Capt. Guot Akol, NBGS police spokesperson| Credit | Courtesy

Police in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State on Friday airlifted to Juba nine foreign nationals who were rescued from human traffickers.

Captain Guot Guot Akol, the state police spokesperson said the three Somalis and six Eritreans rescued more than a week ago, are in Juba to get the necessary assistance from the government and their embassies.

“On the follow-up smuggling activities, the victims of smuggling and the human trafficking, a total of nine; three Somalis and six Eritreans were airlifted this morning to Juba, as I said early that these people have embassies,” said Akol.

The victims were being smuggled through Northern Bahr El Ghazal State last week, when the state police intercepted and arrested their captors along the border with Sudan.

The traffickers are four Sudanese and two South Sudanese, currently being held in detention in Aweil town, and are awaiting a court trial.

“The people that remain are those who are involved in this human trafficking network and the law will decide on what to do with them.”

The U.S Department of State has found that South Sudan has yet to make significant progress in eliminating the human trafficking problem that threatens the country.

According to reports, cartels of traffickers cut across North, Central and East Africa and leave East African migrants and those transiting through South Sudan vulnerable to abduction, sex trafficking and forced labor.

It also added that both domestic and foreign victims are at risk of human traffickers exploiting them in South Sudan.

Last week, the Ministries of Interior and Justice requested for more time to ratify the UN Convention against Transnational Crime and its Protocols.