Cameroon’s National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms is working towards empowering all stakeholders with the tools for fighting against human trafficking in the country to efficiently accomplish their task. The Working Group on Special Issues in the Commission organised a one-day workshop in Yaounde, yesterday, August 2.
Addressing the over 40 stakeholders, the Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Dr Divine Chemuta Banda said Cameroon was considered a nerve centre of human trafficking in Africa. The country however, enacted Law No. 2011:024 of 14 December 2011 on the fight against trafficking and trade in human beings. The 2009 report of the UN Commission on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), states that about 12.3 million people, mostly women and children, are victims of human trafficking.
Traffickers recruit women and children through deceptive means, including false employment advertisements for domestic workers, waitresses and other low-skilled work. The victims are subject to gross human rights violations, including rape, torture, forced abortions, starvation, and threats of torture or murder of family members.
A member of the Human Rights Commission and Coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bamenda Archdiocese, Laura Anyola Tufon said they have identified more than 300 cases of human trafficking in the country, especially women and children. She stated that the practice is not often differentiated from cultural practices, with people denying its existence.
It is with the ultimate objective to reverse the perception of Cameroon and ensure the respect of human dignity that the Yaounde workshop focused on special themes. Participants were members of the Human Rights Commission Working Group on Special Issues, staff of the Commission, representatives of the media, ministries and civil society organisations.
They left Yaounde with a better understanding of the notion of human trafficking, national and international legal instruments on combating the crime. They also learned what the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Peace and Justice Commission of the Bamenda Archdiocese are doing in the domain. A cooperation platform in combating the ill was another logical outcome of the workshop.
