MOZAMBICAN VICTIM CHILDREN RE-UNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES
After negotiations and co-operation with Mozambican authorities, including IOM (Maputo) The Amazing Grace Children's Centre successfully re-united the two victims of Human Trafficking from Mozambique back to their places of origin in Mapai, +/- 700 km North-west of Gaza Province, Mozambique. As we mentioned in our February report about their tragedy of being trafficked, physical, sexual abused and raped, the Interior Ministry of Mozambique in consultations with the Maputo based office of IOM, came with a representative from Terre des Hommes-Mozambique to rescue the victims and the subsequent reunification of the victims to their respective families.

The Amazing Grace Children's Centre hereby would like to take this opportunity to express it's appreciation for the networking spirit to IOM, the Ministry of Interior in Mozambique and Mozambican Consulate in Nelspruit for the outstanding support in facilitating the process of transportation and bordergate passes to the victims of child trafficking in a safe manner.

Further we would like to encourage other non government organizations to join hands and attend workshops concerning child trafficking beacuse child trafficking does exist and is there next to your doorstep, it's just a matter that we need to be empowered and empower ourselves with the knowledge in order to be able to identify signs of child trafficking which mostly is perpetrated by our own family members e.g. brothers, uncles, aunts, fathers, mothers, crime sindicates, police, immigration oficers, etc.

Visit this website and wake up because tommorow might be your child being trafficked for various reasons, mainly sexual exploitation, money, child labour, human body organs and much more evil acts associated with the child trafficking.

LET'S JOIN HANDS AND TOGETHER WE CAN FIGHT TRAFFCKING IN HUMANS MORE ESPCIALLY CHILDREN.

ABOUT OUR ANTI CHILD TRAFFICKING PROGRAMME

ABOUT OUR ANTI CHILD TRAFFICKING PROGRAMME

The centre has a strategy to create awareness about Child trafficking. The Anti-child trafficking project intends putting an end to this modern-day form of slavery. We help victims of trafficking through repatriation, by offering basic shelter and food, and assit with the paper work for education. In the past we managed to launch the Anti-child trafficking programme in Mpumalanga together with Mozambican NGOs. A comprehensive awareness programme was launched in Gauteng in November 2005. We work with the SAPS to trace kids and tap into the regional structure for the SADC region that was established to discuss issues relating to trafficking with the South African Government.

REPORT OF THE TWO TRAFFICKED GIRLS FROM MOZAMBIQUE

DESCRIPTION OF THE VICTIMS

Martha Nkuna

17 years old

Female

Mother of one baby boy, 1 year and 5 months old.

Martha Nkuna was born and grew up at Macheyane rural area, Mapai, Gaza Province.

On the 23/12/2005 she crossed the Moz/RSA border via Phafuri and Kruger National Park when she was arrested by the South African Police Service. After being transferred from one police station to another in their deportation journey she was finally deported together with her inmate Julieta Sibuye on the 2nd February 2006.

Julieta Sibuye

19 years old

Female

Mother of one baby boy, 1 year and 4 months old

Julieta Sibuye was born and grew up at no. 16 Quarto Bairro, Mapai, Gaza Province.

On the 06/01/2006 she crossed the Moz/RSA border via Phafuri and Kruger National Park when she was arrested by the South African Police Service. After being transferred from one police station to another on their deportation journey she was finally deported together with her inmate Martha Nkuna on the 2nd February 2006.

 TRAFFICKED AND SOLD

Martha and Rose after being deported back Mozambique, when they arrived at Ressano Garcia they didn't have money to go back to their places of origin (Mapai) together with other girls they were easily spotted and recruited by trafficking agents working along R Garcia and Lebombo border gate. The traffickers took everything they had and helped them to cross the border over night where once in the South African soil they found Mr. Golden Khoza waiting with his bakkie for them where he drove with them to Mbuzini's Thilomu business complex.

Mr. Golden Khoza is the owner of the above mentioned business (Thilomu) where most of the traffickers after getting their victims they are brought to his business to wait for other victims before taking them to their promised destinations popularly known Johannesburg.

When Martha and Rose got to Thilomu they were both asked to pay R ____,__ for their final destination, Johannesburg, of which they didn't have. They were forced to turn into sex slaves in order to primarily pay for their transport from the border to Mbuzini and thereafter pay for their next trip to Johannesburg, of which it was too much for the young girls as they were not allowed to look for the work in the surrounding village unless they accepted forced marriage and the lobola money was going to be paid to Mr. Khoza and his agents. The perpetrators started to beat one pregnant woman for not having the money to pay but before they were beaten they pretended to be going to take a shower at the toilet with their belongings in the plastic basins. It was then when they mMarthaged to throw their belongings outside the yard and escaped.

WAY FORWARD

After they escaped from the traffickers they hiked to Malelane where an old lady directed them to The Amazing Grace Children's Centre. We conducted this short interviewed where they expressed their frustration, trauma and abuse they went through and now their wish is to go back to Mapai because they can see that there's no way they can survive and selling sex may lead to more severe consequences including getting infected by HIV/AIDS virus, not to mention the safety of the little babies they have. We therefore recommend the IOM to liaise with Mozambique based NGO's dealing with Anti-child trafficking projects to help locate and re-unify these victims because according to their statements their parents are still alive although their boyfriends have already ventured into South Africa and they very little if not do know their whereabouts in South Africa.

Hopping you may take this report into consideration and help the victims of trafficking in our society.