STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER

DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI

AT WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

AT LAVUMISA BORDER POST

MONDAY 3 AUGUST 2015

Honourable Ministers

Chiefs

Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps

Regional Administrator

Presiding Officers and Members of both Houses of Parliament

Members of the Anti-Trafficking Task Force

Head of the Anti-Trafficking Secretariat

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

A day set aside each year to commemorate something special to the people of this world – usually an event, a success or a concern - is valuable since it motivates a sharp focus across the world on the important subject of that day. A day of introspection and resolution.

Where the day itself focuses on a global concern such as climate change it only has a real value if people think carefully about the issue and make changes in their lives to assist in reducing the concern to a more acceptable level or even eradicating the problem altogether.

Nothing could be more relevant to that than the day of the year – today – when we think about the trafficking in persons that goes on in our world. Trafficking in persons is huge business and a very bad business. Whilst there are numerous categories – including sexual exploitation, forced labour, child and forced marriages – they are all deeply dehumanizing practices, from which no country is immune. Is it not absolutely astounding and appalling that around US $ 100 million in illegal profits are made, each year, out of commercial sexual exploitation alone?

If we simply recognize the day politely and do nothing about it then we are not only wasting our time but, more importantly, neglecting our fellow human beings, and especially the innocent and relatively defenceless women and children who are the main victims of trafficking in the world. They need us and, in so many cases, are desperate for our intervention. We cannot let them down.

So it is essential that what I say today is taken on board in a practical way by every individual who cares. Yes, you can make a difference. It is rather like voting – your individual action to help eliminate trafficking may be a tiny speck in the picture, but if every person makes his or her effort and contribution, then the aggregate of those actions achieves the paradigm shift that is needed.

Trafficking in persons is quite simply modern day slavery. What, I ask everyone, was the point of joining hands to wipe out the appalling slavery of earlier centuries if we are to stand by and observe its modern equivalent without doing anything? So it has to boil down to making a personal commitment, a crusade, to be vigilant and pro-active in supporting our Government’s anti-trafficking drive in the Three P’s : Prevention, Protection and Prosecution.

It is a global problem and a global fight, hence the world’s recognition of this Day to reinforce our commitment to wipe out trafficking in persons. And any such fight, to be effective, requires partnership among nations. On behalf of His Majesty’s Government I re-iterate today our pledge that we, as a country, are fully supportive of the existing global partnership to combat trafficking in persons. I take the opportunity to extend our congratulations and gratitude to the Government of the United States of America for taking a leading position within the vanguard of the global fight, and assisting countries to meet the crucially important benchmarks known as the Tier system. I am pleased to confirm that Swaziland continues to retain its Tier 2 status – a grading, I might add, that precipitates considerable financial benefit to our country in other areas of development.

Similarly, we emphasise the critical importance of the United Nations Global Plan of Action which is a universally approved mechanism for coordinating all our efforts - national, regional and international. One of its main goals is to accelerate progress in the implementation of existing international instruments, the most prominent of which is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. That Protocol comes out of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, a convention that Swaziland ratified in September 2012.

How is Swaziland doing generally? I think that can be fairly summarized as - we have made considerable progress but there is still much to do. The details of our progress to date are best obtained from the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, issued by the United States Government. While noting that Swaziland is a source, destination and transit country for men, women and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour, the latest report does state that Swaziland is making significant efforts to fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Report also commends the work of our anti-trafficking Task Force and Secretariat for its increased awareness-raising efforts and its initiative in producing the bi-monthly newspaper column and radio programme, thereby improving the education of the public on the subject.

The Report does, however, urge the completion and dissemination of regulations to implement our anti-trafficking legislation of 2009 with regard to prevention and victim protection provisions. It does recognize the training of police, the legal profession and the labour inspectorate, which included victim identification and care procedures, but emphasizes the need to institutionalize this kind of training. It also suggests our prosecution process could be more effective, given a clearer understanding of the difference between normal transnational movement and trafficking activity.

As with most problem areas within a society, prevention is invariably the best weapon. Our education and increased awareness programmes are recognized by the latest Trafficking in Persons Report, although the degree of public awareness in our rural areas remains a concern. Since two thirds of our national population lives in the rural areas, an increased and specially focused effort will be needed.

Working in collaboration with our regional partners is essential. We are committed to the 10 Year SADC Strategic Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, as well as to participating in the Regional Data Collection Tool as a pilot member state. At the same time as being involved in these collaboration initiatives we have developed our own National Strategic Framework and Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking.

No country can tackle alone the problem of people trafficking. The fact that we are recognizing this World Day at a border crossing, shared with a neighbouring state, is of considerable significance since the root causes and contributing factors, that fuel the demand for trafficked people, are spread across countries of origin, transit and destination, and cannot be addressed in isolation from supply. A comprehensive response to addressing the trafficking chain requires the combined action of states, international organisations, civil society, private sector, employers and workers as well as individual citizens.

All initiatives that are launched to reduce and eventually eliminate human trafficking have to be welcomed. In line with the SADC ethos of collaboration, there should, therefore, be harmony in the implementation of such schemes to eliminate the risk of unintended consequences. The new South African immigration laws introduced at the beginning of last month, certainly with the best of intentions, would have benefitted from greater collaboration in the details of implementation. Our tourism industry as well as the normal flow of travellers have suffered in these early weeks after introduction of those regulations, though we are encouraged by the reports of the existence of a team of South African Cabinet Ministers mandated to to identify and iron out any teething problems that are emerging from the practical implementation of those regulations. Well, there are teething problems – mainly in consistency of interpretation, as well as impact on speed of cross-border movement of travelers. We trust that our Ministry of Home Affairs will be appropriately received and heard by their counterparts in our good friend, the South African Government, on this particular issue. We welcome all efforts by stakeholders to facilitate a good outcome from those discussions.

His Majesty’s Government is encouraged by the results that are starting to show from our efforts in fighting the scourge that is human trafficking. But while challenges exist we shall continue to be dependent on technical cooperation and other forms of international assistance in building and strengthening national capacity in this fight against trafficking of persons. In this regard we express our deep appreciation to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for playing a coordinating role in this area.

I conclude by thanking everyone who has attended today’s function and I make a final plea to every individual in the Kingdom of Swaziland to be vigilant and cooperative especially in bolstering the defences of all Swazis, especially our women and children, against the evil and pernicious trafficking of human beings.

Thank you.