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To address the growing problem of child smuggling, parents involved in the latest case are calling on the Botswana government to intervene in the soaring cost of Zimbabwean passports, which they say are forcing desperate families to resort to illegal means to get better opportunities for their children.
During the court proceedings, the parents highlighted that high costs were a significant barrier to their children legally obtaining travel documents.
“As to what can be done to address or mitigate the scourge of child trafficking, the parents seek this court to urge the Government of Botswana to intervene and imploring the Government of Zimbabwe to reduce the cost of passports as this is the main reason children are trafficked,” Francistown Chief Justice Tshepo Magetse said in his ruling.
“We also noticed during our conversations that most of the parents were single mothers, which is something people thought was only found in Botswana,” Magatse said.
“As to why they cannot get passports for their children, all parents complained that the passport fee in Zimbabwe is too high. According to reports from the Social Welfare Department, these parents are facing financial pressure,” Maggate said.
“One parent also suggested that the district should consider allowing children to travel freely using birth certificates and other easily accessible documents, as the cost of processing passports is very expensive,” Magetse said.
The court noted that while the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act is in full force and effect, stakeholders are unfortunately not yet empowered to fully implement it. “The following key issues have been identified and the Heads of Social and Community Development for the City of Francistown and the North East District have been directed to bring them to the attention of the Trafficking in Persons Committee established under Section 3,” Magat said. “There is a lack of clear and effective standard operating procedures in addressing the issue of trafficking in persons,” he said.
“Furthermore, this case shows that the region’s frontline anti-trafficking stakeholders lack the capacity to prevent, deter and handle child trafficking and smuggling cases. Section 5 of the Anti-Trafficking Act requires the commission to ensure that these frontline workers receive adequate training, especially in child protection,” Maggate said.
He said: “In this case, four children were placed in the care of adoptive parents. However, the court noted that neither the children nor the adoptive parents had adequate safety precautions in place.”
Magat said that to address this critical gap, Sections 14(4) and 16 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act provide for the establishment of dedicated Victims Centres. In the interim, the Commission must implement interim measures to meet the needs of the area. Despite the fact that the Act has been in place for a decade, there is still a complete lack of on-the-ground support for stakeholders.
“Northeast District Council provided funding for this particular human trafficking case.
Given the huge costs associated with such cases, Section 27 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act wisely
“A fund for victims of trafficking has been established. Immediate access to this fund is vital in order to ensure timely and effective support for victims in the region,” Maggate said.
He noted that “the prevalence of child trafficking is a serious problem”, adding that “this case and many other cases reported in the media show that the trafficking of children from Zimbabwe to Botswana has reached alarming levels.”
Given the magnitude of this problem, immediate action must be taken; in order to address this crisis, the Head of Social and Community Development hereby directs the Chairman of the Human Trafficking Committee, as stated above, to implement measures specifically designed to guarantee the protection of trafficked and smuggled children in our region,” he said.
“As the region’s child welfare commissioner, I recommended (I have no mandatory powers) that it be important for the above committee to investigate victim impact statements from mothers whose children were trafficked,” Magatse said.
“Special attention should be paid to the economic hardship caused by the high cost of Zimbabwean passports, as this appears to be a major factor leading to the smuggling of children through Botswana into South Africa. In order to protect the rights of these Zimbabwean children, I urge the committee to fully exercise the provisions of section 5(e) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act,” he said.
“Regarding the sentencing of the (defendants charged with child trafficking), all the parents pleaded for leniency on behalf of the defendants because, as pointed out, they were the ones who instructed the defendants to smuggle their children,” Magette said, adding that they also pointed out that the defendants were related to them.
“It is also important to note that the parents did stress that despite the fact that their children were smuggled illegally, it was worthwhile to attempt to reunite with them,” he said. The magistrate said the parents’ desire to be reunited with their loved ones despite the enormous risks of illegal smuggling spoke volumes about the depth of their maternal love and the challenges they faced in their home country.
“From the above it can be seen that the interests of the children highlighted in the victim impact statement appear to conflict with the current smuggling offences.”
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