Anglican Fr Emmanuel Chikoya urged residents of Zambia’s Livingstone to be vigilant as some visitors may take advantage of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to promise them a better living but recruit them for forced labour. 

Victoria Falls and Livingstone will co-host the UNWTO General Assembly from August 24 to 29, 2013.

Fr Chikoya said in an interview that the fact that several international delegates would be flocking to Livingstone with different interests created a perfect environment for people to be trafficked, especially for sexual services and any other forms of cheap labour.

The Livingstone Anglican Church Children’s Project in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently conducted inter-school debates on human tracking and forced labour at Shungu Primary School.

The project of sensitising the community of Livingstone on human trafficking and forced labour would run for four months. Fr Chikoya, who is the project director, said cases of human trafficking and forced labour were real and anyone — including the clergy or politicians — could be trafficked either by force or cohesion or by being enticed with good prospects.

“For instance, when people notice unusual numbers of children in their neighbourhood, they should question such occurrences. Let them take interest especially when they see somebody who is nervous and uneasy, as this could be a case of human trafficking,” he said. The clergyman also pointed out that fighting human trafficking and forced labour required the cooperation and support from everyone, including members of the community. 

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