The Zambezi Regional Head of Immigration, Daisy Musweu, has cautioned residents of Kongola to be more vigilant against human trafficking.

Musweu issued the warning during a community outreach programme by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security aimed at educating the public on issues of human trafficking, gender-based violence, and the dangers of explosive ordinances.

"We know that the community of Kongola is among the vulnerable communities, and we know that allot of trafficking is taking place within the community, and I would also like to tell the community that trafficking is not just happening across borders but within the community itself. We know that young girls are sold by their families to go and look for piece jobs or to go and entertain uncles, as we saw here, so it's a message that each parent must take very seriously, so that we teach our girls and young boys that they shouldn't just keep quiet when things like this happen to them, but they should report it to the parents, to the teachers, and everywhere, they must report these types of cases."

Musweu warned against the harbouring and employment of illegal immigrants.

"We always have, sometimes in a month, over 50 illegal immigrants that we deport back to Zambia, and among them sometimes are young boys, so I also just want to alert the community that we must know that this is our country and we should look after our country with love. Make sure that you don't have illegal immigrants taking up your jobs here. These small jobs that they are coming to look for here are meant for Namibians. We cannot have foreign nationals crossing into Namibia to have small jobs in the shops, at schools, and so on; they need to have permits to do that."

She warned that employing young children as domestic workers robs them of opportunities, but it is also a criminal offence.

The Zambezi Police Commander, Commissioner Andreas Shilelo, said many of the people trafficked into the country are employed as domestic workers in Windhoek.

"Children under 18 are not regarded as a person; they are a person that is still under someone's care. Those people are still under our care, which is why they are vulnerable. You can use them for anything that you want; it is very much prohibited according to our law and can lead to someone finding themselves in trouble."