10 BOYS FOUND PACKED IN 7-SEATER CAR, HUMAN TRAFFICKING SUSPECTED

MBABANE – In a suspected human trafficking and abduction case, 10 primary school pupils were found packed in a seven-seater vehicle.

The discovery was made by the police during a stop and search operation, which was conducted at Mhlaleni yesterday. The dark grey Toyota Wish was being driven by a liSwati man, who was in the company of a Turkish national. According to a source, what raised suspicion among the law enforcers was that upon questioning the occupants of the motor vehicle, they realised that the children, all boys, did not know each other. The source stated that when they were also further questioned on the spot, the liSwati man and his Turkish companion failed to give satisfactory responses to the police.

Funding

They allegedly informed the police that there was a funding for the children. However, they were reportedly not specific on the nature, purpose of the funding and what it had to do with the young boys. This is said to have resulted in the police taking them, together with the minors, to the Manzini  Police Station for further questioning. When reached for comment yesterday evening, Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the matter.  Mnguni said police were still busy with the investigations and interviewing the children on an individual basis. “Currently, the interviews are ongoing and the two men have not been questioned yet.” The Director of Save the Children, Dumsani Mnisi, said he was suspecting a serious case of human trafficking, especially if the children did not know each other. Mnisi said maybe a syndicate was targeting boys.
He said indicators showed that it was human trafficking and the children might have been collected from different places and the alleged traffickers possibly dangled something of interest to them. 

The director condemned such acts, adding that they wanted to see the law taking its course. “This is a serious violation and abuse of the children,” Mnisi said. When questioned if there were any reported cases of human trafficking in the country, Mnisi said there had been one or two of them, which involved teenagers, trafficked for sexual exploitation. Currently, he said there was a programme being conducted by Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa for human trafficking on children, as there was a problem in the region. He said the organisation was also working with the Department of Human Trafficking, under the Prime Minister’s Office. Mnisi said they suspected an organised human trafficking syndicate following the discovery of the foreign and local national. He advised parents to watch their children with a hawk’s eye as schools were closed and the minors were vulnerable. Mnisi said there were narratives of the general elections taking place and there were a number of predators on the loose.

He said people should be vigilant and children be in the custody of their guardians. The Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku, said the issue was strictly human trafficking and they could only deal with it from the Social Welfare perspective as some could be terrified. Masuku said the transportation of children from one point to another was trafficking, which could also happen within a country before crossing borders. He said they had not received any information on trafficking yet and that if there was any suspected human trafficking, the PM’s Office would tackle the matter.

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