Civil society organisations have said at least 20, 000 Ugandans are currently stuck in India after being trafficked.
Addressing journalists on Tuesday, Emmanuel Wataka, The Salvation Army Uganda, an NGO said following the Uganda–India Bilateral Symposium on Human Trafficking, on October 23 to 24 and attended by stakeholders from government, law enforcement, civil society, diplomatic, and survivor networks, they were able to facilitate the repatriation of over 200 girls who had been stuck in India .
He however said, as part of the repatriation, they went on a fact-finding mission which unearthed a lot of details regarding Ugandans trafficked to India.
“We were supported by the Embassy of Uganda in India, which worked tirelessly to help us succeed in our fact-finding mission,” he said, adding that they found out several Ugandan girls stuck in India after overstaying their tourism visas.
“We realized that the penalty for overstaying was about $600, which was more expensive than the return ticket to Uganda, which costs around $400. Because of this situation, we requested that the overstay penalties be waived so that Ugandans could return home. Fortunately, we were able to secure the amnesty, and we believe it has helped many Ugandans return home. During that period, about 250 Ugandans were able to return to Uganda. However, many people are still stranded in India,” Wataka said.
Trafficking Conditions
Alex Ssembatya, the Executive Director for Make a Child Smile said majority of the Ugandan girls currently stuck in India are trafficked under the guise of work.
“Many are promised jobs in salons, teaching positions, or other forms of work. Others are promised education and additional benefits. However, most of them travel using tourist visas or educational visas and end up in extremely difficult situations,” Ssembatya said.
He said many are currently languishing in prisons, hospitals, hideouts, and on the streets in India.
“When these women arrive in India, the first thing that happens is that their passports are confiscated by their traffickers. This leaves them completely vulnerable because they cannot travel back to Uganda.They are then forced to do whatever their traffickers demand, including being forced into prostitution.”
“Many women are forced to sleep with men they do not know and have no choice over who they are forced to be with. This has resulted in many contracting serious illnesses.”
Ssembatya said each trafficked woman to India is expected to pay 5 lakhs which are equivalent to shs20 million and they are supposed to repay the trafficker this amount.
“Because of this debt, many women are forced to sleep with as many men as possible in order to repay it .One victim reported that she had slept with 400 men just to try to repay part of the debt. If each client pays about shs80,000, it takes hundreds of encounters to reach shs20 million. Some women who have been there for five years may have slept with more than 1,000 men, leaving them with deep psychological trauma,” he said.
“Many of them are locked inside houses or brothels and have no control over their lives.Even after they return home, the trauma continues. Some of them have children who believe their mothers are simply working abroad and sending money home, not knowing the suffering they endured.”
Kenneth Oluka, the Executive Director for Kyeyo Initiative said while some of the trafficked girls go through the gazetted exit points like Entebbe Airport, others first go to other countries lie Kenya from where they board.
“Through research and discussions, we discovered that most victims enter India through Mumbai or New Delhi, and from there they are moved to other cities such as Pune, Punjab, and Hyderabad,”Oluka said.
Call to Action
The civil society organisations warned Ugandans against be duped of jobs in India.
“No one should dupe you that there are jobs to work in salons, as waitresses, drivers and nursery school teachers. Many travel on tourist visas to India this should also be a red flag that you are being trafficked,” Oluka said.
“As the Foundation of Ugandan Joint Migrant Workers, we urge the government to improve cooperation between Uganda and India in order to facilitate the clearance and repatriation of the many Ugandans still stranded there.We also request the government to provide funding for the repatriation process. Even when the amnesty was granted last year, many people could not return because they lacked financial support. As a result, the amnesty expired while many were still stranded.”
Ssembatya, on the other side urged government to ensure traffickers be arrested and prosecuted, since many of them are known.
“Many names have already been forwarded to the government, but little action has been taken.We also request the government to combat corruption at the airport. In many cases, people are able to leave the country without proper passport stamping because of corrupt dealings with immigration officers,” Ssembatya said.
The CSOs asked government to improve the socio-economic conditions in Uganda to ensure Ugandans find it easy to stay and work here, than go abroad in search for employment.
“High unemployment and widespread poverty push people into accepting risky opportunities abroad. According to the Private Sector Foundation, more than 30% of Ugandans survive on less than $1 per day, which is roughly shs3,500 .When people in such situations are promised shs2 million per month in India, they are easily persuaded to go, even if the promises are false,” said The Salvation Army Uganda’s Emmanuel Wataka.
The Nile Post has contacted both Gender and Social Services minister Betty Amongi and Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Vincent Bagiire for a comment but were unreachable.
The development comes at a time when government recently launched an initiative aimed at raising awareness and strengthening protection mechanisms against the trafficking of children and young people.
The safe labour migration awareness campaign under the theme’ Travel safe, stay safe’ aims to educate, inform, and protect Ugandans, both at home and abroad, by ensuring that accurate, government-approved information on labour migration reaches the public.
