MPs task Justice ministry to streamline legal framework on human trafficking

Lawmakers on Monday asked the Ministry of Justice to expedite a Ministerial Order that will pave way for support for human trafficking victims. The call was by members of the Chamber of Deputies’ Standing Committee on National Unity, Human Rights and Fight against Genocide, who said that the order is provided for by the existing legal framework. They tasked the Minister of State for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana to explain why the Ministerial Order is not yet in place even as the law relating to prevention, suppression and punishment of human trafficking was passed more than a year ago. The law was published in the official gazette of September 24, 2018. The committee chairperson, MP Elisabeth Mukamana, said the ministerial decree ought to have been published not later than two months after the law was officially gazetted. “That ministerial order is supposed to fill a legal gap; it ensures that these people get the necessary support they are legally supposed to get,” Mukamana said. Article 11 of the 2018 law – which provides for harsh punishments – says that a human trafficking victim is supposed to get special treatment. Lawmakers argue that such a victim has to be provided with information on the nature of protection, assistance and support they are entitled to. In addition, the victims are also supposed to be informed of the possibilities of assistance and support by non-governmental organisations or victim assistance agencies. According to the law, a human trafficking victim has a right to participate in court proceedings against the perpetrator of trafficking in persons and is assisted to present views and concerns for consideration at appropriate stages of the proceedings relating to the offence. The victim, the law adds, must be provided with the legal assistance throughout the entire proceedings, and be exempted from payment of any filing fees required under civil procedure laws when bringing a civil suit in compensation for damages caused by the crime of human trafficking committed against them. The victims are also entitled to free healthcare and social security services. Once they are returned home, for example, they get a package of Rwf250, 000 from their home District, The New Times established. The absence of a Ministerial Order, lawmakers noted, means a slowdown in access to the benefits. Uwizeyimana acknowledged the lawmakers’ concerns, promising that the Order will be in place in six months. The ministry has been cautious on the Ministerial Order because of, among other things, the high financial implications associated with the “difficult matter of human trafficking.” “If someone, for example, is in Chile or Colombia and has to be returned home, a plane ticket would cost about $16,000. Where does that money come from?” Uwizeyimana asked. Shedding light on the challenge, the minister noted that, for example, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion has an annual budget of Rwf10 million going into supporting human trafficking victims. Explaining the rationale of going slow on the Ministerial Order, he said the existing national policy framework is effective as it enables all national organs and institutions providing support to victims to do so. “The lack of an Order of the Minister does not imply that everything is not being done to provide support to these people,” the Minister said. “The existing legal framework is good enough; and it is reinforced by political will.” “Ignorance, poverty partly to blame” Uwizeyimana told lawmakers that while in 2017, there were 42 registered cases of human trafficking, the number shot to 49 in 2018. This year, he said, there are 38 cases known so far. Last year, 17 human trafficking victims were returned home. This year, 25 have returned, so far. Human trafficking is a very complex problem that keeps evolving and, Uwizeyimana said, the work done in repatriating victims, providing financial and other means of support, among others, is not handled by one single government department or agency. Challenges encountered in fighting human trafficking, he said, include a general lack of awareness of the problem among the population, inefficient policies in other countries as well as the fact that human trafficking, in spite of being a terrible crime, is “big business.” “Very rich people are making a lot of money out of human trafficking and this situation is worsened by having security personnel in other countries that profit from it, with others being too corrupt to help.” Globally, human trafficking is reported to be a $32 billion industry involving 161 countries — including the United States. According to Christine Kayirebwa of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), the public’s ignorance and poverty are partly to blame for human trafficking and much more public awareness is needed. Generally, girls are the main targets for human trafficking. “As an example of this ignorance, we have a case of a young girl who finished high school and started a mobile money business. A woman she did not really know approached her and suggested to her that she can get her a job abroad where she could earn Rwf300, 000 per month and live well,” Kayirebwa said. “Imagine someone who was probably earning Rwf30, 000 being told to go abroad without paying for the plane ticket to earn Rwf300, 000. That is ignorance especially when one does not even try to consult other people about the big job offer she or he is being given in Kuwait.” Fortunately, she noted, this young girl was intercepted before she was flown out. The girl, amazingly, had kept her plan secret and never consulted family members or local leaders. By the time she intercepted, she had already been given a plane ticket and was to go through Uganda and Kenya. A lot is being done to arrest the criminals involved in human trafficking, she said, but it is so difficult because, besides using false names, they largely operate outside Rwanda in countries like Kenya and Uganda from where they lure unsuspecting victims. Most Rwandans are trafficked to Oman and Qatar, the Minister said. editor@newtimesrwanda.com

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MPs task Justice ministry to streamline legal framework on human trafficking