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The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) must take immediate action to combat human trafficking amid ongoing conflict in the country’s eastern regions, a high-ranking UN official urged Friday.
Siobhán Mullally, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said in a statement:
According to FairPlanet, human trafficking in the DRC “has evolved … from conflict-driven abductions to a complex crisis involving organized crime, economic exploitation and sophisticated trafficking networks.” Following the Rwandan genocide, the DRC saw hundreds of thousands of refugees pour into the region, ultimately leading to the First and Second Congo Wars. During this time, children and young adults were exploited for labor and militia service.
Illegal mining operations also served as a catalyst for broader criminal operations such as smuggling, forced labor, and forged documentation. This illicit exploitation of resources, according to Mullally, “continues to fuel armed conflict,” forced displacement, forced labor, and sexual exploitation. Specifically, Mullally expressed profound concern on the occurring sexual exploitation:
The reports of sexual violence come amid the conflict in the DRC, primarily related to the advancement of the M23 armed group into the country’s eastern regions. M23 claims to protect the Tutsi minority in the DRC, but there are allegations and evidence that M23 is backed by Rwanda. Mullally noted how the overarching conflict and “corruption in the administration of justice” have created deplorable conditions, including “sexual exploitation, gender inequality, and weak child protection.”
Mullally highlighted the importance of “early warning systems” and “continued human rights monitoring.” She urged the DRC to participate in “ongoing peace negotiations” and to address the “root causes of the conflict, including intergenerational poverty, patriarchal social norms, illegal exploitation of resources, and persistent impunity for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
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Siobhán Mullally, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said in a statement:
Human trafficking has long been an issue in the region. In 2009, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported that “child trafficking appears as one of the main challenges for the countries of Africa. Trafficked children are more frequently detected than adults in most parts of the continent.” In 2024, the US State Department warned that “corruption and complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns” in the DRC.
According to FairPlanet, human trafficking in the DRC “has evolved … from conflict-driven abductions to a complex crisis involving organized crime, economic exploitation and sophisticated trafficking networks.” Following the Rwandan genocide, the DRC saw hundreds of thousands of refugees pour into the region, ultimately leading to the First and Second Congo Wars. During this time, children and young adults were exploited for labor and militia service.
Illegal mining operations also served as a catalyst for broader criminal operations such as smuggling, forced labor, and forged documentation. This illicit exploitation of resources, according to Mullally, “continues to fuel armed conflict,” forced displacement, forced labor, and sexual exploitation. Specifically, Mullally expressed profound concern on the occurring sexual exploitation:
The expert recently visited the DRC and compiled a statement on her findings, emphasizing that the “continuing conflict in Eastern DRC is marked by widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law.” In early July, UN experts also said that they were “appalled” that there were “at least 531 victims of conflict-related sexual violence from August 2023 to June 2024” in certain DRC provinces.
The reports of sexual violence come amid the conflict in the DRC, primarily related to the advancement of the M23 armed group into the country’s eastern regions. M23 claims to protect the Tutsi minority in the DRC, but there are allegations and evidence that M23 is backed by Rwanda. Mullally noted how the overarching conflict and “corruption in the administration of justice” have created deplorable conditions, including “sexual exploitation, gender inequality, and weak child protection.”
Mullally highlighted the importance of “early warning systems” and “continued human rights monitoring.” She urged the DRC to participate in “ongoing peace negotiations” and to address the “root causes of the conflict, including intergenerational poverty, patriarchal social norms, illegal exploitation of resources, and persistent impunity for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”
The post UN rapporteur urges DRC to combat human trafficking amid eastern conflict appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.