HUMAN trafficking is a serious crime that violates human rights and affects many countries around the world, including southern Africa and Zambia
In southern Africa, human trafficking is a significant concern due to several factors. These can include poverty, social inequality, political instability, and weak law enforcement and border control systems.
Vulnerable individuals, such as women and children, often fall victim to human trafficking for various purposes like forced labor, sexual exploitation, and organ trafficking.
Zambia, like other countries in the region, is not immune to human trafficking. It serves as both a source and transit country for victims.
Not too long ago about 27 bodies of suspected trafficked individuals were found piled on a road in Lusaka in an apparent botched trafficking run.
Most recently, there was also a report of
a man who was apprehended trying to sell a corpse of an albino.
Some other common forms of trafficking in Zambia include child labor, forced begging, forced marriage, and sexual exploitation, both domestically and across borders.
It is no wonder that Government is concerned that Zambia is at risk of being both a source country where victims are recruited and a transit for human trafficking owing to its location.
Home Affairs and Internal Security Permanent Secretary Dickson Matembo noted that the violation of human rights through trafficking threatened national security and distorts global economic trends.
Speaking when he graced the commemoration of the World Day against Human Trafficking in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Matembo said that Zambia was also a destination country for victims of human trafficking with experience on domestic and cross-border human trafficking.
It is our view that in order to combat human trafficking, government, international organisations, and NGOs need to continue implementing various measures.
These include enforcing laws that criminalise human trafficking and provide legal support
and protection for victims, raise public awareness about the indicators of trafficking and educating law enforcement and frontline professionals to identify and respond to potential cases.
It is also important to provide physical and psychological support, medical care, and safe housing to victims and survivors of trafficking.
Above all, there is need to promote collaboration between countries to share information, intelligence, and best practices in combating trafficking.
As the Country grapples with the trafficking problem, it is still important to acknowledge that Zambia has made great strides that are gaining global recognition as evidenced by Zambia being on Tier2 of the watch list on global ranking related to national responses to human trafficking under the global trafficking report for 2022.