[LETTERS] US report on human trafficking is flawed

Editor, RE: “US report on human trafficking a gross misrepresentation of Rwanda - Gov’t” (The New Times, July 1). No one has in any way tried to trivialize the concern that is caused by trafficking in humans — at least in principle — and to my knowledge, authorities in Rwanda have never shied away from bringing to the fore those cases wherever they have arisen in the community. Countless officials right from the highest public officers in this country are on record speaking out on the vice that is human trafficking while Rwanda National Police has paraded (which I personally do not believe in for whichever crime, because to me this only serves to convict someone before the court of public opinion, even before the trial has taken place, but that is a story for another day) suspected traffickers of humans in different categories and many have been brought before courts of law. My problem with the report is that it basically raises nothing new from the baseless claims raised by a phony organization on the issue of Burundian refugees, claims that were made with the intent to drag Rwanda into the mud to render credence to well-known so-called political actors who have made it their business to ensure any progress made by Rwanda is undermined. If I remember correctly, Burundian refugees in Mahama (camp) and humanitarian agencies operating in Rwanda (and not the phony international organization whose activities in the refugee camp are exactly not known) came out to dismiss the claims and this should have been taken into consideration given that the said organization did not bring forth tangible evidence to substantiate their claims that some government officials in Rwanda were abetting the conscription of Burundian refugees into a rebel outfit with an aim of attacking Burundi. Of course it is an abuse of the hospitality of Rwandans towards our Burundian brothers and sisters and I pray that this does not turn the Burundians into victims especially in case government continues to have them moved to any other country or even worse, send them back to face the same danger that they fled from because it still prevails. Richard Mugabe *********************** The more things become worse at home, as they are left untended and fester, the more the US government is tempted to inflict unwelcome lessons on others. A total incapacity to ignore (more likely willfully ignore) the beam in their own eyes that everybody else can see combined with an amazing ability to see the smallest speck of dust in those of others! Or, perhaps just the usual attempt to divert unwelcome attention from the many things that are so wrong at home – or both. Wouldn’t the US be paradise if only its government would spend a tiny fraction of the time it does looking for issues to criticize in other countries addressing the myriad social problems its own policies or neglect have caused at home to its own citizens? Do they not yet understand that things like the rise of Trump are symptoms of grave failure of their politics? Mwene Kalinda

Opinions

[LETTERS] US report on human trafficking is flawed