Human trafficking horror exposed

Human trafficking horror exposed





Human trafficking horror exposed
Written by John Chimunhu
Saturday, 05 February 2011 14:34
BEITBRIDGE - A human trafficking racket perpetuating the sexual exploitation of women has been exposed by The Zimbabwean On Sunday.
Human trafficking gangs known as Omalaitsha are preying on people, especially young unmarried or married women fleeing political turmoil blamed on President Robert Mugabe. They demand money upfront in Beitbridge but as soon as they enter South Africa, demand outrageous additional sums which the hapless passengers of their often South African-registered vehicles cannot pay. They also confiscate mobile phones and jewellery.
The victims are detained at houses set up for that purpose on farms and other outlying locations, sometimes with the knowledge of the SAPS, according to eyewitnesses from a local church group, which recently rescued seven women who had been trapped by being offered jobs as tobacco mules. The church members asked not to be named. The shrewd Omalaitsha then phone relatives of the victims demanding more money. The victims are brutalized and sometimes driven into virtual slavery.
"They put you on the phone and beat you up while your relatives are listening so that they come and rescue you quickly. They usually demand R5,000," Killa Zivhu, President of the Zimbabwe Cross-Border Traders Association told The Zimbabwean On Sunday. A three-month investigation by this newspaper showed the practice to be widespread while the gangs were well-organized and getting more vicious.
Witnesses said women were often forced to commit sexual acts with various men as part of their ordeal, to force them to act. Men were often led into crime. In one known case, a married woman died after she was infected with HIV. The International Organisation on Migration (IOM) has put up giant billboards warning people about the dangers of illegal migration.
The IOM has also set up reception centre for survivors, where most are tested for sexually-transmitted infections and assisted to return home and start a new life. But every day at this border post hundreds are crossing illegally with the help of the ever-present Omalaitsha, aided by the Guma Guma gang, a brutal network of border control thugs allowed to flourish by Mugabe's misrule, according to experts. Law enforcement officials said the courts were trying to be firm but the crimes were hard to prosecute.