Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - “Human trafficking is said to be one of the three most lucrative businesses in the world – along with drugs and arms. And it is on the rise in Africa – South Africa has become a particular hotspot. On our own doorsteps people are being abducted in a world that has lost its fear of God and any sense of the sacredness of human life.” This was part of a Pastoral Letter issued by the Southern Africa Catholic Bishop’s Conference (SACBC) to mark the first international Day of Prayer and Reflection on human trafficking, held on February 8, the feast day of a Sudanese nun Saint Josephine Bakhita, abducted as a young girl by slave merchants. In the Letter the Bishops mention the tragedy of the 200 kidnapped Nigerian school girls and they laud the many people who dedicate their lives and energy to aiding these young victims and in combating this terrible scourge, a terrible scandal, an abominable evil in human society and the source of so much suffering.
The Day against human trafficking was marked in South Africa with a procession. More than a thousand people processed from Regina Mundi in Soweto to the Police Station in Maroka, where they handed in a statement expressing local public condemnation of human trafficking. The procession was led by Sister Melanie O’Connor, in charge of the SABC Office to Counter human trafficking. The Johannesburg township of Soweto, earlier this year, was the scene of serious clashes between South Africans and immigrants (see Fides 24/1/2015). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 18/2/2015)
