Parliament’s outrage over the BBC exposé on trafficked Ugandan girls in Dubai is very welcome. Lawmakers have directed the government to investigate, and many Ugandans hope this will lead to stronger protections for migrant workers.
But the story does not end in Dubai. Right here in Uganda, in Kampala’s Busega suburb and across numerous massage parlors in urban centers, girls, many trafficked from western Uganda, are trapped in a shadowy world of sexual slavery. They, too, deserve urgent rescue and justice.
Reports of official government vehicles frequenting Busega raise troubling questions. This area is notorious as a hub of grotesque abuse, where victims are subjected to degrading acts like the so-called “wheelbarrow treatment,” sold to buyers for as little as UGX 20,000. Soroti Woman MP Anne Adeke has already raised this issue in Parliament, but little has been done.
“New Best Hotel Busega must be closed. We have to fight prostitution in Uganda,” said Soroti woman MP Anne Adeke Ebaju in a new Bill she tabled before Parliament in 2024.
The traffickers’ cruelty is worsened by manipulation—using alcohol and drugs to break victims’ resistance while deceiving parents with promises of respectable jobs in supermarkets, and whatnot.
It may seem easier to investigate Dubai, but Uganda cannot ignore its own backyard. And while officials probe trafficking abroad, they must also address disturbing allegations: that some Ugandan government officials ran a gambling casino in Dubai and smuggled contraband through diplomatic channels.
True accountability means confronting exploitation everywhere—whether it is trafficked girls in Dubai, enslaved women in Busega, or abuse of state power overseas. Parliament must show Ugandans that this fight is not selective but comprehensive.
