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Over 20 Batswana trafficked to Canada

Deputy CID Divisional Commander (South Central), Senior Superintendent Richard Butali told the seminar on Trafficking In Persons that so far, 25 Batswana have been trafficked to Canada - 22 females and three males. 

He told the just ended conference at the University of Botswana that in most cases, the victims are promised very good opportunities outside the country and when they get there, they are subjected to hard labour and sexual exploitation.

“Trafficking in persons for exploitation is an international criminal phenomenon that has serious consequences for safety, welfare and human rights of victims,” said Butali. He said they found out about the 25 trafficked Batswana through intelligence collection and contact made with Canadian law enforcement agencies as some of the victims were been held as illegal immigrants.   

He added that this year, there have received five reports of trafficking in persons as compared to six last year.

He said the figures may not be a true reflection of the problem as it is possible that there are other unreported cases. “There is no anti-trafficking law yet, but as the police, we cannot sit back and do nothing as such we use other available acts such as the Penal Code,” said Butale.  Other speakers said human trafficking is growing in the SADC region though the crime is difficult to investigate and detect.

A speaker from the South African Police Service, Major General Liziwe Ntshinga who heads the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation said that hard-core criminals behind trafficking in persons are making a lot of money by exploiting the victims.

She said that in most cases, the victims are used in prostitution, hard labour in the mines and hawking in the streets.  “The victims cannot come out and tell us the truth because they fear that their captors may harm them,” said Ntshiga. She stated that security agents need to be careful not to turn the victims into suspects when investigating trafficking cases. She said in South Africa, they arrested 64 boys from Zimbabwe working in underground mines.