Police in Phalombe say some parents in the district are involved in child trafficking as they encourage their children to go to Mozambique to find work.
Assistant Superintendent Maureen Mkhwamba of Phalombe Police made the remarks recently during a meeting with community members in Sub-Traditional Authority Namasoko in the district.
Mkhwamba expressed concerns in her speech that it is very pathetic to learn that parents are in forefront in the malpractice.
“On cases of child trafficking, we repatriate the victims to their respective homes. We always sensitize the community members on the dangers of child trafficking. In most cases, the well-wishers are the ones who tip us with information because parents are also the perpetrators who are involved in the malpractice,” she said during the interview after when the event was finished.
Sub-Traditional Authority Namasoko said poverty forces parents to send their children to work in Mozambique.
“It’s not only in Mozambique where children are taken to work but also within the country especially in the North,” said the chief during his welcoming remarks.
In an interview, one of the victims said that the challenges his family was facing forced him to go to tobacco estates to work.
“I was once married but my parents and other organizations separated the marriage. Then I was taken to the North by another person where I worked in tobacco estates for several years. The time I returned, I was advised to go back to school, and currently I am still schooling,” he said in a separate interview.
Chikondi Kachigwe, a concerned member, said children are taken to Mozambique to work in tobacco estates where they are expected to bring a bicycle when returning.
