Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) says there is need for more law enforcement officers to be recruited in order for Malawi to combat trafficking in persons.
This has been said during an official opening of the 3-day awareness raising and training on trafficking in person and legal framework for Dzaleka refugee camp.
The training which is taking place at Vintage at Mponela in Dowa has been organized by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and is aimed at bringing in understanding to the refugees so that they should understand key elements of trafficking in person
Speaking with reporters, Executive Secretary for Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) Habiba Osman noted that enforcement officers and the data sources that are available at the moment, are not enough and reliable, hence more enforcement is needed.
Osman added that information dissemination and sharing laws about TIP is really needed from all levels in order to combat the malpractice and noted that the training will go a long way in as far as raising awareness is concerned.
“As a nation we really need to do more, as we are aware Dzaleka camp is currently hosting more than 46,000 refugees and we have more than 17 million people in the country as such we need to have more than 10,000 officers to end the case of trafficking in persons,” she explained.
In his remarks, UNODC Project Officer Maxwell Matewere highlighted the key importance of the training by coming out with experts who will be responsible in dealing with TIP cases at Dzaleka refugee camp.
Matewere said, after the training, the people will understand things to do with TIP, national legal framework, but also to identify traffickers and victims and report to the relevant authorities.
Dzaleka refugee camp has over 46 thousand refugees and the increased number of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants has raised concern to government of Malawi over trafficking in persons.
The government of Malawi enacted Trafficking in Persons Act (2015) in fulfilment of the country’s commitment and undertaking as a party to the United Nations (UN) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Girls.
The training has been organized with support from Government of Sweden.
