Three Ugandan sex slaves rescued

KUALA LUMPUR: The Uganda High Commission here has rescued three Ugandan women kept as sex slaves in Malaysia – and it is believed there are 20 more such women in the city.

The 20 are said to be in hiding, fearing arrest by the authorities or being hunted by their recruiters.

The high commmission said in a message to the Ugandan Foreign Ministry in Kampala that the three rescued women were scheduled to return home yesterday on an Ethiopian Airways flight.

The message said the women were victims of physical and mental abuse.

“The women experienced the most inhuman forms of mental and physical torture. We request that they are contacted by a social worker for counselling,” said the letter signed by high commission first secretary Samantha Mbabazi Sherurah.

High Commissioner Stephen Mubiru told Kampala’s New Vision daily in an interview on Tuesday that they were working with Malaysia’s security agencies to track down more victims.

“A number of Ugandan ladies and men are victims of human trafficking in Malaysia, China and (other) Asian countries. We are working hard to ensure the remaining victims return home,” he said.

Mubiru appealed to any Ugandan victim of human trafficking and sex slavery in Malaysia to approach the high commission for help.

The high commission became operational on Nov 26 and the consular section was opened last month.

Mubiru took office on March 18.

For many years, there have been reports of Ugandan women being trafficked to different countries under the guise of finding them employment and then forced into sex slavery.

Moses Binoga, coordinator of the anti-human trafficking task force at the Internal Affairs Ministry here, said such cases were on the rise.

“I receive about five reports every week, mostly from the Middle East. But only half of the victims are assisted to return home,” he told New Vision.

He said the problem arose when Ugandans sought employment abroad through personal contacts instead of registered recruitment agencies.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Fred Opolot confirmed that many cases of abuse of Ugandans in Malaysia had been brought to the attention of the ministry.

“Apart from boosting government, business and student relations, the establishment of the embassy in Malaysia was partly aimed at responding to an increase in such cases,” Opolot said. – Bernama