Director legal services for the Inter-Ministerial Committee
on Trafficking in Persons Prisca Madziviridze said this while giving oral
evidence before the Parliament Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and
Security Services.
Ms Madziviridze said a total of 69 cases of human
trafficking involving 139 victims were recorded and investigated last year.
“In 2022, the country experienced an upsurge in cases of
trafficking in persons, both local and transnational. A total of 69 cases of
trafficking in persons involving 139 victims were recorded and investigated.
Seven accused persons, who are all Zimbabweans, were arrested for trafficking
in persons in 2022 and are currently in custody pending trial. Of the seven
accused persons, four were arrested for Oman cases while three were arrested
for domestic trafficking cases.
Four accused persons who were linked to the Oman
trafficking cases were arrested and they are being prosecuted,” she said.
She said the majority of human trafficking victims were
recruited through social media.
“Most victims in the Oman cases were recruited through
social media platforms, WhatsApp and Facebook groups. It is in these social
media groups that they were offered lucrative jobs with good salaries and good
working conditions.
Zimbabwe came on the spotlight as a source country for
human traffickers when cases of women who were lured to the Middle East on
promises of lucrative employment only to be kept in de facto slavery were
unearthed.
The plight of the women came to light in 2016, prompting
the Government to order a comprehensive investigation, as well as to
rescue them.
Last year, it also emerged that scores of women were
trafficked to Oman to work as domestic workers under deplorable conditions
including being paid between US$60 to US$80 per month. — New Ziana.
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