Research, the first of its kind in Rwanda, was conducted by Never Again Rwanda, a local NGO, and funded by United States Agency for International Development. It aimed to determine the scope of human trafficking in Rwanda, as well as its characteristics and associated factors, to formulate evidence-based recommendations to strengthen the response at the local and national levels. The key findings show that Rwanda is a transit country and to a lesser extent a country of origin. The majority of intercepted victims were female (77.67%) and the most common forms of human trafficking in Rwanda were identified to be labor and sex trafficking. The research further revealed that Saudi Arabia is the most frequent destination (38.55%), followed closely by Uganda (37.35%) and Kenya (7.23%).
The Government of Rwanda has made significant achievements in combatting trafficking in the country; including passing a new law in 2018, training government officers, and conducting awareness-raising activities. Still, the research highlighted some remaining key challenges, including scarce resources, inadequate victim testimonies, and a lack of cooperation mechanisms with other countries. In addition, research findings showed that service providers reported challenges related to the identification. Assistance to victims is often short-term due to a lack of shelters. Male victims are often neglected too.
The research report will serve as a baseline for informed and evidenced-based programming in the future.
Read the whole report here Understanding human trafficking in Rwanda.
Source credit: Never Again-Rwanda
For further information please get in touch with Alia Hirji at IOM Rwanda, e-mail: ahirji@iom.int.