Buried alive (Organ Harvesting): Albinos pay the price for their skin

Despite majority of African countries illegalizing harvesting of body organs, the continent continues to be an epicenter of human trafficking for organ harvesting purposes. A 2021 report by Interpol showed North and West Africa to be the leading source market for the illegal trade due to impoverished communities and displaced populations being at greater risk of exploitation.

The report shows the human trafficking syndicates involved in organ trafficking in these regions have connections to the medical sector in countries from Africa and beyond, notably in Asia and the Middle East, with probable links on transplant tourism, where a patient travels abroad to buy an organ for illegal transplant or transplants performed in North Africa with organs illegally sourced in the region, or transplants done elsewhere with illegally sourced organs.

In 2021, Marriet Achieng from Kipsongo slums in Kitale town, Kenya, who scored 404 marks at Chetoto Primary School shocked many when she opted to sell one of her kidneys to finance her secondary school education. The 15-year-old girl said her mother was a hairdresser who could not afford to raise school fees to enable her join St Mary’s Girls High School, Bomet.

Asked how she could sell her organ, the girl said she was ready to look for a buyer and that she was willing to go through the surgical procedure to see her kidney removed. “I’m not worried about the procedure of removing it. My interest is to see that I get my secondary education school fees,” she added.

Achieng’s story is not unique in Kenya considering the number of people who have come out to “sell” their kidney to raise money during difficult times.

Organized criminal groups coerce the unemployed, migrants, asylum seekers and refugees into selling an organ with promises of job opportunities abroad, as well as use of threats and violence.

Just recently (early July 2022), a Nigerian senator and his wife were arrested in London and charged with trafficking a 15-year-old boy for the purpose of harvesting organs for their sick daughter. Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and his wife, Beatrice Nwanneka was accused of conspiring to transport a child to the United Kingdom (UK) for a kidney harvesting, with prosecutors claiming the child was coerced into donating one of his kidneys to the politician’s daughter.

The Albino story

It is however the facts/story around the people living with albinism in Africa that totally blows the imagination of human rights and dignity. Albinos face some of the most serious dangers in some parts of Africa, where experts say they are at risk of being trafficked for use in witchcraft rituals.

According to a recent report released by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), people with albinism in Tanzania have a price on their heads - whether dead or alive, adults or children. The country is a source for all the trafficking routes in East and Southern Africa, where markets for their body parts prosper.

Those with the condition are socially alienated and stigmatized. Although crimes against people with albinism are under-reported, the high values attached to the illicit trade make this form of human trafficking one of the most lucrative and harmful.

Tanzania hosts the largest population of people with albinism worldwide

Albinism is a genetic condition where skin lacks the melanin pigment, making a person appear unusually light. While one out of 15 000 people in most African sub-regions has albinism, one out of 1.400 Tanzanians has the condition.

According to the April report, a complete set of albino organs in Tanzania is priced at about US$75 0000 by criminal networks serving wealthy clients. Children are said to be worth more.  A living albino costs US$340 000, according to Vicky Ntetema, an undercover investigative journalist. These values make the illicit trade in albinos one of the most lucrative and harmful forms of human trafficking worldwide.

Albinos in Tanzania live in constant fear of being maimed or even killed for the color of their skin. Brutal attacks on albinos are common-place, as black-market prices for their limbs, bones and organs can often be as high as thousands of dollars. The 'magic' is thought to be stronger if the body parts are taken while the victims, especially children, are conscious and alive. Albinos are targeted in four ways by criminal networks that include witch doctors, kidnappers, traffickers and killers: they can be kidnapped, trafficked from another village or country, killed and dismembered for body parts, or their graves may be exhumed and their organs removed.

The clients who buy these ‘products’ are wealthy, influential, and are from different parts of East and Southern Africa, including Tanzania and its immediate neighbors. It appears that most are politicians seeking re-election and business magnates who believe that potions made from albino body parts will make their enterprises thrive, according to ISS.

When a wealthy client dies, albinos are sourced to serve him in his afterlife. In the most bizarre practice of this superstition, a dead client is buried with four live albinos – two on either side of the deceased body, which is laid on their laps.

Most attacks against people with albinism occur in the rural areas of Tanzania, especially in the Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa and other smaller lake regions. The towns of Kagera, Geita, Chato, Shinyanga, Singida and Mwanza are hotspots.

Unlike in urban centers, it is hard to detect when a person with albinism is killed in villages in rural areas. Communities believe that albinos ‘disappear’ and do not die, says Wazambi, and so do not report their missing relatives to the authorities.

There are three active albino trafficking routes in the East and Southern African regions, says Ntetema: Tanzania-Malawi-Burundi-Kenya; Tanzania-Mozambique-South Africa; and Tanzania-Swaziland-South Africa. Tanzania features in all these routes as a source country, but albinos are targeted in all these countries by the criminal networks who control the trade. The networks act independently but also work together to exchange organs and charms.

Trafficking and killing of people with albinism occur where government services are often absent or ineffective

During his presidential election campaign in 2015, the late John Magufuli vowed to end the killing of albinos and pledged that government officers would be held personally responsible if any took place.

Despite Magufuli’s stance, killings continued, some are reported and many more are unreported. In 2021, four killings of albinos were reported by the human rights organisations Under the Same Sun and the Legal and Human Rights Centre. A boy of six was discovered mutilated in Kigoma city in May, while a woman was killed in Tabora municipality. And two graves exhumed in October in Tanga and Arusha cities revealed bodies that had been desecrated and were missing their left legs.

In other African countries, albino killings have reportedly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic as more people have fallen into poverty and turned to the organ trade to make money. International advocacy campaigns by human rights organizations and the United Nations aim to raise awareness about the threats faced by albinos worldwide. These campaigns focus on influencing and instituting effective policy and protective frameworks at national levels.

But it is difficult to institute interventions for what can be described as a ‘silent crime’. Albino trafficking and killing occur in places where government services are often absent or ineffective. There is also less advocacy at these local levels due to traditions, customs and superstitions, leaving robust criminal networks to operate unfettered.

Political stances such as Magufuli’s are to be encouraged. Yet these remain political rhetoric if not accompanied by local-level advocacy. This advocacy, which may be spearheaded by the media and civil society, would need to focus on shifting the perspectives on albinism. This shift would decrease the stigmatization and create counter-narratives that break down beliefs that enable the silent, deadly trade in people with albinism. Such campaigns are insufficient on their own, however – local-level leaders who vocally support these initiatives are needed to change mindsets, along with district and national-level support through law enforcement and policy frameworks.

The National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Plan of Action 2021-2024 launched in March is a commitment in the right direction. However, an additional and urgent focus is specific legislation on organ trafficking that will support its 2008 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in Tanzania. And Tanzania is not alone, countries across the East and Southern African are necessary partners in the detection and prosecution of crimes in their own countries and in the cross-border trade in people with albinism.

Olympic star, Sir Mo Farah, reveals he was trafficked to the U.K. as a child

Domestic Slavery

Sir Mo Farah, a renowned and award-winning British Olympic athlete revealed in a recent BBC and Red Bull Studios documentary that he was brought to the U.K. when he was nine years old and forced to work as a domestic servant.

His account of human trafficking and modern slavery has sparked an urgent conversation about how trafficking can occur, how the hostile immigration environment in the U.K. prevents people from coming forward, and the urgent need for better protection mechanisms for victims and survivors.

Mo Farah’s story

As a child, Farah was brought to the U.K. from his home in Somaliland by a woman he didn’t know. He was told that he was to no longer use his real name, Hussein Abdi Kahin, and was now to adopt the name of Mohammed Farah. She told him that if he ever wanted to see his family again, he would keep quiet.

From that point on, Farah’s childhood was spent in domestic servitude, cooking, cleaning and looking after the woman’s children. “For years I just kept blocking it out. But you can only block it out for so long,” the athlete reflects.

For the first few years, the family he stayed with wouldn’t allow him to go to school, but when he was about 12 years old, he enrolled at Feltham Community College in West London. Staff were told that Farah was a refugee from Somalia. His former teacher, Sarah Rennie, tells the BBC that he arrived at the school “unkempt and uncared for,” spoke very little English, and was an “emotionally and culturally alienated” child.

Eventually, Farah’s sports teacher, Alan Watkinson, noticed a transformation in the youngster when he hit the athletic track. “The only language he seemed to understand was the language of physical education and sports,” he says.

Sports as a lifeline

Farah says sports was a lifesaver for him, since “the only thing I could do to get away from this [living situation] was to get out and run.”  Eventually, he confided to Watkinson his true identity and background, and that he was forced to work for a family. Watkinson contacted social services, who placed Farah with another Somali family.

“I still missed my real family, but from that moment everything got better.  I felt like a lot of stuff was lifted off my shoulders, and I felt like me. That’s when Mo came out – the real Mo.”

Farah began to make a name for himself as an athlete and at age 14 was invited to compete for English schools in a race in Latvia. However, he had no travel documents. Watkinson helped him apply for British citizenship, granted in July 2000, under the name Mohamed Farah.

Reuniting with his family

 As he gained visibility in the Somali community, a woman approached him in a London restaurant and gave him a tape. It contained a recorded message for Farah from someone he hadn’t heard from in a long time: his mother, Aisha.

His mother there tells him the origin of their journey: “We were living in a place with nothing, no livestock and the land was destroyed. We all thought we were dying. All we heard was ‘Boom, boom, boom’. I sent you away because of the war. I sent you with your uncle to Djibouti so you would have something.”

The reality for trafficking victims in the U.K.

Farah says he wants to tell his story to challenge public perceptions of trafficking and slavery. “I had no idea there were so many people going through exactly the same thing I did. It just goes to show how lucky I was,” he says.

We are grateful to Sir Mo Farah for his immense bravery in coming forward to share his experiences. It is disheartening that despite the trauma he experienced as a young child, Farah still risked legal repercussions from the Home Office for disclosing his truth. While the Home Office issued a statement saying they would not take action against Farah, this is not the reality for many others like him. Instead, the Home Office routinely detains, deports and punishes trafficking victims rather than supporting them.

ALL trafficking victims and survivors deserve support and being an exceptional athlete should not be a prerequisite to accessing your rights.

International Counter Trafficking in Persons Day, 30th July: The Genesis

Since medieval history, human beings still practiced not so good social-cultural lifestyles such as forced marriages, female genital mutilations, debt bondage and slavery; to name but a few. The human behaviour and the socio-cultural practices have over the centuries transformed and changed with the industrial revolution and the modern societal practices as understood today.

Towards the end of the 20th century, slave trade was assumed to be a thing of the past and all civilized societies demonstrated increased degrees of freedoms and adherence to universal declaration on the human rights as guided by the United Nations’ resolutions.

But alas! In mid-1900’s, Human trafficking had started to pick up momentum as a lucrative criminal enterprise whose sole purpose was profiteering. By the year 2000, at Palermo, Italy, the whole world acknowledged that indeed human trafficking had become a thorn on the life humanity and it had exemplified itself as modern-day slavery. The Palermo protocol therefore marked the first major global effort to develop an international instrument that championed a collective effort by UN Member States.

Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes including forced labour and sex. Since 2003 the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has collected information on about 225,000 victims of trafficking detected worldwide. Globally countries are detecting and reporting more victims and are convicting more traffickers. This can be the result of increased capacity to identify victims and/or an increased number of trafficked victims.

In 2006, responding to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) request for intergovernmental agencies to further cooperate in order to strengthen technical assistance provided to countries in the area of human trafficking, the Government of Japan hosted a coordination meeting of international organizations working to counter trafficking in persons. The participating organizations (ILO, IOM, UNICEF, UN Women, UNHCR and UNODC) decided to continue the effort initiated and proposed the creation of a coordination group. The Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Human Trafficking (ICAT) was formally established in March 2007.

In 2010, the UN General Assembly adopted the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, urging Governments worldwide to take coordinated and consistent measures to defeat this scourge. The Plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programmes in order to boost development and strengthen security worldwide. One of the crucial provisions in the Plan is the establishment of a UN Voluntary Trust Fund for victims of trafficking, especially women and children.

The Trust Fund facilitates effective, on-the-ground assistance and protection to victims of trafficking, through grants to specialized NGOs. It aims to prioritize victims coming from a context of armed conflict and those identified among large refugee and migration flows.

In 2013, the General Assembly held a high-level meeting to appraise the Global Plan of Action. Member States also adopted resolution A/RES/68/192 and designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. This resolution declared that such a day was necessary to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.”

In September 2015, the world adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and embraced goals and targets on trafficking in persons. These goals call for an end to trafficking and violence against children; as well as the need for measures against human trafficking, and they strive for the elimination of all forms of violence against and exploitation of women and girls.

Another important development is the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, which produced the ground breaking New York Declaration. Of the nineteen commitments adopted by countries in the Declaration, three are dedicated to concrete action against the crimes of human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. Traffickers the world over continue to target women and girls. The vast majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and 35 per cent of those trafficked for forced labour are female. Conflict further exacerbates vulnerabilities, with armed groups exploiting civilians and traffickers targeting forcibly displaced people.

Cascading Of The Oversight And Community Feedback Mechanism Trainings At County And Community Levels Report

Background

CHTEA is a member of a technical advisory committee appointed by the minister for Labour to steer a project called, “Fostering Recruitment Agencies’ Ethical Practices and Accountability & Supporting the Government of Kenya to Pilot a Recruitment Oversight Mechanism to prevent trafficking in persons”. This project is funded by IOM and it takes a multi-stakeholder approach that will contribute to the transformation of the recruitment industry in Kenya towards ethical recruitment practices.

The project is expected to support the creation of sustainable business models for recruitment of migrant workers that are consistent with international ethical recruitment standards. It will also address the drivers of human trafficking by enhancing ethical recruitment services on the supply side, while piloting an oversight mechanism with the National Employment Authority (NEA) to monitor and report unscrupulous practices by recruitment agencies.

In order to achieve the purpose of this project, IOM has been running a series of trainings to create awareness at the community level. CHTEA is currently identified as a trainer in this project, (among others organization) to offer skills transfer to a target audience that includes local administration (the chiefs), the Community Health Volunteers (CHVs), the clergy and Community based organizations.  The first such training took place at the Sarova Stanley hotel on April 21st – 22nd 2022

Qatar Migrant Workers Describe ‘Pathetic’ Conditions.

By Stephen Fottrell
BBC News

Image source,
AP Image caption,
Working and housing conditions of the 1.5 million migrant workers constructing buildings in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup have been heavily criticized.

The Gulf state has made little progress on improving migrant workers' rights, despite promises to do so, according to the rights group Amnesty International. Qatar disputes the claims and says improvements have been made. Here, we speak to three construction workers who have worked on sites in Qatar recently. They describe the conditions there as "pathetic" and "oppressive".

'Frank' (not his real name), 30, from Kenya

"I came to Qatar from Kenya last June to work on the construction sites here.I got the work through an agency. I was paid $350 (£223) a month when I got here, which was a lot less than I was promised. I also spent a lot to get here - over $1,000.

I worked at sites building government schools near [the capital] Doha from June to November last year. There are a lot of infrastructure projects going on here, alongside the World Cup venues”.

 

Image caption, "Frank" sent this picture of the construction site he worked on near Doha

The main site that I worked on was not a good environment. The majority of the workers are uneducated, and the companies take advantage of them, so they cannot negotiate. They just become helpers and are badly paid. Many just end up accepting it, as they cannot go back to their home countries, because they are supporting their families.

I am sending money back to my family. They are all looking to me, but I can't tell them what it is like here, or they would tell me to come home. When I arrived, I was told that I would be working as an electrician, even though I am not trained, which is dangerous. I got an electric shock on the site once, but thankfully I was OK.

Conditions on the sites are very bad. You work all day out in the open in extreme heat. You start at 04:00 and work all day. There is no cold drinking water on the site, just hot water. It is very oppressive.

Image caption, "Frank" working on a site near Doha, Qatar

No-one will listen if you complain. We once went on strike because we weren't paid for a month. We were eventually paid, but the management didn't care about our complaints. Life in Qatar is very expensive. The accommodation is provided through the company, but food and general living expenses make it hard to save anything. I try to send home what I can.

As for the accommodation, I would describe the conditions as pathetic. In the first place I stayed, Al Khor, there were 10 people to one small room, with five bunk beds and nowhere to put anything. The toilets were outside. It was all very inadequate and uncomfortable. You also have to hand over your passport on arrival, so you can't leave. You feel trapped, like a prisoner.

Media caption,
Mark Lobel reports: ''Our arrest was dramatic - eight cars drove us off the road'' I am now staying in a place called Industrial - where most of the migrant workers live. The hygiene here is very poor. There are five to a room, which is a bit better, but it is not hygienic. I now work in a mall in sales after being allowed to leave my job at the construction sites. It is a bit better, but still not great. Life is very hard here. I would like to see the lives of migrant workers here change. It's just a sacrifice now. There need to be improvements made to safety, salaries and accommodation."

'John' (not his real name), from Ghana

"I am a truck driver working on the site of a new port project near Doha. I came here from Ghana a year and a half ago. Honestly speaking, we are suffering badly at the hands of our employers, especially in the summer time, as it is now. It is 40-50C here during the day, but there is no air conditioning in our vehicles, and we are breathing sandy air. At times the dust and sand flows in the air like snow.

There is nobody to fight for us. For almost two months now, my company has refused to pay our salaries. Our company is killing us because they don't want to give us the little reward we deserve.

My salary of $550 a month is very low for a driver like me. We have no days off to rest. This not only applies to me - it is the same with every worker at my company.I start at 05:00 and work until 19:00, with two hours of transportation to the site and back each day.

Image source, AFP Image caption, There are an estimated 1.5 million migrant workers currently in Qatar

Qatar has a labour office, but if you report your company, they will definitely send you back to your country. So everyone is too scared to report any problems. I'm an orphan from a poor home. I couldn't finish my secondary school education. I have been living in cabins in camps, separated by plywood. Almost all of the workers staying in these camps, are poor and come from countries in Africa and Asia, like Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. We all experience the same problems.

About 15-20% of the workers here have achieved some quality of living standard, with a good salary, due to their educational background, or they have been able to get work through good foreign companies. But for the rest of us, the payment of salaries is a real headache. How I wish I could save enough money to leave here to get to Europe or the US.

That's my ambition, because in Ghana, even graduates don't have work, so imagine how hard it is for people like me who had to drop out of school."

Stephen Ellis, from Widnes, UK, worked on a World Cup site in Doha in March

"I worked on one of the World Cup sites in Doha at the end of March. I left after two weeks, because the conditions were an absolute disgrace. I work as a pipe fitter and supervisor and have been on construction sites all over the world. These were the worst conditions I've ever seen on any site. Most of the workers at the site where I worked were Indian. They are treated very badly, and the conditions in which they live and work are terrible.

Image source, AP Image caption, The Qatar Foundation stadium in Doha is one of the venues for the 2022 tournament

There is no drinking water available, there is no air conditioning in their cabins - and this was in 45C heat. They have filthy sanitation, and the food is dished out like in the Oliver Twist movie. However, what's even worse is the on-site safety, or lack of it. It does not exist, and my friends and I, who went to work there together, were horrified at the risks taken every day on the site.

We were told that before we started there, one Indian worker had been killed.

The site was run totally by Indians, and they were treating their own people very, very badly. But the upper management did not seem to care. They were just turning a blind to it all. We were told by English managers that if we didn't like it to leave, so we did. There were also other Brits, along with myself, who were treated just as badly.

We were paid a lot more than the Indian workers - they were on about $50 a week, and we were on closer to $33 an hour - but we were still ripped off because we left early."

 

‘Lest We Forget’: Commemorating The International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Introduction

As the global counter trafficking in persons’ institutions ready themselves for the commemoration of their efforts on 30th July, it would be refreshing to be reminded of our own human history that informed this criminal practice. It is our hope and desire that we shall continue to pull together and deal with both the pull and push factors which seem to sustain the criminal endevours of perpetrators.

A historical perspective

25th of Mach 2022 was set aside by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The objective of this day is to enlighten the general public about the tragedy of the slave trade and to engrave the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples; The day is viewed as an opportunity to reflect on those that suffered and perished at the hands of slavery, but also as an occasion to raise awareness to the world’s youth about the dangers of racism and prejudice.

The Genesis of Transatlantic Trade

In 1441, Prince Harry of Portugal sent Gonçalves, his captain to the coast of West Africa to bring back a cargo of seal skins and oils. The captain was inexperienced and hence was only sent to bring mundane things. However, he was ambitious; as the ship approached the coast of Mauritania in West Africa, Gonçalves decided to impress the prince by taking back what he knew was his true desire-Slaves. He expected that the prince would reward him highly. And so on his way back, Gonçalves together with his men loaded the caravel with the captives as well as the skins and oils they had been sent to gather, and sailed back to Portugal.

This episode marked the beginnings of an era of European exploration that brought the continents of Europe and Africa into contact with one another through forced transatlantic migrations from Africa to Europe, and eventually to the Caribbean and North and South America. In the 1440s, Gonçalves and other Portuguese explorers began a process that created an Atlantic world connected in ways that it had never been before. This traversing of trade routes and the introduction of African slaves into a new world shaped the lives and experiences of millions of Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans who met on the shores of America. The trade lasted up until 1807 and majority of the captives were collected from West and Central Africa

Remembering the Victims of Slavery

The victims of the transatlantic slave trade endured a series of catastrophic events; they were separated from home, family and nearly all things familiar; captured in the African interior, transported to the coast; sold to slave traders; passed the sea in conditions of squalor and indescribable horror (it is estimated that, out of the 12.5 million enslaved Africans, 1.8 million died during their voyage). The enslavement tested the spirit and will of men, women and children who struggled to find meaning and happiness in a new world order.

Behind the facts and figures are millions of human stories. The stories of those who were ripped from their homelands and families. The stories of those who fought against their oppressors. The stories of those who triumphed against all odds to win their freedom. Those stories continue today as people across the globe keep struggling together against the transatlantic slave trade’s most enduring legacy – racism.

It has always been presumed that the West has been economical with the truth as to the fact that their economies were largely constructed by the sweat, tears and blood of slavery captives. And as the world continues, year in, year out to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, all efforts need to endevour towards collaboration and to renew the collective resolve to tackle modern day slavery. This year’s theme was, “Stories of Courage: Resistance to Slavery & Unity Against Racism”.

References

United Nations. (2022, March 25). Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery. Retrieved from United Nations: https://www.un.org/en/rememberslavery/observance/2022

Williams, H. A. (2014). American Slavery; A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

 

Report On The Santa Marta Group Global Conference

Venue: The Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, Rome (Vatican City State), Italy
Date: 17th – 19th May 2022
Prepared by: Mutuku Nguli, Vice Chair, SMG-A

Pope Francis speaks to those attending an international conference of the Santa Marta Group at the Vatican May 19, 2022. The Santa Marta Group is an alliance of leaders of various law enforcement, government and civic and religious organizations to share their expertise, experience and best practices in the task of preventing and combating human trafficking and modern forms of slavery. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Introduction

The Santa Marta Group is an alliance of International police chiefs and bishops from around the world working together with civil society in a process endorsed by Pope Francis, to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The Pope describes trafficking as “an open wound on the body of contemporary society”.

The Group is led by His Excellency Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.

It was named after the Papal residence where the participants from the Vatican Conference stayed in April 2014 and resulted in a signed ‘Declaration of Commitment’ by all the Chiefs of Police present to work together on the International stage to develop strategies in prevention, pastoral care and the re-integration.

The objective of the Group is to combine the resources of the Church with those of Law Enforcement Agencies to prevent trafficking and modern-day slavery, provide pastoral care to victims and assist them with re-integration in the host community for safe return.

Preface

The 2022 Santa Marta Group International Conference took place May 17-19 May at the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences at the Vatican. The conference brought together a global audience of Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, the Religious, Security experts (police chiefs, investigators, Judicial Officers and Non-Governmental Organizations.

The conference convenor, His Grace, Cardinal Vincent Nichols had initially targeted a large global audience but due to the Covid-19 changing environment, the numbers were reduced to a bare minimum in order to be accommodated at one location inside the Vatican.

In that respect therefore, Santa Marta Group Africa convenor, Fr Mark Odion in consultation with the SMG Director, Dr David Ryall provided for one slot for the SMG-A group. Mr. Francis Mutuku Nguli, the Vice Chair was nominated to present a paper in respect of the work done in Africa. Besides, one Arch-Bishop, a Bishop and two Congregational leaders (Nuns) from Nigeria were also in attendance. Lady Justice Roselyn Naliaka Nambuye from the Court of Appeal in Kenya was also invited to provide an insight on the Rule of Law and Protecting the Vulnerable.

Looking into the future with lessons learnt: The Papal reflection

According to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, since the Santa Marta Group was established in 2014, it has “devoted itself to fostering an ever-greater understanding of the scope and nature of human trafficking and to strengthening cooperation on the international, national and local levels so that effective ways to end this scourge may be found and that its victims may receive needed care, both physically and spiritually,” the pope said.

“Sadly, modern forms of slavery continues to spread,” even in wealthier nations, he said.

The Pope said he hoped the fight against human trafficking would expand its scope and include promoting “the responsible use of technology and social media, as well as the need for a renewed ethical vision of our political, economic and social life, one centered not on profit but on persons.”

The global conference focused on exploring “what works, what doesn’t work and how the Santa Marta Group can make good on its initial promise to bring decision-makers together from around the world to share their experiences and initiatives, learn from each other and find solutions to human trafficking.”

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England and the President of the Santa Marta Group explained that the aim of the conference was “to refocus and re-energize activities in light of a worsening situation across the world caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and continuing conflict and instability in many regions,” he said, and to create an “action plan that will help to guide local and regional activity” and “the way forward for Santa Marta Group over the coming year.” The action plan includes efforts for prevention, education, listening to victims and strengthening collaboration between the church and civil society.

The cardinal said attention must be on healing the wounds of victims and defending their dignity.

During the conference, Fr Mark Odion, Coordinator SMG-Africa Region and Mr. Mutuku Nguli, SMG-Africa Vice Chair presented a paper titled; “A review of the African Church Context in Combating Human Trafficking.” Another African representative from Kenya, Lady Justice Roselyn Nambuye (Court of Appeal) presented a paper on the “Rule of Law and Protecting the Vulnerable.”

 

Group photo: SMG global conference at the Vatican city, Rome Italy.

Mr. Mutuku Nguli presenting at the conference.

Tanzania: The Mwanza Regional Police holding Dianna Edward Bundala (Emerald King) on ​​a charge of human trafficking and exploitation.

While addressing the media on 26th February 2022 in Buguku Street, Buhongwa Ward, Nyamagana District, the Mwanza Regional Police reported the arrest of Dianna Edward Bundala, 39 years, a resident of Buguku – Buhongwa for the offence of trafficking about 149 human beings.

The victims were reported to have been transported from various places before she locked them up at her home where they lived. Among them were 57 men, 92 women and 24 children (estimated to be aged between 4-17 years). The children were reported to have been removed from various schools. The suspected trafficker is said to have been convincing her subject that she was indeed a god who heals, resurrects people and solves their problems.

Earlier on 23rd February 2022, the police received an order from the Mwanza Mkuyuni Magistrate’s Court seeking for the arrest of one the children’s biological mother, Samir Ally Abbas. In fulfillment of the order, the police visited the home of the suspected trafficker where it was alleged that the mother of the said child was also present.

When the police arrived at the scene, the suspected trafficker led her followers to attack the police and prevent them from carrying out their duty. The police left but returned later and successfully arrested the trafficker as per the magistrate’s order.

The police commenced deeper investigation of the accused and the accomplices in order to prefer appropriate charges, if found culpable. The Police called on citizens to stop using the shadow of religion to deceive and traffic their followers (especially when they have social problems such as diseases and difficult living conditions).


This is a caption of the Mwanza Police boss giving a public statement regarding the arrest of Dianna Bundala ‘Aka’ Mfalme Zumaridi who had camouflaged as a preacher and leader of the Zumaridi church in Mwanza. The wording is in Kiswahili language.

 

COUNTER HUMAN TRAFFICKING – What fish can do

It was very clear to me that the young woman who came into our office was in great distress.  As we introduced ourselves to each other and Lily began to talk – slowly at first – then most of it flowed out in copious tears.  I realized that the “Beirut Blast” in August, 2020 had taken a terrible toll on her life.  After a painful separation from her husband because of infidelity in July, 2018, she left for ‘greener pastures’ in the Lebanon.  She trusted that her 10 year old daughter would be safe with her mother.

Life was hard in Lebanon and Lily was forced in her own words “to do the work of three people” But she decided not to complain and it was extremely painful when she learned that the first 3 months of her salary was ‘directed’ to her airfare, then from the fourth month she received less than half of what was promised.  At times she felt angry as most days she was on her feet for 18 – 20 hours or more in  back-breaking drudgery.  As the family she worked for gave her no day off she said “I was driven like a slave” (I nodded in agreement).  Some days prior to the blast, Lily felt she could take no more and decided to escape, but life on the streets of Beirut, the capital city was a different kind of nightmare.   She joined some Kenyan women who had an equally checkered history of life in Beirut as homeless African women.  They all slept in one room and took turns that one waited behind to care for the children, while others worked in various casual jobs during the day.

One night when all the women went out as ‘ladies of the night’ while all the children were sleeping, Lily was dragged out by a group of young men who kicked in the door and she was savagely raped by the gang.  She said “I went in and out of consciousness” At that point I was not surprised that she had terrible dreams and nightmares.  With the help of a skilled Psychiatrist, cum PhD in Clinical Psychology, she healed eventually.  But these terrible memories of her experience remain part of her life story.   After the blast, people of various nations received some form of assistance from their embassies but Kenyans did not.  So they got together and decided to storm their embassy – at least 129 of them received tickets to return home.

A New Chapter in her Life

Thankfully, Lily was among those repatriated and came to our office three weeks later.  To add to all the woes in her life at that moment, she suspected that she might be pregnant.  If I could come with her to the hospital she agreed to go and find out the truth.  She shed many tears when the result read Positive, but she bravely told herself and me “it’s not the fault of this baby”.  Now more than ever Lily needed all our support.  As with most victims/survivors of trafficking, she had multiple needs to help to heal and restore her back to life.

Together with her medical care, counseling, housing and livelihood, we felt happy that since she had experience in selling fried fish at the market, we felt confident with her that it would be a good choice to sustain her both in the long and short term no matter where she set up house in Kenya.  But in the current sharp downturn in the economic situation, her sales were slow and the fish proved a disaster!!  Reason? She became inconsolable being forced one evening to throw her precious commodity to stray dogs.  Next day she requested to come to our office, she had spotted a small secondhand freezer for Euro 100.00 (twelve and a half thousand KHS) in the market – however she was halting in her enthusiasm and said “but, Sr Mary, you have done so much for me” I did not hesitate for a moment and suggested we purchase it and have a man pulling a cart (mkokoteni) to take it to her home.  From that time her project has gone from strength to strength.  On a good day her income can be Euro 25.00 or just Euro 6.00, if customers are few. She has been able to take her first born girl to high school using the same business income.

“My Beautiful Lebanese Daughter”

In June, 2021, Lily gave birth to a Baby girl, she called me to say “I have a beautiful Lebanese daughter” Only a woman of extraordinary courage and a heart full of forgiveness could make such a statement.  Of the months of counseling she said:  “only for this gift of counseling and the means of livelihood, I could never have coped so well and be where I am today” Her 12 year old firstborn (girl) is now ready to join First Year in secondary school shortly, it will be a good test of her ability to cope with these extra expenses. We wish her well and are here to support her.

The “fairy tale” of Marion, a Ugandan survivor rescued from Garissa

“A call one early morning from my elder sister who worked for a Somali family in Nairobi change my moods for the day as I anticipated to turn around the financial fortunes of my life”, ‘Marion’ a rescued Ugandan survivor recalls to this interviewer. Marion’s sister has worked for the same family since 2019. The family had asked Marion’s sister if she could bring another Ugandan lady to work as a house help for a related family at a far-flung location called Garissa.

Garissa is 367 kilometers north east of Nairobi. “I was quite hopeful that this new opportunity would greatly change the fortunes of my 5 children after I separated from my husband a few years earlier,” Marion continued to recall. She is the last born in a family of 9. Due to cultural and poverty related factors, Marion was married off at a tender age of 16 years and later, the husband married another wife and divorced her. She was forced to become the bread winner of her 5 children.

Due to the aforementioned challenges, Marion was convinced by her sister who was working in Nairobi to look for greener pastures in Kenya. The sister connected her to an employer at Garissa. “My movement costs were to be fully covered by the would-be employer,” Marion narrates. “I crossed the border on foot to avoid detection by border migration or security agents before I boarded a bus to Nairobi,” she concludes.

Upon arrival in Nairobi, Marion was received by her elder sister who briefed her about her would be employer’s location. She had to spend a night with her sister before leaving for Garissa the following day. The journey to Garissa was not without incidents but what stuck on her mind was how after being stopped by police for questioning, her would be employer sorted the matter out within a short time and she proceeded with her journey. This was despite of lack of proper travel documentation.

To conceal the hidden intentions, her would be employer gave Marion a warm reception and she was introduced to the family members. The family to work for consisted of 12 people. On commencement, she was neither allowed to take a rest nor was she given off days. This was besides being denied food and freedom of movement. Marion was not allowed leave the compound of her employer and was threatened with dire consequences if she dared do so.  The employer did not even provide for her basic needs such as sanitary towels. Eventually, Marion fell sick due to fatigue and the mistreatment encountered. Her pleas to be taken to hospital fell on deaf ears. The employer also forced Marion to refund the money that was used to facilitate her travel from Uganda hence, it meant going without salary until the full amount was recovered. The employer also employed the threats of reporting her to the police station since she did not possess legal migration documents. They even went further to threaten her that she would be accused of stealing.

One week into the job, Marion decided to escape from the family to save her life. “I had no idea where I was in Garissa but I woke up one day and schemed how to leave the family” She dashed out of the gated compound in a blink of an eye and vanished into thin air. Marion decided to use the main road as she kept running as fast as her feet could take her while her heart pounded with great fear. After about 5 kilometers of intense running, her body slowed down and she begun walking briskly to fake confidence…..but it was quite easy to notice that she was a stranger from the majority of the population.

The epitome of human indignity

At one point, Marion decided to stop a boda boda (motor bike riders) to ask for direction to the nearest police station. She had decided to take herself to a police station and risk being arrested instead of risking her life at a brutal work environment.  While she was asking for directions, a relative of the employer spotted her and in turn called her employer.

Within a few minutes, the employer arrived with her car. Marion was forced to enter the private car but she refused upon which, all hell broke loose. She was undressed in public after the employer claimed that she was a thief. They searched all her belongings but nothing was found. One of the non-indigenous residents from the area and who happened to be a Community Health Volunteer (CHV) with some previous training on counter human trafficking happened to have been passing by and noticed the commotion. She confronted the employer and insisted that Marion should have been taken to a police station if they were accusing her of theft. After a long confrontation, the employer agreed and Marion was taken to the police station accompanied by the CHV.

Upon arrival at the police station, the police officers first arrested the employer but released her on cash bail and asked to report back the following morning. The CHV was asked to host Marion until the following morning when her case would be determined after recording statements. Before leaving the police station, Marion insisted that she needed to pursue justice due to her employer’s abuse, exploitation, shame and indignity meted out on her.

Elusive Justice

A phone call was immediately made to the Secretariat of the “Religious Against Human Trafficking” (RAHT) in Nairobi to report the matter who in turn informed CHTEA (a member of RAHT). The latter moved swiftly and engaged further with other key stakeholders who facilitated the movement of Marion from Garissa to a shelter in Nairobi.

The employer offered to give Marion 150 USD so as to drop any charges that she was filing against the employer. For confidential reasons (known to CHTEA), Marion accepted the money and dropped the charges against her employer.

Marion has since arrival in Nairobi from Garissa exhibited signs of severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) and has since been placed under the care of one of the best psycho-social therapy experts in Kenya. The journey towards full rehabilitation and reintegration has just begun.