Mozambican police authorities on Tuesday denied a news report that about 20 trafficked minors had been discovered on the border with South Africa.
“The Mozambican police have no information about this case,” said spokesperson Pedro Cossa at a media conference in the country’s capital, Maputo.
“We have spoken with our South African colleagues. They don’t know anything about the case.”
Mozambican online daily Canalmoz on Monday reported that South African border officials discovered 20 children hidden in cardboard boxes and covered in blankets inside a truck at the border between Mozambique and South Africa.
The report said the children, of Mozambican and Thai nationalities and aged nine to 16 years, were discovered at the Komatipoort border around two weeks ago.
A South African police spokesperson on Monday denied the report as well.
“It’s a blue lie. I would have been the first person to know about such an incident,” Mpumalanga police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi said.
Home Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa also said they could no find evidence of the incident.
Representatives from both countries would meet at the border between the countries on Tuesday for further investigations.
Human rights groups had voiced concern over an increase in human trafficking to South Africa during the Soccer World Cup, which takes place in the country from June 11 to July 11. However, experts warned that the risk should not be exaggerated.
“In order to gain attention for the problem and deal with something that’s regarded as a terrible human rights violation, we trot out statistics that often have no basis in fact,” said Chandre Gould, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, shortly before the World Cup.
Border police underwent special training ahead of the tournament to spot human trafficking, authorities said at the time. –Sapa