(MENAFN- The Post)
MASERU – THE Ministry of Home Affairs is stepping up efforts to combat human trafficking by working with Lesotho's embassies abroad.
The ministry says it has begun training ambassadors and foreign staff on how to identify trafficked people and what to do in such situations.
Home Affairs Principal Secretary Tumelo Raboletsi held a virtual meeting with the ambassadors this week where it was agreed that human trafficking is threatening to get out of control.
Raboletsi said while the ministries can work to end trafficking, the diplomats can help too as most cases happen outside the country.
He blamed the soaring cases on lack of cooperation between government ministries.
“The ministry in charge was not working hand-in-hand with other sister ministries, cooperation is the key,” Raboletsi said.
He also said they have to enhance their meetings with the diplomats through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that the diplomats must be equipped with all information if they are to do their job smoothly.
He proposed regular meetings with the diplomats to keep each other abreast of the latest developments.
He added that most people who are trafficked were persuaded through the internet.
“If we want to win this war the government should be seen on the internet sensitising the nation, especially on the government website,” he said.
Raboletsi said the ministry has to make noise to deter criminals from victimising citizens.
He said they advised themselves to open a bank account to enable the government to support victims of trafficking.
“That account was opened in August. We had to inject the money in that account to help victims,” he said.
He said they will work hard hand-in-hand with the Pretoria and Johannesburg consulates as they are seen to be hotspots for the trafficking of people.
He acknowledged some people had acquired passports fraudulently so that they could easily traffic others while some had done it unknowingly so they could be trafficked.
“That is why we ask people to report their missing passports. We have a case in hand where an Indian citizen wanted to go to Malaysia,” he said.
He said the man met some officials in Lesotho who made a passport for him to go to Malaysia.
He added that the person in the Ministry of Home Affairs used a high-resolution printer to print the passport for that foreigner.
“He took a missing passport of someone else and edited it so that it appeared to be belonging to this foreigner,” he said.
Moreover, he said it can be hard to identify a fraudulent passport.
“You should also expect such cases in your consulates,” he said.
Raboletsi also stressed that the case happened in April but now some Basotho claim the Indian is an investor and should be allowed to enter the Kingdom.
“Those people went to courts asking for the man to enter the country, yet he (acquired) our passport fraudulently,” he said.
Speaking at the meeting, Lesotho's ambassador to Italy, Chief Thesele 'Maseribane, said the issue of unemployment is serious and is making people fall victim to traffickers.
“We have to agree on the recruitment policies so that we benefit from agencies like the UN,” Chief 'Maseribane said, adding that“we only see one Mosotho (in such agencies)”.
He said it would be important for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hire someone to focus on the scholarships dished out to Lesotho so that Basotho can get those scholarships easily as part of reducing chances of trafficking.
Some people were lured by traffickers who promised them scholarships abroad.
“Human trafficking kingpins are well known as stipulated in the NSS (National Security Service) reports,” Chief 'Maseribane said.
“We who were privileged to read those reports know that the kingpins are still roaming Maseru's streets,” he said.
Lesotho's ambassador to Belgium, Dr Pontšo Sekatle, said the issue of human trafficking is painful.
She recalled a case of one woman who was recently rescued in South Africa.
“What is hurtful is that the girl now has a baby (conceived) during those embarrassing ordeals,” Dr Sekatle said.
She said human trafficking is rife in Lesotho and comes in different ways,“especially because Lesotho has porous borders where they make people cross through criminal ways”.
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