There are 142 cases of human trafficking in Angola, of which only 22% have been convicted, according to figures released on Tuesday by National Human Rights Director Yannick Bernardo.
Of the 142 cases identified, 53% are adults and the remainder are minors, with most cases (60) reported in Cunene Province (southern Angola), while no cases were diagnosed in Kuando Cubango, Lunda South and Kuanza South . he indicated this period.
As for Kunene, which has a vast border of more than 400 kilometers with Namibia, he essentially pointed to climate change, with the aggravation of droughts and droughts, as a factor in intensifying the normal migration flow between the two countries.
“These are people who are in a very vulnerable position” and are easily recruited for begging, sexual exploitation or other purposes, said an official who spoke in Luanda at a seminar for journalists on human trafficking.
Yannick Bernardo argued that the data also meant that Kunene had “some border organization and control over this phenomenon” and “was able to identify and handle cases”, leading to more convictions (eight).
Regarding the fact that only 22% made it to the stage of litigation, he acknowledged that it is “difficult to complete a trafficking case.”
The Director of Human Rights stressed that the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure were recently amended for 2020, with some crimes taking on a “new form”, which also allowed for better handling of cases.
On the other hand, “certain procedural inaccuracies” led to the cancellation of acts by “more efficient” lawyers.
The third factor is related to the small number of magistrates and executors of justice: “therefore, these crimes do not have the answer that we would like to receive”
Of the 47% of identified minors, most of the children were intended for use in forced labor or as domestic workers.
About 75% were citizens, while the remaining 25% were from Vietnam, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and Namibia.
Their targets were Portugal, France, South Africa, Mozambique, Panama (to reach the United States of America), Laos and Vietnam.
The “seminar” is organized by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of Angola, the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (ONUDC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).