Sabri Wani Ladu, Co-chair Taskforce for combating Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons speaking to the media on Wed, 21st Feb 2024. (Photo Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio).

The South Sudan government has begun drafting a bill on combating human trafficking and smuggling of persons in the country, an official has confirmed.

This comes 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.

This includes conventions and protocols on combating human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.

According to the taskforce, South Sudan has no comprehensive law to combat human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.

It added that there is no severe punishment provided under the current legal framework as well as National Anti-human trafficking Bureau.

Other gaps identified under the South Sudan laws include lack of fines provided under different sectors related smuggling of migrants have been fixed since 2011.

Sabri Wani Ladu, Co-chair of the Taskforce for Combating Human Trafficking and Smuggling in Persons said the bill being drafted seeks to provide clear definition of human trafficking and smuggling of persons, organized crime and serious offenses.

He added that it will also provide a comprehensive approach for protecting victims, prosecute traffickers and offer rehabilitation paths for victim.

“The taskforce advises on issues of drafting a comprehensive bill for combating of human trafficking and smuggling of person,” Wani said.

“This is a bill that contains comprehensive approach to prevent human trafficking, to protect the victim of trafficking, to prosecute the traffickers and also to find a way for rehabilitation of the victim, and this is based on the legal government analysis identified by the task force.”

“We identify several gaps under our current legal system. For example, there is no comprehensive law that tackle issues of combating human trafficking in the country.”

Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons using threat, use of force or other means of coercion.

It also includes fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of vulnerability, receiving or giving payment to a person having control over another person.

According to the Global Slavery Index 2018, South Sudan had the world’s seventh highest prevalence of modern slavery.

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.

In 2020, the government and UN agencies published a 57-page report on the Trafficking in Persons in South Sudan, Prevalence, Challenges and Responses, an Action Research.

The assessment enabled the government to understand the nature, prevalence, responses and challenges to addressing trafficking in persons and provide recommendations.

The anti-trafficking taskforce Co-chair, Wani said South Sudan is working to develop a comprehensive law on combating the vice, adding that a bill is being drafted by legal experts.

“This bill is being drafted by the national experts. We are hiring experts from different relevant fields like the Bar Association, academia, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, and also, we will be calling the media,” he said.

“We will also be conducting a validation Workshop whereby people can also contribute, and we will be subjecting the same bill to international experts of the UNODC so as to make sure that the bill is complying with the international norms and standard.”