Sierra Leone: Govt Fails to Meet Minimum Standards for Elimination of Human Trafficking
By Alusine Sesay
The government of Sierra Leone does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in person, but is making significant efforts to do so, according to the U.S. Department of State 2021 Trafficking in Person Report which was published on Friday.
The Report by mentioned that “the government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Sierra Leone remained on Tier 2.”
“These efforts included significantly increasing investigations and prosecutions, allocating funding to an NGO for protective services, and adopting a new anti-trafficking national plan. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Shelter and service, especially for male victims, remained inadequate and limited in Freetown. The government continued its moratorium on labor migration, increasing vulnerability to trafficking. Law enforcement did not investigate past reports of corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes,” the Report shows.
Priority Recommendations
The report recommends expand victim shelter and services, including for male victims, outside of Freetown; increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, following due process; and sentence convicted traffickers with significant prison terms in accordance with the law.
It also calls for training of all police officers on the standard victim identification measures and national referral mechanism to ensure trafficking victims receive timely support; end policies that encourage lobor migration to occur through informal channels, increasing migrants’ vulnerability to trafficking; Implement the new labor migration policy, including pre-departure education about labor rights; Improve recruitment agency licensing procedure, and increasing the capacity of Sierra Leonean missions to support victims; and amend the 2005 anti-trafficking law to remove sentencing provisions that allow for a fine in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking offences.
The report further calls for proactive screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including Sierra Leonean women travelling abroad for domestic work, women in commercial sex, irregular migrants, children in informal foster care arrangement and Cuba medical professionals; continue efforts to raise public awareness of trafficking; coordinate with the government of Liberia and Guinea to prosecute transnational cases, coordinate victims protection, and prevent trafficking; and improve data collection on anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim assistance efforts.
See full report: https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-trafficking-in-persons-report/sierra-leone/
