http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50144
Sunday 2 March 2014
Sudan receives financial support from UNHCR to combat human trafficking
March 1, 2014 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government has announced that it
received financial assistance from the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) to be allocated among the police and other regular forces
to combat human trafficking in eastern Sudan.
[image: JPEG - 15 kb]*Refugees wait to be registered at Shagarab refugee
camp in eastern Sudan, often the first point of entry for Eritreans fleeing
oppression in their homeland (UNHCR)*
The state's minister at the ministry of interior, Babiker Ahmed Digna,
disclosed measures for controlling refugee camps, revealing security
coordination among Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea to fight against human
trafficking.
He said Sudan asked at the border conference which was held in Morocco for
support to its efforts to fight human trafficking, saying the United
Kingdom and several European countries have responded positively because
Sudan is considered a passage country for refugees heading to Europe.
Digna mentioned that human trafficking law has curbed the phenomenon
because it contained deterrent penalties including the capital punishment.
In July 2013, the Sudanese cabinet endorsed a draft bill on combating human
trafficking in line with previous government pledges to tackle the issue.
The law details human trafficking offenses and penalties while specifying
measures aimed at protecting victims and witnesses and maintaining
information confidentiality.
The Sudanese official added that refugees in the camps have been divided
into small groups and leaders were assigned for each group to monitor
entry, exit, and absence in order to control presence inside each camp.
Digna said they asked the UNHCR to establish a new camp to receive new
refugees so as not to mingle with old ones and hence fall prey for
intimidation or persuasion acts aiming to force them to leave the camp.
The governor of Kassala state, Mohamed Youssef Adam, had previously
demanded the UN agencies to cooperate with Sudan in fighting against
international human trafficking gangs active in the border between Sudan
and Eritrea, saying Sudan and its neighbors have deeply suffered from this
inhumane practice.
The governor, who addressed a crowed in the border area of Hamadaiet in the
locality of Wad Al-hilaio in the occasion of declaring it mines-free area,
stressed Sudan is still receiving refugees from neighboring countries,
demanding the ministry of interior to apply the automated screening on the
refugees in areas between Hamadaiet and Gargaf before admitting them to
Al-Shagarab camp.
Sudan Refugees Commission said last year the country hosts around 500.000
refugees from the horn of Africa countries most of them from Ethiopia,
Eritrea, and Somalia as well as refugees from other African countries
living in Darfur region.
The US state department's 2012 report on human trafficking identifies Sudan
as a "source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking".
"The Government of Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to
do so. While the government took some initial steps during the reporting
period to acknowledge the existence of trafficking, draft anti-trafficking
legislation, prosecute suspected traffickers, demobilize and reintegrate
child soldiers, and waive overstay fines for foreign domestic workers, its
efforts to combat human trafficking through law enforcement, protection, or
prevention measures were undertaken in an ad hoc fashion, rather than as
the result of strategic planning" the report said.
The US called on Khartoum to "enact a comprehensive legal regime to define
and address human trafficking crimes and harmonize various existing legal
statutes; increase efforts to investigate suspected human trafficking
cases, increase prosecution of trafficking offenses, and convict and punish
trafficking offenders".
Eastern Sudan in particular is believed to be serving as a passage to
migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia who seek to reach Europe with
the help of human smugglers.
(ST)
Received on Sun Mar 02 2014 - 13:37:44 EST