2007 Trafficking in Persons Report - Center for Women Policy Studies

M O Z M B I Q U E
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result, potential victims may be detained,
jailed or deported without being offered
protection. The government continues to
work with international agencies to train
officials posted in destination or transit
countries on trafficking victim identification
and victim sensitivity.
Prevention
Morocco improved its efforts to prevent
trafficking over the reporting period. In January, the
government, working closely with NGOs, initiated
a public awareness campaign to educate Moroccans
about the rights of child domestic servants through
TV, radio, and brochures. The government also
continued to collaborate with the governments of
Spain and Italy, as well as other EU countries, to
prevent the illegal migration and trafficking of sub-
Saharan Africans, Asians, and Moroccans to Europe.
The government did not, however, show significant
efforts to raise public awareness of the commercial
sexual exploitation of children and women in
major cities, especially tourist areas. Morocco has
not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
MOZAMBIQUE (Tier 2 Watch List)
Mozambique is a source and possibly a destination
country for men, women, and children trafficked for
the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation.
The use of forced and bonded child laborers is a
common practice in Mozambique’s rural areas, often
with the complicity of family members. Women
and girls are trafficked from rural to urban areas of
Mozambique, as well as to South Africa, for domestic
servitude and commercial sexual exploitation
in brothels; young men and boys are trafficked to
South Africa for farm work and mining. Trafficked
Mozambicans often labor for months in South Africa
without pay before “employers” have them arrested
and deported as illegal immigrants. Traffickers are
typically part of small networks of Mozambican
and/or South African citizens; however, involvement
of larger Chinese and Nigerian syndicates has been
reported. Zimbabwean women and girls are likely
trafficked to Mozambique for sexual exploitation
and domestic servitude.
The Government of Mozambique does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. Mozambique is placed
on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide
evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking
in persons over the last year. To further its anti-trafficking
efforts, the government should prosecute
and convict arrested traffickers; ensure the passage
of anti-trafficking legislation; launch a public
awareness campaign; and investigate and prosecute
public officials suspected of accepting bribes to
overlook trafficking crimes or free traffickers.
Prosecution
While Mozambique took steps toward the passage
of anti-trafficking legislation during the reporting
period, concrete law enforcement efforts decreased.
Mozambique does not prohibit any form of trafficking
in persons, though its penal code includes at
least 13 articles under which trafficking cases can be
charged. Nevertheless, there were no prosecutions or
convictions of traffickers in 2006. In March 2007, the
Ministry of Justice presented to Parliament a framework
law on child protection that provides comprehensive
guidelines for future laws concerning the sale
and trafficking of children. The Ministry also finished
drafting a comprehensive law against human trafficking
that contains specific provisions on prevention,
prosecution, and protection. In early 2007, the
Ministry and a local NGO conducted a series of three
forums in the northern, central, and southern parts
of the country that allowed for public debate of the
draft law. Many lower-ranking police and border
control agents are believed to accept bribes from
traffickers, severely hindering Mozambique’s prosecution
efforts. Police reported breaking up several
trafficking schemes, arresting several drivers and
facilitators, but not the traffickers behind the operations.
For example, in February 2007, police stopped
a bus driver in Manica attempting to transport 24
undocumented Mozambicans across the border into
South Africa; the distinction between smuggling
and trafficking could not be made at that point in
the transport process. The Ministry of Interior, with
support from UNICEF, conducted anti-trafficking
training for more than 70 police officers in Gaza,
Tete, and Zambezia provinces.
Protection
The government’s efforts to protect victims of trafficking
continued to suffer from a lack of resources;
government officials regularly relied on NGOs to
provide shelter, food, counseling, and rehabilitation
for victims of trafficking. The government encouraged
victims to assist in the investigation and
prosecution of traffickers, and it did not penalize
victims for unlawful acts committed as a result of
their being trafficked. During the reporting period,
the Kulaya Healing Center in the government-run
Maputo Central Hospital assisted trafficking victims
with medical care and counseling. In 2006, the
Ministry of Interior expanded from 96 to 151 the
number of police stations with offices dedicated
to women and children victimized by violence;