Ondjiva - Angola and Namibia are addressing since Monday the “legal framework of international instruments to combat trafficking in human beings” and “the main differences between trafficking and smuggling”.
The parties are analysing among other matter “Angola’s legal framework on trafficking in human beings and discussion of cases”, “investigation and trials in Angolan province of Cunene to date”, as well as “the Namibian legal framework on trafficking in human beings”.
The issue on trafficking in human baings is being discussed at two-day cross-border forum on the migratory flow, taking place in the Angolan province of Cunene.
Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the event, the Secretary of State for Human Rights and Citizenship, Ana Celeste Januário, considered the event important to strengthen cooperation and partnership with Namibia.
She said that the cooperation contribute to reduction of organised crime, in order to prevent the trafficking in common border.
In turn, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Migration, Security and Protection of Namibia, Daniel Kashikola, highlighted the historic ties of friendship, solidarity and cooperation between Angola and Namibia, since the period of the liberation struggle.
He said that cultural ties mean that the populations of both countries move around the common border, a situation that can be taken advantage of by criminals to practice trafficking.
At the opening ceremony, the vice-governor for the Political, Social and Economic sector of Cunene, Apolo Ndinoulenga, said that the forum will contribute to strengthening partnership and cooperation in combat human trafficking.
Angola shares border with Namibia to the south, stretching 1,376 kilometers in length. Across the province of Cunene, 460 kilometers of border are shared, 340 on land and 120 on rivers.