Uganda: We Need Law On Human Trafficking Urgently
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New Vision (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
5 September 2008
Posted to the web 6 September 2008
Kampala
FOUR Ugandan girls are stranded in Iraq after they were taken there by illegal agents. This comes only three months after the US issued a report indicating that Uganda is both a source and destination for human trafficking. In particular the report points out that some companies export labour to Iraq and then confiscate the recruits' passports to deny them freedom.
This is absurd. Trafficking and slavery are among the worst forms of human rights violations. This is a growing crime that must be fought with urgency.
Unfortunately, Uganda does not have a strong and comprehensive law against human trafficking, though the Penal Code prohibits slavery. The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Bill has been gathering dust in Parliament for more than a year. Why?
Parliament should urgently scrutinise this Bill and pass it. No matter how hard security agencies try to fight human trafficking, without strong legislation, their efforts cannot yield much.
Apart from the Iraq incidence, Ugandans have been trafficked to other countries like Canada, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. The abduction in northern Uganda by the Lords Resistance Army and the sale of girls in Karamoja are all forms of human trafficking.
The business committee of Parliament should, therefore, give this Bill priority and include it on the timetable for debate as soon as possible.
Relevant Links
Above all, Members of Parliament should devise means to clear the huge backlog of Bills. Some of them, such as the Domestic Relations Bill have delayed due to contentious issues.
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