Trafficking: Thinking of sending your child, or leaving, think again

“The exploitation of the victims starts right from the journeys and the girls suffer abuse and violence at the hands of the traffickers or other people they meet. “Exploitation suffered in Libya is often shocking, those who insist they will not work as prostitutes are tied up, in a position called the crocodile, their hands […]

“The exploitation of the victims starts right from the journeys and the girls suffer abuse and violence at the hands of the traffickers or other people they meet.

“Exploitation suffered in Libya is often shocking, those who insist they will not work as prostitutes are tied up, in a position called the crocodile, their hands are tied to their feet, and they are left for days without food or water, some are left to die as an example to others”.

These are the words of Kevin Hyland OBE, the United Kingdom (UK) Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner speaking on the ordeal of human trafficking victims during the 2017 anti-human trafficking public lecture organised by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The UK anti-slavery commissioner, who spoke extensively on the scourge, revealed that human traffickers have a special craving for Nigerian women and children as they are in high demand abroad.

“Smugglers and traffickers are reserving spaces on vessels in Libya for Nigerian females as they are so much more valuable to the criminals than any other nationality, in reality, many Nigerian females registering as adults when they arrive in Italy are in fact girls. Agencies confirm they deny being children even when clearly underage because they have been instructed by those exploiting them to avoid the child protection systems,” he said. 

A trend that the director general of NAPTIP, Julie Okah Donli, is fighting hard to prevent but says, “Ignorance and greed remain the primary factors sustaining human trafficking. Human traffickers prey on the ignorance of the rural poor, offering them the proverbial pie in the sky as a way out of pervasive poverty”.

Speaking on the efforts put in by the agency, Donli laments saying, “I must confess that our responses to trafficking in persons has been reactive and designed to deal with the consequences of the scourge, rather than its root causes thereby making our current preventive responses piecemeal and uncoordinated.”

“Countries need to see human trafficking as more than just an organized crime but also as a crime perpetrated by people related to each other and living their lives outwardly respectably in destination countries. We must develop a multi-pronged response which will target both local and international enforcement systems,” she said.

She advocated that all states in the country have to make access to education compulsory and free and include human trafficking issues into the curricula of basic and senior secondary schools with the objective to educate and sensitize the children on the dangers of TIP.

Fortunately, the National Educational Research Development Council has already agreed to include it in the curricula and the topics range from causes, purposes and consequences of TIP and the methods in controlling victims.

But according to Kevin Hyland OBE the impact of the abuses of the victims go much further than the trauma, pain and suffering experienced by each individual of modern slavery and trafficking.

He implied that human trafficking affects all aspects of our lives and development saying, “It is an economic issue, as those who live their homes in search of work and are expected to send remittances to their families, have these funds taken by criminals to pay off debt bonds and extorting fees for providing work.

“It is a health issue, as the health of those in modern slavery deteriorates and we known that women and children are exposed to viruses such as HIV.

“It can be a gender issue as gender equality can heighten the vulnerability of women to exploitation; and a social issue as often, young people leave villages and towns on false promises of work, this leaves vulnerable communities without a younger generation to care for the elderly or their children, the very generation that is able to provide a means for the community to survive, are led away by these exploiters.

“It is a legal problem, as victims are stripped of their human rights; a serious and organised crime that needs to be treated as such.

His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, while giving a remark at the public lecture, noted that the twist in human trafficking these days is that very rarely are people captured along the bushes or on the streets but often people are deceived to undertake journeys into the unknown by people posing as helpers and benefactors, with promises of scholarships, employments even sports contracts.

He explained that many young boys are anxious to go and become world star footballers and follow anyone who gives them any flimsy promises in that regard.

His words: “The vast majority of victims of human trafficking are so anxious to go abroad that they even pay large sums to be trafficked; sell their family properties to be trafficked across the desert and seas. The stories of such people are all over the world, and yet many are still putting themselves at great risk in desperate effort to migrate to where they believe there are greener pastures.”

Acknowledging that misery and poverty was rampant in Nigeria and calling on the government to improve the standard of living of its citizens, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja said, “I am beginning to believe that what is pushing many people abroad is the desire and ambition to get rich quickly and at all cost. 

“The young girls parading themselves half naked for sale on the suburb of Milan much to our shame are not the poorest girls in Nigeria. While doing our best to improve the standard of living of our people, we need to encourage people to be patient and modest in their expectations and learn to live happily and peacefully working hard and building up our own country here at home.”

Professor Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a former UN special rapporteur on trafficking in persons alluded to the fact that the current recession, economic hardship and human insecurity exacerbated human trafficking.

Ezeilo said that the countries need to implement the 11 pillars of intervention which, she listed as the 5Ps (protection, prosecution, prevention, punishment, promotion of international cooperation); the three victim centered Rs (redress, rehabilitation and rehabilitation); and the three Cs (capacity, coordination and cooperation).

She added that countries need to address the root causes of trafficking in women and children, intensify awareness raising efforts aimed at promoting the reporting of trafficking and related crimes, step up efforts aimed at bilateral, regional and international cooperation to prevent trafficking.”

Unfortunately human trafficking continues to thrive because of the huge profit made by the criminals as Hyland puts it, “$150 billion is made in a year across the world, in illegal profit, but countries only spent 0.08% on anti-slavery development assistance. It is an unfair fight, because we have not given ourselves a chance to fight the scourge and win.