South Africa’s tighter immigration laws for children‚ which come into effect in June‚ would mitigate the risk of would-be Jihadists trying to join the Islamic State‚ the home affairs department says.
Commenting on the 15-year old girl taken off a flight at the Cape Town International Airport after leaving home allegedly to join ISIS‚ the department’s Mayihlome Tshwete said‚ “Recent amendments to South Africa’s immigration law and the promulgation of the new immigration regulations were meant also to help in curbing horrendous incidents of this nature”.
Implementation of the law making it compulsory for children under the age of 18 to have unabridged birth certificates and written permission to travel was delayed from October last year until June 1 this year‚ after a public outcry about the practical difficulties.
Saying Home Affairs would be monitoring the case of the Cape Town teen‚ Tshwete appealed for support for the new law.
“The Department urges all citizens and other nationalities to support the smooth implementation of these requirements for protecting children‚” the statement read.
Last month‚ human rights groups expressed concern at the link between human trafficking and the financing of terrorism as well as recruitment for soldiers.
Monique Emser‚ a Free State University researcher‚ told The Times‚ “Terror groups that have links in Africa are paying $25 for children and young women.
An alarming number of people‚ especially young adults‚ are kidnapped for organ trafficking. This is where the big money lies‚ with some organs costing R1-million on the black market.
We have seen this with IS in the Middle East‚ where organs are harvested and the profits used to fund the terrorists’ operations.
It’s not yet happening in Southern Africa‚ where trafficking is mainly for forced labour and sexual exploitation. But we should be concerned that it will emerge in our region.”
She said an estimated 120000 children in Africa were used as soldiers‚ labourers or sex slaves. Worldwide 300‚000 children are used in these roles.
Improved travel laws to curb IS recruitment in SA
South Africa’s tighter immigration laws for children‚ which come into effect in June‚ would mitigate the risk of would-be Jihadists trying to join the Islamic State‚ the home affairs department says.
Commenting on the 15-year old girl taken off a flight at the Cape Town International Airport after leaving home allegedly to join ISIS‚ the department’s Mayihlome Tshwete said‚ “Recent amendments to South Africa’s immigration law and the promulgation of the new immigration regulations were meant also to help in curbing horrendous incidents of this nature”.
Implementation of the law making it compulsory for children under the age of 18 to have unabridged birth certificates and written permission to travel was delayed from October last year until June 1 this year‚ after a public outcry about the practical difficulties.
Saying Home Affairs would be monitoring the case of the Cape Town teen‚ Tshwete appealed for support for the new law.
“The Department urges all citizens and other nationalities to support the smooth implementation of these requirements for protecting children‚” the statement read.
Last month‚ human rights groups expressed concern at the link between human trafficking and the financing of terrorism as well as recruitment for soldiers.
Monique Emser‚ a Free State University researcher‚ told The Times‚ “Terror groups that have links in Africa are paying $25 for children and young women.
An alarming number of people‚ especially young adults‚ are kidnapped for organ trafficking. This is where the big money lies‚ with some organs costing R1-million on the black market.
We have seen this with IS in the Middle East‚ where organs are harvested and the profits used to fund the terrorists’ operations.
It’s not yet happening in Southern Africa‚ where trafficking is mainly for forced labour and sexual exploitation. But we should be concerned that it will emerge in our region.”
She said an estimated 120000 children in Africa were used as soldiers‚ labourers or sex slaves. Worldwide 300‚000 children are used in these roles.
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