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    February 17, 2012

Trafficking of Ugandan Women to Asia on the Rise

   Douglas Mpuga

   An international agency has expressed concern about the increased
   trafficking of Ugandan women to Asia. The International Organization of
   Migration (IOM) says victims of trafficking whom IOM has helped to
   return to Uganda have reported being subjected to sexual slavery, rape
   and torture.

   Ugandan sources suggest there may be as many as 600 trafficked Ugandan
   women currently in Malaysia, with between 10 and 20 more arriving each
   week.

   Initially IOM had anecdotal information, said Zafarullah Hassim, the
   Trafficking-in-People communication specialist at the iom in Uganda.

   'There were no studies but ad hoc indicators,' he said. But the raids
   in Malaysia at the end of 2011 led the IOM to take another look at the
   issue, and that's when the Uganda consul in Malaysia came out and said
   there were 600 Ugandan women there and another 60 in jail ' arrested by
   the Malaysia's G-7 unit.

   Hassim said he wasn't sure why Malaysia was the preferred destination
   of the traffickers, but added, 'We have brought 14 women back from
   Malaysia, but some of them had gone through China and Thailand before
   arriving in Malaysia.'

   'I think one of the reasons is job and study opportunities that are
   abundantly available in Malaysia. The traffickers are utilizing that
   opportunity because many of the women are taken under the guise of a
   job or [as] a student.'

   The trafficking is done by 'respectable people' in Uganda who are
   targeting good-looking, young girls, said Hassim, citing stories the
   IOM gets from the clients the organization brings back.

   'They target girls between the age of 17 and 22 years. They hunt at
   universities, and hair salons,' he said, again quoting the girls who
   have come back.

   He said that according to these girls, even in Malaysia there are
   houses owned by Ugandans where they keep these women before they are
   taken to Nigerian clients living in Malaysia, China, or Thailand.

   In 2009, the government of Uganda enacted the Uganda Prevention of
   Trafficking in Persons Act.

   But, Hassim said, nothing much has been done to implement this act.
   Even the US government's 2011 report on worldwide human trafficking
   mentions ten agencies in Uganda suspected of involvement in human
   trafficking. 'None of these [organizations] were investigated; no
   prosecutions. Even the government has re-issued a license to one of
   these agencies'

   As a result of the IOM raising this issue, he said, the Speaker of
   Uganda's parliament, has requested the minister of Youth Affairs to
   reintroduce in parliament the issue of human trafficking.

   Hassim, however, admitted that the [human trafficking] issue is a
   complicated one. 'People are very organized with connections here in
   [Uganda], China, Thailand and Malaysia. They train traffickers to tell
   lies in transit and as they enter each country. They also have proper
   passports and visas.'

   He called on the Uganda government to help educate the general public
   on how to differentiate between a genuine working and study opportunity
   and the tricks of these traffickers.