HUMAN TRAFFICKING
I appreciated reading the DM editorial
of July 15, 2014 on this subject and the clarification made by Jacob Siminyu from the Directorate of
Citizenship and immigration Control about concrete actions being taken to curb
human trafficking at national level.
Understandably, the discourse of human
trafficking is a very complex one and it cannot be effectively resolved at the
policy level only although such interventions are imperative. The global human trafficking and trade in
humans for labor or any other purposes formed the basis of one of my Global Health
studies. Indeed, the common pre-exposing risk for humans to be harvested for trafficking
from any society starts with the social conditions in which they subsist.
To
fully understand the complexity of this problem, one needs to undertake a
socio-ecological framework approach to systematically unpack the pervasive nature
of this lucrative vice. The socio-ecological framework would allow a critical
analysis that focuses on individual level challenges, interpersonal (such as
relationships, cultures etc), community level loopholes, societal factors and
public policies that make human trafficking possible. Another level of critical
analysis would be the supranation level where national, regional and
international instruments, policies and efforts can converge to curb human
trafficking.
However, it is essential to emphasize
that poverty, lack of skills and broken social safety nets – simply put; the
social determinants of health are also the determinants of vulnerability to
being trafficked. In Uganda today, voluntary trafficking is taking place
because of nationwide despair among the elites.
The rate of unemployment among youths
and the semi-elite Ugandans inevitably makes them very susceptible to being trafficked. In 2013 62% of the Ugandan youths were reported
unemployed and yet 78% of Uganda’s population is under the age of 30 years. Almost
half the Ugandan population is below the age of 24 years. The prospect of
experiencing unemployment makes the youths to develop interests for future prospects
outside the country. The process of fulfilling such ambitions also makes them a
very vulnerable group.
A study by Amy Hagopia and colleagues in
Uganda which was published in 2014 in Health
Affairs Journal revealed that 1 in every 4 Ugandan health professionals
aspired to leave Uganda for any destination where they could improve on their
professional outlook. But a much more important study conducted among Ugandan Nursing
students was published in 2008 by Lisa Nguyen et al. revealed that 70% of nursing
students expressed desires to work abroad after graduation and another 24%
revealed ambitions to work elsewhere in Africa upon graduation. In all these
studies, participants cited poor pay, poor working conditions and not being
valued fully for their services.
A group like these, comprising of the
country’s most qualified workforce are the primary victims of human trafficking
because they are driven away by chronic failures at home. Most of them are not
aware that their credentials are not valued in Europe or North America until
they get trapped there. Majority of them voluntarily register with agencies to
be ferried abroad for menial jobs which subsequently transforms into forced
labor and being held in servitude.
While Mr. Siminyu was upbeat in his
enumeration of the high level interventions being developed, there are many
gaps beneath policy instruments. There is need for a systematic and collaborative
interventions designed with various state and none state actors at all levels to
stabilize society.
On top of the agenda should be the
redistribution of resources, snubbing corruption, creating conducive work
conditions, setting minimum wage, affirmative action for young women to build a
pathway to employment, providing vocational training to youths and ensuring
that diverse opportunity ventures are opened for youths practice innovation.
Lastly, public policies targeting human
trafficking should be formulated with the focus on removing inequalities and
inequities at all levels of society. Key among these are building individual
skills and community capacity, establishing an inter-agency coordination efforts
to curb human trafficking.
END
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