By Rukiya Makuma
The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) launched a program in Uganda aimed at enhancing local capacity to combat human trafficking. The launch which gathered 25 civil society organisations aimed at increasing knowledge about anti trafficking laws and mechanisms among justice sector actors, government officials and civil society in Uganda.
Dorah Mafabi the Program Manager says there is lack of coordination among the actors because each CSO has a role to play in advocacy but the idea is not released if the activities and ideas of the Civil Society Organisations are not harmonised.
Haja Noraihan the Honorary Consul Representative of Uganda in Malaysia says the trade of trafficking girls to Malaysia started in 2010 but escalated very fast. 600 girls were trafficked by December 2011.
Many people have been arrested in Malayasia for engaging in the trade with the help of many organisations like Interpol, Ministry of Gender and Internal affairs which have come on board to help combat the vice. She however says the problem has to be combated at the centre because the recruiters usually target young girls who are desperate to earn quick money.
The young girls who are usually senior six leavers and job seekers are lured with free tickets, passports and visas with the hope of securing them lucrative jobs but once in Malaysia, they are instead turned into prostitutes. The consul said such girls should be sensitised about the evils in the vice.
Mafabi said responses to human trafficking should be carefully crafted with the ultimate intention of forewarning and protecting potential victims, bringing to justice the perpetrators of human trafficking and curbing a vice whose reparcations exhibit some of the most egregious human rights violations since the country lacks effective interventions to fight the vice in and out of Uganda.
