New kidnapping worries albinos in Mozambique

In Mozambique’s northern province, months without news of an albino abduction have caused sighs of relief. That is, until now, and the abduction of a child in Ngaúma district.

Four individuals broke into a house while the family was sleeping and abducted a seven-year-old boy with albinism on January 31. So far, there has been no sign of either the kidnappers or the child.

The police are investigating the case. “At this moment, efforts are being made to rescue the minor,” corporation spokesman in the province Alves Mate says, although the authorities have not yet clarified the circumstances of his abduction.

This is not the first time that people with albinism have been abducted in the province. The abductions are related to superstitions which attribute magical powers to albinos’ body parts. Many end up being killed or maimed.

“Hands tied”

The provincial delegate of the Association of People with Albinism Trindade Guilherme says that the situation is more critical in rural areas. He says his hands are tied on the matter.

“Here, in the city of Lichinga, it has happened twice (albino kidnappings), one of the abductions even culminating in the death of the kidnapped young man. This is very troubling for us, and I do not know what we can do to overcome this situation.”

In Mozambique, there are laws that protect people with albinism, but authorities often fail to catch the kidnappers. Denunciations are few and police resources scarce.

Harder laws

The Mozambican province of Niassa borders Tanzania, a country considered to be the main market for trafficking in people with albinism. This poses several challenges for the Mozambican authorities, Guilherme says.

“It seems to me that Tanzania has already been able to neutralize [the trafficking], because the Tanzania has the death penalty and they use it rigorously,” he says, adding, however, that “it is not true to say that the problem has been overcome, because it is a really difficult problem to overcome”.

Guillerme says the situation requires tougher laws, rigorously enforced. “We albinos living here in Niassa province and in Mozambique generally, ask the government to at least try to create a law that can defend us, so we can move freely throughout the national territory.”