Measures are currently being taken to Dismantle the human trafficking network operate in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, identifying and rescuing their victims and bringing those responsible to justice.
“The situation is much worse than we initially predicted,” speak UNODCMaxwell Matewere, who first visited the camp in October 2020, where he trains camp staff and law enforcement officers on how to detect and respond to cases of human trafficking.
“I even witnessed a kind of Sunday market, where people go to buy exploited children in situations of forced labor and prostitution,” he added.
UNODC has trained and mentored 28 camp officers and law enforcement officers who are currently involved in victim identification and investigation of human trafficking cases and will train other colleagues at the camps. police and border crossing points.
90 victims rescued so far
Since the training and implementation of new anti-trafficking procedures, more than 90 victims of human trafficking have been identified and rescued.
Guidelines for victim identification, rescue and referral have been developed by UNODC with support from the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNODC).UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“UNHCR together with all partners will never give up our efforts to stop human trafficking and smuggling among refugees in Malawi,” said Owen Nyasulu, Field Security Officer at UNHCR’s Malawi office, who is supporting UNODC’s work at Dzaleka Refugee Camp.
Most of the rescued victims were men from Ethiopia, between the ages of 18 and 30. There were also girls and women, aged 12 to 24, from Ethiopia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the country. Congo (DRC).
© UNODC
Two young victims of human trafficking, rescued from the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, are being supported at a shelter in Malawi.
Trafficked at the age of 10
Some victims have been assisted to return to their countries of origin, while others are being cared for in safe homes. Some of the victims, who have been identified at border crossings, have requested to be brought back to the camp to seek asylum.
A 16-year-old girl from DRC was rescued from a forced prostitution situation by a UNODC-trained undercover cop.
“I came to the camp in 2009 after leaving my hometown due to conflict,” she said. “One evening in a nightclub inside the camp, I was approached by a man who told me he was identifying people who were being exploited.”
The girl, who was trafficked at the age of 10, explained that at first she did not trust or believe the policeman, because she thought “all men are violent and seek sex”.
“That night, I was beaten up by one of my clients for refusing to have sex due to a bleeding cut. I’m in pain and it’s visible. The officer was friendly and he took me to a safe house.”
She is currently taking a computer class and hopes to return home: “In the future, I want to be a teacher, and I want to be reunited with a brother I haven’t seen in a long time,” she speaks.
Children are sold as farm labor
The new procedures include clear instructions on referring victims to authorities where they can receive appropriate care.
“Before our intervention, victims of human trafficking would be placed in a police cell or prison, along with the criminal. They are now referred to specially equipped safe houses that we helped prepare for the arrival of the victims,” said UNODC’s Maxwell Matewere.
Various types of human trafficking have been identified in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp.
Children are trafficked inside and outside the camp for farm work and domestic work.
Women and girls are sexually exploited inside Dzaleka, in Malawi or transported for the purpose of sexual exploitation to other countries in South Africa. Male refugees are being forced to work in camps or on farms in Malawi and other countries in the region.
© UNODC / Patience Ngunde
The widespread exploitation of men, women and children at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in central Malawi was exposed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Malawi Police Department.
An international network
The camp is also being used as a processing center for victims of human trafficking. Traffickers recruit victims back home under false pretexts, arranging for them to cross the border into Malawi and enter camps.
Based on recent successful operations in the camp, based on intelligence, police now have a better understanding of the international nature of human trafficking.
“There is evidence that Victims originating in Ethiopia, DRC and Burundi by agents of human trafficking networks providing work opportunities in South Africa – the economic powerhouse on the continent,” said Mr. Matewere.
“At the camp, they were told that they needed to pay the debts arising from being smuggled into Malawi. They are exploited there or transported to other countries in the region for forced labor”.
There have been five arrests so far and the cases are still ongoing. The suspected traffickers are from Malawi, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda and the DRC.
Too scared to testify
However, according to the Malawian Police Department, efforts to convict human traffickers and illegal immigrants are being hampered because those affected are too scared to testify in court.
Dzaleka refugee camp, the largest in Malawi, was established in 1994 and is home to more than 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers from five different countries. It was originally designed to hold 10,000 people.
“We fear that this is just the beginning and there are many victims. Authorities strongly suspect that there is a highly organized, international organization operating from within the camp,” said UNODC’s Maxwell Matewere.
Human trafficking awareness materials will soon be distributed in the camp and more victims are expected to come for assistance.
UNHCR’s Owen Nyasula said: “All security agencies operating in the camp must be reminded regularly of their role in eradicating human trafficking through regular training.
“These agencies need to work closely with religious and community leaders, as well as local police forces, to stop this form of modern slavery,” he concluded.
