Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
SOUTH Africa and Zimbabwe are set to engage urgently over the growing cases of child smuggling at their shared borders, which tend to spike during school holidays.
The South African Government, through the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the Department of Social Development (DSD), said discussions with Zimbabwean authorities will focus on strengthening child protection mechanisms following the interception of 53 children in the past week alone at the Beitbridge Border Post.
The minors were reportedly being smuggled into Zimbabwe ahead of the reopening of schools.
The two countries already cooperate through the Cross-Border Migration Management Stakeholders Forum (CBMMSF), which meets quarterly to address issues related to migration and child protection. The forum is co-chaired by authorities from both governments.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the BMA and the Department of Social Development said they had prioritised urgent engagement with relevant Zimbabwean authorities following the recent interceptions.
“The recent interceptions, which occurred during routine and intelligence-driven border enforcement operations, involved minor children travelling without proper documentation and, in most cases, without their biological parents or legal guardians,” reads part of the statement.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the movement of the minors may be linked to organised facilitation networks exploiting vulnerable children through irregular cross-border movements.”
Following their interception, the children were handed over to the Department of Social Development and registered child-care practitioners to ensure their safety, wellbeing and access to psychosocial support, in line with South Africa’s child protection laws and international obligations.
The two departments said they recognised the transnational nature of the problem and were working closely with Zimbabwean border authorities and social development agencies to facilitate information sharing, identity verification, family tracing, and the safe and lawful reunification or repatriation of the affected children where appropriate.
They added that the engagements are also aimed at strengthening coordinated responses to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, which are most common during peak travel periods such as school holidays.
Zimbabwe shot itself in the foot, killed their economy , citizens flooded out of country , for work , leaving children behind. these are children who visit their parents during holidays ,For SA its costly, for Zim its pretending to act on it, who’s fooling who ?