On December 12-13, 2022, IOM Angola in coordination with Angolan Government, IOM Namibia, and Namibian Government, strengthen a cross border collaboration and coordination forum with Namibian Government to discuss on common issues related to Migration Flows and challenges of relevance to both countries, the activity took place in Ondjiva, Cunene – Angola, at Águia Verde Hotel .

During the second day of the activity Mr. Mário Shatipamba one of the attendees from the cross border activity, had a conversation with IOM Project Assistant in Angola on Different types of Traffick and the consequences of it  ,He realized that the stages and actions of the Traficants towards the vulnerable people were familiar, and decided to share his history with us .

Mario Shatipamba, now known as the King of Ombala-Ya-Naluheke, in  municipio de Ombadja, in Ondjiva -Cunene, Angola where he currently resides, told us that at the age of 11 he left his brother's house who raised him in Oshikongho, commune of Naulila with a group of 4 friends , the age group was rounding under 13 to 20 years old , the 5  boys left their commune in search of better living conditions in Xangongo, and for this journey they only took with them a blanket to cover themselves during the night .

During his time in Xangongo, Mr. Mário saw his group reduce into 4 when one of his friends was chosen for speaking Portuguese for works as houseworker, the remaining 4 continued with the journey in search of the realization of their dream of finding better living conditions, asking to each people they meet if they knew the way to reach the farms / ranch.

" We asked for the farm/ranch because we heard that we could find good Jobs there we could make good money, one day we ended up finding who could take us there " said King Mario Shatipamba.

Initially they were in a concentration area for two days and then turned into days, according with Mr. Mário a total of 22 days, almost a month, where it could be seen people of different age and from different municipalities of Cunene, Angola ,  Two meals was  served  per day  – lunch and dinner – once the meal was ready, they screamed to announce and left the pot free, without cutlery or dishes for them .

" It was not easy because we slept on the floor, they didn’t give mattresses or bed, nor sheets to cover ourselves, I was cover myself with my blanket” said King Mario.

One day the Portuguese went on to select workers, the selection was made according to the physiognomy and age, and were taken to the destination , each bus has information on where to go , so the selected ones would know where to direct themselves, the selected group were transported to the farms in other provinces such as Benguela Namibe and Lubango, King Mario was one of those selected to go to Lubango.

The transport took them to Huila- Lubango, Angola, arriving there, they were transferred to the current Municipality of Chongroi where the farm/ranch was aone would work, the day after    the arrival the head of the farm distributed each of us one and divided people to the different fields of plantations that were on the farm: tobacco, cotton, sunflower, sweet potato.  King Mario lived on the farm with the other chosen ones, and earned 120 escudos per month that was required/mandatory to spend at the convenience store that there was inside the farm working hours was from 05 am until 5pm.

"On the farm/ranch we couldn’t go out for a walk or contact our family, we were controlled by a foreman,” said King Mario.

King Mario stayed on the farm/ranch for 11 months. When asked by the Project Assistant of IOM Angola how he felt at the time that all happened and now that he realized he was a victim of child labor exploitation, he replied:

• " I felt overwhelmed and sorry, because the hard work I faced, was not what I expected or dreamed when I ran away from the house of my brother who raised me, on the date of today, until the moment was innocent and did not imagine that I went through a child Labor exploitation , now I have acknowledged and have tools  to start raising awareness among people in my community, especially children as they are the most vulnerable, I will ask that they remain calm and not disobey their parents to avoid falling into the hands of the wrong people and parents to redouble their care for children and offers made by any individual “.  

Mr. Mário finalized saying that “  it’s an event with a big importance for the province, and the inclusion of community leaders was very significant , and he hope that he can use his history as example and lesson for the future generation in his community , I’m glad that I attended the forum because before that I thought that what I experienced was normal , the informations exchanged during the forum make me be more conscious and aware . “

This activity  was a synergy  of two  projects namely the PRM-supported ARMP and  JTIP , implemented by IOM Angola in collaboration with Ministry of Justices, Ministry of Home Affairs and other National Stakholders . 

For more information, contact Claudia Voctor, clavictor@iom.int.