contract of employment. She said no.
I told her, you are lucky that we have met. If you had a job contract, we could have verified through our embassy whether the employer really exists or not. We would have linked you with our mission in that particular country in case you had any problems.
I showed her pictures to understand the gravity of the risks she was taking. This is what young women who travel to the Middle East without proper employment or contracts are going through. This young girl was physically abused, promised to work as a receptionist but ended up cleaning bathrooms and homes for a dozen families every day from 3am to 12am. This young girl did the same and was sexually abused by four men every day. This young girl was denied medical treatment by her “owner” and died of her injuries.
She decided to stay in Malawi.
The girls are recruited through Facebook and social media platforms, so we [the Ministry] used the same approach to identify local victims. We started a WhatsApp Group after noticing cries for help on Facebook. We asked girls to spread the word and add other people who were in the same situation.
The problem is, many of them don’t realize they’ve been trafficked and enslaved. They think of it as: my boss is doing this to me. My boss is not treating me right. They have no identification, so no legal recourse locally. They don’t understand their reality and the help they need and to which they are entitled.
Supporting victims and survivors
I travelled with a delegation to Oman. We had identified sixty [Malawi] girls in the country.
But when we met with our Omani counterparts, they told us there were 376 Malawi citizens in Oman. Seven men working in the commercial sector and 369 women working as “domestic workers”.
The Ministry put standard operating procedures in place to support returnees. We had them screened for mental health issues and psychological trauma and provided medical treatment for injuries or physical abuse.
But this is not enough. We also work with local communities and civil society to support local reintegration.
We had a young woman who had borrowed a lot of money to travel, and when she returned to her village, she had to hide from her creditors for a week. When our inspectors came to visit, he put measures in place to protect her further.
The survivors were vulnerable, that’s why they were prayed on so easily. But many of them have sold everything in order to travel. So when they returned, they are scarred, have nothing left and are even more vulnerable than before.”
How to #LeaveNoOneBehind
Government institutions need to be strengthened in terms of how to detect, investigate, and prosecute cases. Civil society also needs to be vigilant and look at how can we identify the potential areas of vulnerability. How can we cushion these levels of vulnerability and provide victims the care that they need?
We need to remember that these people are victims. Be careful not to laugh at them or stigmatize them.
Human trafficking can happen to anybody, regardless of how educated you are, how literate you are or how vulnerable you are.
At the end of the day, if I see something and don’t do anything, then who am I?
