Information Minister Michael Makuei speaking to reporters after the council of Ministers meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir on Friday, 6th Oct 2023. (Photo: Charles Wote/Eye Radio).

The National Cabinet has passed the UN Convention against Transnational Crimes and three protocols on Human Trafficking, Smuggling of Migrants, Manufacturing and Trafficking of Illicit Firearms.

The Convention against Transnational Organized Crimes is the main international instrument in the fight against international organized crimes.

It is supported by three Protocols, one of which is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially in the case of Women and Children.

Others are the protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, and the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms.

National Information Minister Micheal Makuei said the cabinet passed the convention and its protocols following a presentation from the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.

“All these three protocols constituted part and partial of the presentation and after thorough deliberation on this they were all passed to the next level,” Makuei told reporters.

He further said the international laws have been forwarded to the National Parliament for further deliberations before the president ratifies them.

In February 2024, the government begun drafting a bill on combating human trafficking and smuggling of persons in the country.

This came after the ministries of justice and interior established a taskforce, in December 2019, to advise the government on the ratification of relevant conventions and protocols.

South Sudan has no comprehensive law to combat human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, and there is no severe punishment provided under the current legal framework.

The US Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which assesses Trafficking in Persons and governmental counter-trafficking responses, has ranked South Sudan at Tier 3, the lowest in the world since 2015.