BY: HAJA HAWA KOROMA
His Excellency Dr. Julius Maada Bio has on the 28th February 2022 delivered a strong worded keynote address at the opening of the National Conference on Trafficking in Persons.
The president started his speech by thanking the Honorable vice president Dr. Juldeh Jallohfor his leadership in combating human trafficking in Sierra Leone. He added that the Vice President has led the operation from the front and has kept him briefed on each progress, the constraints he has faced and how to better enforce the operation.
He acknowledged the First lady Mrs. Fatima Bio for her unwavering support on the burning social issues of the protection and enhancement of the girl child and the display of consistency and passion she puts into every sierra Leonean girl receiving a fair and equal chance to reach their full potential.
The president expressed his gratitude to his eminent speakers, friends of the government, development partners and social welfare for inspiring, instilling and supporting his government towards the betterment of every sierra Leonean.
His Excellency thanked the civil society, the communities, social workers, investigators and law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges and each and every one who continuously make an effort towards interdicting this horrible treatment of human trafficking.
Human trafficking similarly to slavery in the past, humans are treated as mere commodities for profit making. Its forms are hideous, cruel, degrading and inhumane. This practice poses a clear and present danger to lives and the future as its impact is indelible for victims, their communities, our nation and for the world.
The president stated that, it is now their duty to tackle this scourge head-on and it is their responsibility to rid the nation of what has blighted lives and held back promising lives that could have blossomed to enrich the nation. He further stated that it is their responsibility to also educate, mobilize, to collaborate in order to prevent and protect children and citizens from this inhumane and criminal act.
He acknowledged the United States government for evaluating and monitoring the progress that the government has made so far and their commendation for the progress to tier 2 in spite of the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on global economies. He added that Sierra Leone government did not relent in investing and working with partners to improve the capacity to fight human trafficking.
President Bio explained that his government has priotized the protection of all persons especially girls from all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and they have also abolished the death penalty sentence and have unfettered free speech.
He further disclosed that they are working on progressive laws that protects, empowers and promotes women, youth, the disable, children and other vulnerable populations. He stated that more democratic spaces with the establishment of a permanent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion have been introduced.
He also said that his government has introduced civic education in Schools and established more dialogue with civil society actors and community leaders and they believe that these are critical for building a safer and resilient Sierra Leone.
His Excellency the president said that, within the policy and regulatory space, they have worked across government and with partners to launch a comprehensive national migration policy for Sierra Leone. He added that they are making efforts to structure and monitor labor migration through the ministry of labor and social security in ways that make migrants less susceptible to exploitation and trafficking. There are more possibilities for inter-agency and partner collaboration to get labor migration right, the president stressed.
He revealed that they are domestically reviewing and improving the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2007, Act No.7 in accord with international practices to address a wider variety of crimes including debt bondage, sexual servitude, illegal removal of organs and all forms of migrant smuggling. As with the sexual offences act, this act will provide for faster but fair criminal justice procedures, dedicated courts and stiff sentencing guidelines. It also provides for victims to be able to claim financial restitution from traffickers which is only fair.
The Office of the Vice President and Ministry of Social Welfare are working with partners and have also established immediate strategic priorities for a reduction in human trafficking in Sierra Leone from 2022-2023.
According to the President: “these strategic actions include training investigators, law enforcement officials, first responders including social workers and judges. It will also involve stakeholders and community engagements on identifying, reporting and cooperating on prosecuting Human Trafficking cases in all its forms.”
President Bio admonished the heads of these agencies and departments to strictly ensure that all responders act within the framework of national priorities and actions that they have established as a government, as he has been informed of grave and substantiated concerns that officials whose task it is to protect and support victims are subjecting them to even more inhumane and undignified treatment.
The President declared that they will also redouble their efforts in educating the public on the forms and impact of trafficking in persons and that the “men pikin” phenomenon is often abused, inhumane and exploited. Also, that the notion “pass u do temple- run bifo you able fen am” is a fraught with great danger therefore the more they educate the citizens the more the citizens will know and the more the citizens will report human trafficking because an informed public is a more vigilant public.
“To enhance national reporting, the government has worked with partners to develop a national reporting system an establishment of the national- toll free 134FREDOM HOTLINE on all three telephone carriers. Once this system is fully functional, the government believes this 134 toll-free line will be a significant tool in their fight against Human Trafficking,” he further pointed out.
The president mentioned that he has asked the Trafficking in Persons Task Force to develop a broader anti-trafficking architecture for victim identification, victim tracking and victim support within an integrated national referral system.
He reassured that his government will work with its neighbors, the ECOWAS sub-region and international partners to harmonies national actions and referral systems. Sierra Leone has been at the Centre of international advocacy and other efforts in the fight of Human Trafficking from co-sponsoring events at the United Nations General Assembly and various international agencies in order to ensure swift and effective responses to this global crime.
President Bio highlighted some of the major constraints that his government is faced with in implementing this project. He said that the fight is significantly constrained by the lack of finance and other resources for tackling national and trans-national networks. He added that they need access to shared intelligence networks, shared data, and coordinated action on trafficking in persons. He finally thanked each and every one fort their attention.