US slams inaction on people trafficking

Financial constraints, pervasive corruption, porous borders and a poor understanding of the scope of the problem have contributed to Tanzania's failure to meet the minimum requirements to eliminate trafficking in persons, according to a recent US State Department report. These findings come despite the government's acknowledgement of the problem and the "significant efforts" it has made to eliminate the crime in Tanzania, which was described as a source country for trafficked persons in the 2002 Trafficking in Persons Report. "Available information indicates that trafficking in Tanzania is most often internal and related to child labour, including child prostitution in the larger cities. Children are trafficked from rural to urban areas within the country for domestic work, commercial agriculture, fishing and mining," the report said. It also said there was some evidence to suggest that trafficking of women and girls to South Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Europe in order to work as prostitutes also took place. The report suggests that although some efforts have been made by the government to clamp down on the practice, the measures have not been supported by sufficiently tough penalties for traffickers. "A new section of the penal code criminalises trafficking within or outside of Tanzania; however, the penalty is relatively light. A multi-agency government task force coordinates on child labour issues, but does not specifically address trafficking in persons," it stated. However, Tanzania is participating in a pilot programme that brings together government agencies, trade unions and social welfare organisations, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), to try to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. "This ILO project is making progress and there is also an ongoing review process of all the labour laws, as well as some training of inspectors. But we need to see this all translated into action," Sally Neuman, a programme analyst in the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, told reporters in Tanzania on Tuesday. The US, which itself had no anti-trafficking legislation until 2000, has classified Tanzania as a Tier 2 country, in a system that places countries that have made the best progress in tackling trafficking in Tier 1, and those with the poorest track records in Tier 3.