The deputy national coordinator, prevention of trafficking in persons at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Agnes Igoye, has revealed that the government has received over 70 girls who ran from Kenya to Amudat district due to fear of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
FGM is mainly practiced by the Pokot, the majority of whom live in the Karamoja region and the Sabiny, who in the east.
Igoye told the media in Kampala during a news conference that at least 70 girls are set to be brought back home from Kenya criticising those who engage in such acts saying they are harmful.
“As we come out of the lockdown, the human traffickers are also coming out of the lockdown as the inter-district travels are eased. Children are also home. We have female genital mutilation, which is a big issue. There are a lot of children being married off in Amudat after female genital mutilation,” she noted.
She added, “We still have children who have run away from home across the border because that is the border community in Pokot both are in Uganda side and also in Kenya . The 70 girls we are talking about are returning there. The issue of female genital mutilation is a huge issue because it is a harmful ritual.”
Igoye further explained that so many stakeholders have been involved during the return of these girls since it is a culture that requires different entities to resolve the issue.
“There is a lot of girls that are being married off after female genital mutilation which means that we have to deal with it as a crime at that level and so many stakeholders are going to be involved so that we can collectively get to its root because there are so much going in silence,” she noted.
She said that in that culture, girls who are not circumcised cannot get married, something which requires to be sorted out carefully if female mutilation is to stop peacefully.