RGM International Airport into transit route
nental hotspot for the illegal trafficking of narcotics, wildlife and lately human beings.
“It’s a cartel that is coordinated from Ethiopia, Eswatini to South Africa,” said a source.
“The traffickers fly frequently between Harare and Addis Ababa — a distance of 3 108km — where they are now on first name basis with airlines staff.
“Only Ethiopian Airlines serves the Harare — Addis Ababa route directly.”
Flights from the east African country to Harare operate five times a week, with an average of one flight per day.
Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is the major hub for Ethiopian Airlines.
“The earliest flight from Ethiopia arrives at RGM International Airport at 1:35pm while the last flight touches down at 2:10am and this is when a lot happens,” said the source.
Anti-human trafficking activist Gerald Shirichena believes traffickers are not taking advantage of the immigration laws, but loopholes within the aviation systems.
“The Immigration Act is watertight, I’m not a lawyer and I don't claim to be one, but my little knowledge tells me that the Immigration Act is watertight,” said Shirichena, who is also founder and director of Vukarhani Trust, a local anti-trafficking organisation.
“Some people choose to make a law look like it has so many loopholes so that they move people through the airports.
“This is what traffickers do. Traffickers, when they look for a place where they see there is that laissez-faire kind of thing, people look for the other side.
“People are not conscious of what is happening. “They will take advantage of that. And remember human trafficking syndicates seem to be loosely connected, but those connections are very watertight.
“They know each other, they know places and they refer each other to people.
“So you would find out the syndicate is starting right in Ethiopia, right in Somalia.
“Our airport is just a way they will just pass through.”
Shirichena said human traffickers look for easy routes for them to move their people.
“As much as we know what are now called the slave trade routes, we are going to discover more modern day slavery routes and these routes include passing through the RG Mugabe International Airport because Zimbabwe, as you are aware, is a transit, a source and a destination of human trafficking,” he said.
“Zimbabwe has porous borders, all-inclusive of airports and land borders. The reason why these borders are porous is basically corruption and bribery, which are at the root of all this.”
An official in the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare ministry, which oversees the social protection for the vulnerable groups of society including refugees, told Truth Diggers that enhancement in enforcement processes on land routes have compelled trafficking networks to shift their focus to air routes.
“We used to have lots of these people getting into the country via Nyamapanda border post by road enroute to South Africa,” said the official.
“However, the traffickers have resorted to using air routes due to tight immigration processes at the borders.
“If you would realise we used to accommodate some of these immigrants at our camp in Waterfalls, but now all refugees are at Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge.”
Truth Diggers visited the camp along Cheviot Road in Waterfalls in Harare and were barred from entering the premises..
Residents in the area said the asylum seekers, mainly the Somalis and Ethiopians were last seen at the camp more than 10 years ago.
“They are no longer there, but there a few refugees from DRC who are housed in the camp,” said a vendor at Cheviot shopping centre.
Chairperson of the parliamentary committee on defence, home affairs, veterans of liberation struggle and security services, Albert Nguluvhe said they will move to align immigration laws with the constitution when need be.
“The committee on its work plan intends to visit entry and departure ports inclusive of airports,” Nguluvhe said.
“I would appreciate a lot if you can assist the committee in identifying those lapses in the Act, which need to be improved so that this issue is addressed.
“Where our laws are not in line with our constitution those will be amended and in terms of international best practices and protocol they should conform to our constitution.”
Nguluvhe said the committee will only recommend policy changes after they would have visited airports and entry points.
“We need to be factual in our recommendations, but it would be helpful if you assist the committee with the information before they visit the sites,” he said.
According to the US Department of State's 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report; the government of Zimbabwe does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so.
“The government increased criminal investigations of officials complicit in trafficking crimes; however, corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns,” reads part of the report.
“The government charged a Zimbabwe Republic Police officer with human trafficking for complicity in recruiting Zimbabwean women for exploitation in domestic servitude in Oman and charged a highranking political official with visa fraud related to alleged human trafficking crimes; both investigations remained ongoing.”
The report said the government did not have a system to investigate and prosecute complicit officials.