[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

UGANDA (Tier 2) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of Uganda does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.  The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Uganda remained on Tier 2.  These efforts included investigating and prosecuting more trafficking crimes; convicting the most traffickers ever reported in a single year; and identifying more trafficking victims.  The government increased anti-trafficking training for officials and took steps to enhance the capacity of criminal justice personnel by implementing new guidelines for prosecutors and judges.  The government continued to improve the ethical recruitment of Ugandan migrant workers, including by investigating, prosecuting, and suspending recruitment companies engaging in fraudulent and exploitative recruitment activities and expanding pre-departure trainings available to migrant workers.  However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.  Access to adequate services for some victims, particularly adult males and individuals in rural areas, remained limited, and the lack of short-term shelter and long-term housing continued to adversely affect the government’s ability to protect trafficking victims.  The government continued to rely on civil society to provide most victim services and did not provide adequate in-kind or financial support to these efforts.  The absence of victim-witness assistance policies hindered some investigations and prosecutions; additionally, some law enforcement officials did not take a victim-centered approach in criminal proceedings, potentially discouraging victim participation.  The government allocated fewer funds to anti-trafficking activities, and efforts to protect Ugandan trafficking victims exploited abroad, particularly migrant workers, remained minimal.

Prioritized Recommendations

Significantly increase the availability of short-term shelter, long-term housing, and specialized services for all trafficking victims – particularly adult males and victims identified in rural areas – including by partnering with and allocating increased funding to NGOs that provide victim care.

Enact victim-witness assistance legislation and implement a systemic victim-witness assistance program to increase protective services for victims participating in criminal proceedings and prevent re-traumatization.

Increase protection for Ugandan trafficking victims exploited abroad, including by training Ugandan embassy staff to identify and assist victims, establishing and implementing additional bilateral labor agreements (BLA) with destination countries, and assigning labor attachés to Ugandan embassies to monitor migrants’ working conditions abroad.

Strengthen the partnership between police and prosecutors to more efficiently and effectively complete the judicial proceedings of trafficking cases, including increasing training on strong evidence gathering and victim-centered investigations.

Continue to investigate and prosecute alleged traffickers, including complicit officials, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms.

Using the National Referral Guidelines for Management of Victims of Trafficking in Uganda (NRG), systematically and proactively identify trafficking victims by screening vulnerable populations, such as refugees, asylum-seekers, individuals in commercial sex, children in the Karamoja region, and Cuban medical professionals, for trafficking indicators and refer all trafficking victims to appropriate services.

Continue to enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment companies, including eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers and holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable.

Strengthen the capacity of labor inspectors to identify and report potential trafficking crimes and refer victims of labor trafficking to appropriate services.

Approve the establishment of the Anti-Trafficking Department within the Ugandan Police Force (UPF) and allocate sufficient funding to fulfill its mandate.

Accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

Screen any North Korean workers for signs of trafficking and refer them to appropriate services, in a manner consistent with obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2397.