Sudan Praised for Strides Made in Combating Trafficking
25 JUNE 2014
Washington - Efforts to address trafficking in Sudan have had a measurable
impact, according to the US state department's annual report, earning rare
praise from UN agencies and advocacy groups.
The US embassy in Khartoum said that Sudan had worked "diligently" over the
past year to combat trafficking, adding that it looks forward to working
with the government to build on its recent advancements to address the
issue.
The report released on 20 June said international agencies had noted the
county's unprecedented efforts to the point they were now able to work
jointly with the government on preventative measures.
Numerous government agencies had also expressed a willingness to engage in
dialogue and acknowledged their need for capacity building and training.
"The government demonstrated increased efforts to prevent trafficking. It
ceased its public denial of the existence of human trafficking in Sudan and
acknowledged the scope and extent of the country's human trafficking
problem," the report said.
The efforts are in stark contrast to the Sudanese government's previous
public denials of the severity of Sudan's trafficking problems.
TRANSIT HUB
Eastern Sudan in particular is considered a transit hub for migrants, mostly
from Eritrea, who are seeking to reach Europe, Israel or other countries
with the help of human smugglers.
Hundreds and possibly thousands of refugees have been kidnapped in eastern
Sudan and sold to traffickers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where they are
held and tortured to exhort ransom payments from relatives.
Rights groups have accused Sudan and Egypt of turning a blind eye to this
violent trade in men, women and children and in come cases colluding with
traffickers.
In March, the Sudanese government announced that it had received financial
assistance from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to be allocated among the
police and other regular forces to combat human trafficking in eastern
Sudan.
Sudan also revealed it was implementing measures for controlling refugee
camps, disclosing it was cooperating with Ethiopia, and Eritrea to fight
against human trafficking.
The report found while the police had investigated and reportedly referred
cases of suspected trafficking for prosecution at the federal level during
the reporting period, the number of investigations or prosecutions remained
unclear.
WOMEN, GIRLS VULNERABLE
Sudanese women and girls, particularly those from rural areas or who are
internally displaced due to poverty and conflict, are vulnerable to forced
labour as child street beggars and domestic workers in homes throughout the
country.
There have been numerous documented cases of Ethiopian and Eritrean women,
including undocumented migrants and refugees - and a smaller number of
Filipina women - subject to domestic servitude in Sudanese homes, where they
experience beatings, sexual abuse, inadequate accommodations, long working
hours, confinement and non-payment of wages.
Sudanese women are also vulnerable to similar exploitation as domestic
workers in neighbouring Middle Eastern and Gulf countries.
Sudanese girls engage in prostitution within the country, including in
restaurants and brothels, at times with the assistance of third parties.
Ethiopian, Eritrean, Somali and possibly Thai women are subjected to forced
prostitution in Sudan, with agents luring young women from Ethiopia's Oromia
region with promises of high-paying employment as domestic workers, only to
force them into prostitution on arrival in Khartoum.
MORE TO DO
Despite promising new efforts, the government still lacks an
inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee and action plan to coordinate
its national efforts, with cooperation among government ministries on
trafficking issues also remaining poor.
The report found the government lacked measures for proactively identifying
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations or a system of referral to
relevant organisations.
The ministry of labour's national committee for labour markets, tasked with
overseeing the work of employment agencies that recruit Sudanese migrants
for work abroad, as well as bring foreign workers into the country, provided
no information on alleged forced labour violations.
Although it has the authority to revoke agencies' licences for violations of
the labor code and refer cases to criminal courts, it made no efforts to do
so during 2013, the report found.
The government's draft joint action plan with the UN to prevent and end the
recruitment and use of children by government forces also remained unsigned
at the close of the reporting period after several years of review, while
the government's taskforce on children and armed conflict remained dormant
throughout the year.
The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report aims to encourage
governmental action and create partnerships around the world in the fight
against forms of modern-day slavery.