Scourge of human trafficking on verge of threatening Botswana’s security: official

GABORONE, April 21 — Human trafficking in Botswana is rising at an alarming rate and is “on the verge of threatening the national security,” said a senior official on Saturday.
“Botswana has registered 21 cases involving human trafficking,” said Madoda Nasha, deputy manager in Botswana’s Ministry of Defense, Justice and Security, during a media training workshop on human trafficking in the eastern city of Francistown.
According to Nasha, unemployed youth, together with women and children, is most vulnerable to traffickers.
Kagiso Pelopedi, project officer at the International Organization for Migration, said a total of 8,700 cases of human trafficking were recorded across the globe in 2018.
Pelopedi added that 21 of the 8,700 cases were detected in Botswana.
Botswana promulgated the 2014 Anti-Human Trafficking Act to provide for prohibition, prevention and combating of human trafficking with measures to protect and assist victims.
Anyone convicted of human trafficking in Botswana can be sentenced to a 50,000-U.S.-dollar fine or a prison term of up to 25 years or both.

Xinhua