Children living with albinism in Southern Africa face discrimination and abuse, often culminating in abduction, murder or human trafficking. The abuse is linked to the belief that body parts of persons with albinism could produce wealth and good luck when used in witchcraft potions.
A two-day regional forum on preventing and combating human trafficking and protecting people with albinism in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania is currently underway in Pemba, northern Mozambique. The workshop, the first of its kind, was organized by the UN Migration Agency (IOM) in partnership with UNICEF, the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Mozambique (PGR) and the Prosecutor of Cabo Delgado province.
Participants include representatives of Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania’s counter-trafficking coordination bodies, prosecutors, criminal investigation police, national human rights institutions, NGOs concerned with the protection of people with albinism and traditional healers.
“UNICEF is supporting the Government to enhance civil registration by investing in the establishment and expansion of a digitalized system of birth registration to ensure the basic rights of every child to name, identity and nationality. This will in turn prevent and address disappearance of children, abandonment or assist in investigations when children with albinism are affected. Following new instances of kidnapping and killing of children and people with albinism in Mozambique, UNICEF launched in August 2015 a social media campaign called #TodosIguais to create awareness on this issue. The ongoing campaign has so far reached over five million people,” Marcoluigi Corsi, UNICEF Representative in Mozambique.
Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania share common borders and are either countries of origin or destination for the trafficking of people with albinism and their body parts. The forum will result in a plan of action on cross-border cooperation for the prevention and prosecution of human trafficking-related crimes and the protection of the rights of people with albinism, eventually resulting in more effective investigation and prosecution, as well as victim protection.
“A regional approach like this that complements national efforts in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania is the only way we will improve cross-border coordination and investigation to protect people with albinism. This regional approach to investigation, research and cooperation was recommended in a recent report by the UN independent expert who visited Mozambique in 2016,”Katharina Schnoering, IOM Chief of Mission in Mozambique.
IOM is working in partnership with the Governments to assist victims of trafficking and provide strengthened national counter-trafficking responses in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania.
Source: IOM. Read full article here.
23 May, 2017
