When 23-year-old Linda (not her real name) was approached by the grandfather of a friend and offered a job in Malaysia, she wanted to believe it so badly that she did.
For the sake of her young child and ill mother, she wanted to believe that there was an opportunity for her abroad where she could work in a shop, make Shs2.5m in a month, and send money home to her family.
Within 10 days from accepting the proposition, Linda had a visa in hand, a ticket purchased for her, and was on her way to China - what she was told would be a brief stopover on her way to Malaysia. She was met by a Ugandan woman she knew only as "Faith", who brought her to a hotel. There, she found a handful of others who fit the profile, just like her.
Her passport was taken from her, her questions went unanswered, and her movements were limited. And after two days, men started being sent into her room. They told Linda they had already paid her boss for her services.
Linda ended up spending one month at that hotel, where she was forced to sleep with multiple men in a day under threat of violence. "I was feeling so bad - so so bad. But I couldn't do anything," Linda says. "When you refused she (Faith) would slap us, and not give us food to eat."
One day, she tried to find a way to an embassy that might help her. Faith found out, and Linda and another woman were shipped off to Malaysia. Though under strict directions to say as little as possible to officials and wait to be picked up at the airport, the women were stopped at immigration and didn't make it through.
Malaysian immigration sent her back to China, which sent her straight back to Malaysia again. She was in immigration limbo, and with no one to pay for her ticket home, Linda was detained at the Malaysian airport for months. In that time she fell ill, was taken to hospital and told that she was pregnant. Linda later miscarried - and then found out that she had contracted HIV.
"I just wanted to get some good money so I can help my kid, I can help my mom. I never imagined..." Her voice breaks and as she looks down into her lap, tears fall onto her clasped hands.
Lost Ugandans
Linda is not alone. A steadily growing number of Ugandan women are being trafficked to Malaysia and forced into the sex trade there. Last week, Hajah Noraihan, the honorary Malaysian consul to Uganda said at least 600 Ugandan trafficking victims are currently in her country, with another 10 or more continuing to enter daily.
Uganda's Director of Interpol Asan Kasingye has confirmed the figure, as well as the International Organization of Migration (IOM) - which says it has returned 14 women so far.
Linda was one of the few to return - getting out was the one bit of luck in her tragic tale. She returned in December with Ms Noraihan, who along with IOM has been the driving force in seeing any of the girls return. "Because of my concern about what happened to the Ugandan girls in Malaysia, a lot of things happened," Ms Noraihan says matter-of-factly. "Because they themselves cannot move."
At least three Ugandan women have been killed trying to escape from forced prostitution in Malaysia, Ms Noraihan says, and she has the photos to prove it. This newspaper has seen gruesome pictures of the dead women, and Ms Noraihan has provided them to police.
For the few girls who have gotten out, getting travel documents in place and a ticket to come home is not easy. With no Ugandan embassy or consulate in Malaysia, papers have to be sent from the High Commission in New Delhi, which Ms Noraihan says she has been paying for out of pocket.
And while the IOM has been paying to bring women home, the agency is often bound by how much the victims will say. Having been intimidated or threatened by the traffickers, with some women even reporting rape and torture, their fear can override the need for a statement and clear expressed desire to return home - which the IOM needs to be able to act.
What's more, some girls actually choose to become traffickers themselves after seeing the potential income it can bring them, says Interpol's Kasingye. Malaysian immigration controls have been more stringent since last October, when police raided an apartment in Kuala Lumpur in which 21 Ugandan women were freed from forced prostitution.
Proactive visa raids have been going on since, and has landed 60 Ugandan women in Malaysian prisons, Ms Noraihan said. These kinds of raids are the only way to get an idea of the numbers involved, says IOM, as the rest can only be estimated by random border detentions.
Interpol says 300 Ugandan victims of trafficking are also in India, where the trafficking of body parts is rife. Mr Kasingye said no other numbers could be verified, but that Ugandan victims have been confirmed in Thailand, China, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Fighting the scourge
Across the board, officials agree that preventing Ugandans from leaving in the first place is the only way to stop the scourge. "IOM has been working with the government to help victims of trafficking to rebuild their lives, but once the damage is done, it is hard to reverse," said IOM Uganda's Chief of Mission Gerard Waite in a statement.
But prevention is no easy feat. Hundreds of genuine migrants cross borders every day for employment purposes, and even irregular ones cannot be categorized as trafficked under they become bonded, have their passports withheld, or start being exploited.
Linda is still struggling to pick up the pieces. She knows she needs counseling to deal with what happened to her, but can't afford it on her own. And rehabilitating returned girls like Linda is key to prosecution, says Mr Kasingye. "Someone who has gone through counseling and psychosocial support can go through that, can testify," he says. "They need to overcome fear, they need to overcome the trauma."
Failed by the system
Uganda enacted its anti-trafficking law in 2009, under which traffickers can face from 15 years to life in prison. But it is yet to convict anyone under the legislation, despite at least 16 outstanding investigations.
According to the US State Department, in November 2010, two pastors and an alleged accomplice were charged under the law for transporting a 17-year-old girl from Soroti District to Kampala, obtaining her a fraudulent passport, and attempting to take her to the UAE. The suspects were granted bail pending prosecution, the report said.
In February 2011, another two suspects were charged in court for allegedly forcing two Ugandan women into prostitution in Malaysia, but remain in prison awaiting a verdict, the report said.
Ms Noraihan says she warned the government in 2008 when just 30 Ugandans had been trafficked to her country, but that nothing was done. But since human trafficking headlines made waves in parliament last week, a flurry of action has followed. A parliamentary committee will travel to Malaysia this month to better understand the issue at hand, while a taskforce of relevant Ugandan officials have begun meeting. It may be three years later, but Ms Noraihan says at least now there are signs that a coordinated approach might come to pass.
Interpol's Mr Kasingye says police too need a comprehensive overhaul of how it has been operating. While the recently created Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is now in charge of investigations at home, he says the information provided to them should have borne more fruit by now.
"The intelligence is there but there is something missing," he said. Mr Kasingye calls for a model much like one that already exists in West Africa to tackle the systemic drug trafficking problem there.
The West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI) allows for a dedicated unit in each affected country to share information - crucial in cracking down on traffickers known for moving between neighbouring countries to bypass immigration controls and fly victims out.
With Uganda, many victims are first taken to Rwanda, Burundi or Kenya and then flown to Asia or the Middle East for sexual slavery, Mr Kasingye said. The WACI-based Transnational Crime Units (TCU) would ideally work closely with prosecutors as well.
Last December, the American Bar Association under its Rule of Law Initiative relaunched its human trafficking program in Uganda. It oversaw the anti-trafficking law being enacted in 2009, but saw a need to return and oversee the implementation, its website says.
For Linda, testifying against the people who put her through the darkest time in her life will doubtless be a daunting task - she has even heard that her traffickers have been asking around about her. "I still fear, but I don't want this to happen to another girl," she said quietly. "Now, I am just looking for a job."
For the sake of her young child and ill mother, she wanted to believe that there was an opportunity for her abroad where she could work in a shop, make Shs2.5m in a month, and send money home to her family.
Within 10 days from accepting the proposition, Linda had a visa in hand, a ticket purchased for her, and was on her way to China - what she was told would be a brief stopover on her way to Malaysia. She was met by a Ugandan woman she knew only as "Faith", who brought her to a hotel. There, she found a handful of others who fit the profile, just like her.
Her passport was taken from her, her questions went unanswered, and her movements were limited. And after two days, men started being sent into her room. They told Linda they had already paid her boss for her services.
Linda ended up spending one month at that hotel, where she was forced to sleep with multiple men in a day under threat of violence. "I was feeling so bad - so so bad. But I couldn't do anything," Linda says. "When you refused she (Faith) would slap us, and not give us food to eat."
One day, she tried to find a way to an embassy that might help her. Faith found out, and Linda and another woman were shipped off to Malaysia. Though under strict directions to say as little as possible to officials and wait to be picked up at the airport, the women were stopped at immigration and didn't make it through.
Malaysian immigration sent her back to China, which sent her straight back to Malaysia again. She was in immigration limbo, and with no one to pay for her ticket home, Linda was detained at the Malaysian airport for months. In that time she fell ill, was taken to hospital and told that she was pregnant. Linda later miscarried - and then found out that she had contracted HIV.
"I just wanted to get some good money so I can help my kid, I can help my mom. I never imagined..." Her voice breaks and as she looks down into her lap, tears fall onto her clasped hands.
Lost Ugandans
Linda is not alone. A steadily growing number of Ugandan women are being trafficked to Malaysia and forced into the sex trade there. Last week, Hajah Noraihan, the honorary Malaysian consul to Uganda said at least 600 Ugandan trafficking victims are currently in her country, with another 10 or more continuing to enter daily.
Uganda's Director of Interpol Asan Kasingye has confirmed the figure, as well as the International Organization of Migration (IOM) - which says it has returned 14 women so far.
Linda was one of the few to return - getting out was the one bit of luck in her tragic tale. She returned in December with Ms Noraihan, who along with IOM has been the driving force in seeing any of the girls return. "Because of my concern about what happened to the Ugandan girls in Malaysia, a lot of things happened," Ms Noraihan says matter-of-factly. "Because they themselves cannot move."
At least three Ugandan women have been killed trying to escape from forced prostitution in Malaysia, Ms Noraihan says, and she has the photos to prove it. This newspaper has seen gruesome pictures of the dead women, and Ms Noraihan has provided them to police.
For the few girls who have gotten out, getting travel documents in place and a ticket to come home is not easy. With no Ugandan embassy or consulate in Malaysia, papers have to be sent from the High Commission in New Delhi, which Ms Noraihan says she has been paying for out of pocket.
And while the IOM has been paying to bring women home, the agency is often bound by how much the victims will say. Having been intimidated or threatened by the traffickers, with some women even reporting rape and torture, their fear can override the need for a statement and clear expressed desire to return home - which the IOM needs to be able to act.
What's more, some girls actually choose to become traffickers themselves after seeing the potential income it can bring them, says Interpol's Kasingye. Malaysian immigration controls have been more stringent since last October, when police raided an apartment in Kuala Lumpur in which 21 Ugandan women were freed from forced prostitution.
Proactive visa raids have been going on since, and has landed 60 Ugandan women in Malaysian prisons, Ms Noraihan said. These kinds of raids are the only way to get an idea of the numbers involved, says IOM, as the rest can only be estimated by random border detentions.
Interpol says 300 Ugandan victims of trafficking are also in India, where the trafficking of body parts is rife. Mr Kasingye said no other numbers could be verified, but that Ugandan victims have been confirmed in Thailand, China, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Fighting the scourge
Across the board, officials agree that preventing Ugandans from leaving in the first place is the only way to stop the scourge. "IOM has been working with the government to help victims of trafficking to rebuild their lives, but once the damage is done, it is hard to reverse," said IOM Uganda's Chief of Mission Gerard Waite in a statement.
But prevention is no easy feat. Hundreds of genuine migrants cross borders every day for employment purposes, and even irregular ones cannot be categorized as trafficked under they become bonded, have their passports withheld, or start being exploited.
Linda is still struggling to pick up the pieces. She knows she needs counseling to deal with what happened to her, but can't afford it on her own. And rehabilitating returned girls like Linda is key to prosecution, says Mr Kasingye. "Someone who has gone through counseling and psychosocial support can go through that, can testify," he says. "They need to overcome fear, they need to overcome the trauma."
Failed by the system
Uganda enacted its anti-trafficking law in 2009, under which traffickers can face from 15 years to life in prison. But it is yet to convict anyone under the legislation, despite at least 16 outstanding investigations.
According to the US State Department, in November 2010, two pastors and an alleged accomplice were charged under the law for transporting a 17-year-old girl from Soroti District to Kampala, obtaining her a fraudulent passport, and attempting to take her to the UAE. The suspects were granted bail pending prosecution, the report said.
In February 2011, another two suspects were charged in court for allegedly forcing two Ugandan women into prostitution in Malaysia, but remain in prison awaiting a verdict, the report said.
Ms Noraihan says she warned the government in 2008 when just 30 Ugandans had been trafficked to her country, but that nothing was done. But since human trafficking headlines made waves in parliament last week, a flurry of action has followed. A parliamentary committee will travel to Malaysia this month to better understand the issue at hand, while a taskforce of relevant Ugandan officials have begun meeting. It may be three years later, but Ms Noraihan says at least now there are signs that a coordinated approach might come to pass.
Interpol's Mr Kasingye says police too need a comprehensive overhaul of how it has been operating. While the recently created Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is now in charge of investigations at home, he says the information provided to them should have borne more fruit by now.
"The intelligence is there but there is something missing," he said. Mr Kasingye calls for a model much like one that already exists in West Africa to tackle the systemic drug trafficking problem there.
The West Africa Coast Initiative (WACI) allows for a dedicated unit in each affected country to share information - crucial in cracking down on traffickers known for moving between neighbouring countries to bypass immigration controls and fly victims out.
With Uganda, many victims are first taken to Rwanda, Burundi or Kenya and then flown to Asia or the Middle East for sexual slavery, Mr Kasingye said. The WACI-based Transnational Crime Units (TCU) would ideally work closely with prosecutors as well.
Last December, the American Bar Association under its Rule of Law Initiative relaunched its human trafficking program in Uganda. It oversaw the anti-trafficking law being enacted in 2009, but saw a need to return and oversee the implementation, its website says.
For Linda, testifying against the people who put her through the darkest time in her life will doubtless be a daunting task - she has even heard that her traffickers have been asking around about her. "I still fear, but I don't want this to happen to another girl," she said quietly. "Now, I am just looking for a job."
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