Migrants in the Arab states sent home over $124 billion in 2017, with UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar all in the top 10.

From beatings to unpaid wages, migrant workers face regular abuse in the Gulf – with hundreds of African workers forcibly deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this year.

Several of the deportees told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that they are struggling back homewith their past obliterated and no papers or money to start over.

Workers from Uganda, Nigeria, and Cameroon said they could not secure backpay, compensation for personal belongings they were barred from retrieving before deportation, or even an official answer on the cause of detention.

Here’s a rundown of the main reasons why it is so hard to secure protection for some 23 million migrants working in the Gulf:

  • Kafala System

The lack of justice for migrants can be traced back to “kafala” sponsorship system that ties a worker’s visa to their employer, seen by rights groups as modern-day slavery. It is used across most of the Gulf, where growing numbers are flocking from East Africa to construction, hospitality, and security jobs.

Many work in unsafe or abusive environments, others suffer restrictions on their movements or communications, and some are jailed or deported – typically for residency violations but sometimes without a declared reason.

“Kafala is at the root of this. It essentially means impunity for abuses against workers,” said Rothna Begum, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

If an employer fires a worker or reports them as “absconding”, that employee could face detention and deportation with no access to a lawyer, according to Migrant-Rights.org, a Gulf-based advocacy organization for migrant workers.

  • Fear Of Deportation

The risk of being sent home empty-handed makes most workers reluctant to speak up, said Malcolm Bidali, a Kenyan working as a security guard in Qatar until his deportation in August 2021.

“The fear (is) that you might get sent back home, back to all the problems and hardships, that you might not even get justice if you raise your voice,” he said.

Even countries dismantling parts of the kafala system, like Qatar, maintain some restrictions on changing jobs or bans on migrant labour unions, according to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, which promotes human rights in business.

  • Undemocratic Regimes

Migrants in the Gulf work under largely undemocratic authorities that do not prioritise civic rights: many are monarchies that do not hold elections and do not tolerate public criticism.

“We’re talking about countries with zero transparency,” said Ali Mohamed, a researcher at Migrant-Rights.org. 

“How can you do anything when there is no democratic transparent process?”

The ministries of interior or defence often have greater political weight than labour ministries, which means worker issues are frequently resolved through security measures like detentions and deportations.

“In Gulf countries, ‘interior’ is the mother of all ministries. They are under the least pressure to implement any reforms,” said Mohamed.

  • Few Rights Advocates In Country

Major rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, do not have a physical presence in most Gulf countries, where they say they would not be able to work freely.

Workers deported from the UAE after June said even Emirati lawyers, they hired had been able to get few answers.

“There’s a hesitancy by local lawyers to take on cases. People who get detained en masse are low-income migrant workers – so lawyers know it’s hard to reverse a ruling of deportation and it won’t pay much,” Mohamed said.

  • No Help From Home

Migrants said their own embassies had not pushed hard enough to get them out of jail or prevent the deportations.

“When you get back home, who will fight for you? No one,” asked Bidali, who has been desperately searching for a job since he was deported to Kenya.

Some countries do act. Ethiopia in 2013 banned its nationals from doing low-skilled jobs in the Middle East following widespread reports of abuse.

But with massive unemployment at home and thousands still finding ways to migrate, it lifted the ban in 2018 after passing a law aimed at better protecting migrant workers.

Bans ultimately fail because recruiting companies can always turn to regions with fewer regulations and even cheaper labour, said Begum, creating “a race to the bottom”.

  • Money Talks

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), migrants in the Arab states sent home over $124 billion in 2017, with UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar all in the top 10. Money that workers send home from abroad is one of the largest sources of foreign exchange for many countries – vital for trading with the rest of the world.

“This is a power dynamic,” said Begum of Human Rights Watch.

“Countries of origin simply don’t have the same leverage when speaking to host countries, as they are quite reliant on remittances.”

 

Nestle, Mars and Hershey sued over forced child labour/Child Slavery

According to Freedom United (a pro-survivor African organization), a new lawsuit has been filed against chocolate companies Nestle, Cargill, Hershey, Olam, Mars, Mondelez and Barry Callebaut over allegations that they benefitted from cheap cocoa harvested by forced child labour. This is the latest action in a long legal battle for justice in U.S. courts.

Allegations of forced labour against chocolate companies

The suit, filed in Washington DC, was brought by eight Malian citizens who say they were trafficked as children to work on cocoa plantations in Cote D’Ivoire. They allege that the seven companies formed a “venture to allow them to continue benefiting from cheap cocoa harvested by forced child labour.” Cote D’Ivoire produces 40% of the world’s cocoa and a 2020 study by the University of Chicago found that 1.56 million children are harvesting cocoa, primarily in Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana.

The Independent newspaper (UK) reports

Court papers filed last month allege that the plaintiffs, all of whom were under 16 at the time of their recruitment, “were trafficked from Mali and forced to work on cocoa plantations in Cote D’Ivoire that supplied to defendants. Legal documents describe the workers being constantly bitten by insects, wounded from machete accidents, and some working for years without being paid. The case is being brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act (TVPRA) of 2017. This act includes a “should have known” negligence standard, which means organizations can be held accountable for trafficking if it can be shown that they should have known that abuse was occurring, even if they did not directly know about it.

The lawyer who is bringing the civil action, Terence Collingsworth from International Rights Advocates, says “These companies are running a war on two fronts. They are telling the public; we’re working with cocoa farmers, we are giving them schooling and money, we’ve got this under control.” “Then they stand up in court and say we’re just buying chocolate; we don’t have anything to do with what’s going on there. In their most recent filing, they say they are no different from a consumer of a chocolate bar.”

Chocolate companies’ response

The chocolate companies refute any wrongdoing, saying they have zero tolerance for forced labour in their supply chains. Mars declined to comment on the lawsuit but said “child or forced labour has no place in the cocoa supply chain” and noted their efforts to “address the root causes of this complex issue.” A spokesperson from Barry Callebaut said: “The lawsuit brought forward by International Rights Advocates concerns the rare practice of trafficking children to work on farms, which the Ivorian and Ghanaian governments, together with industry, are actively combating. Barry Callebaut disputes the allegations in this lawsuit.”

The companies were expected to file their response to the lawsuit claims by November 19, 2021.

 

Real stories: The Growing abuse of Children through uncensored internet

Internet facilitates a vast plethora of virtual movements across borders & global destinations. 20,000 new porn images are posted on the net each week, these can be downloaded on most smart phones. (“PORNLAND” by Gail Dines, 2010, Beacon Press, Boston). According to Gail, “The internet has hijacked our Sexuality and distorted its true meaning”. Addiction to porn is dangerous to the individual (on average, males start @ 11 years old) & is extremely difficult to eradicate it. The image is literally engraved on the frontal lobe of the brain.  Each sexual encounter thereafter is viewed through this lens. The sex industry is the largest purveyor of profound damage to minds, bodies, emotions & the human spirit, to exploit the most vulnerable. COVID-19 has not slowed traffickers down. Rather it has helped them utilize alternative methods. On 30thMay 2020, the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit (DCI – AHTCPU) raised a red flag over the alarming and sudden spike in online human trafficking, recruitment and exploitation of children in Kenya, with concerns that the trend will continue for as long as children are at home and online – “the dusk to dawn curfew and cessation of movement, intelligence reports reveal that human traffickers are capitalizing on the online platform to recruit, groom and exploit children and lure adults feeling the pinch of the emaciated economy as a result of COVID-19”

In July 2020 (Covid-19 peak period), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Regional Advisor Rachel Harvey estimated that a third of internet users were children (below 18 years) with internet usage increasing by half (50%) following the stay-home orders adopted by most countries to help suppress the spread of COVID-19.

Any Kenyan (youth or adult) who is exposed to poverty and other vagaries of nature during this Covid=19 period was and still remains at a high risk of exploitation. Even so, girls and women constitute the higher percentage as they are easily lured into sexual exploitation by human traffickers who promise them better jobs but find themselves locked in brothels or other services and accommodation where they can neither leave voluntarily nor escape.

Below, we have two cases of minors who were extremely exploited in the US [courtesy, The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)] but their stories are synonymous with any youth in Africa who has exposure to uncensored online adventure.

A 13year girl was abused and exploited on Instagram in her own home. It could have been prevented.

Maria* was 13 years old when she first got Instagram on her cell-phone. She had her parent’s permission because Instagram is rated as appropriate for “Ages 12+.”

She loved sharing photos as well as “liking” and commenting on her friend’s images. She mostly posted about being in Girl Scouts, babysitting her younger brother, and going to the lake with her friends. That’s when strange men started reaching out to her in direct messages.

She mostly ignored them. But, one day, a direct message came in from someone who looked young and cute in his profile picture and who said he went to the school in the neighboring town. Maria accepted his direct message request and the two began exchanging pleasantries back and forth every day.

He was interested in learning everything about her, which was flattering, and he soon asked her to be his “girlfriend.” Even though she’d never met him in real life, she agreed because he made her feel loved.

It was shortly after that when he started soliciting her to send him sexually explicit images. At first Maria said no, but he kept asking and began making her feel guilty for saying no. Eventually she relented and sent him some sexually explicit images of herself. And that day changed everything.

Instagram, the social media app that Maria had been so excited to use and share with her friends, became her virtual prison!  You see, this “young and cute boy” to whom Maria had sent her sexually explicit images was not a boy at all. He was an adult man who promptly used these graphic photos to blackmail Maria. He threatened to send Maria’s sexually explicit photos to her parents and to all her classmates if she didn’t have sex with him and then with others. Maria felt trapped. Before she knew it, she was a victim of sex trafficking and was being sold to one stranger after another.

This went on for three months, while she was still living in her parent’s home, until she finally gathered the courage to tell someone and get help. How much is a childhood free from sex trafficking and pornography worth to you and your family?  We know you care deeply about girls like Maria. No child should ever go through that trauma.

And because we know that you care, we are asking you to link arms with us to prevent this kind of exploitation from befalling the countless other girls and boys out there who are being targeted, groomed, and abused on social media at this very moment.

Right now, law enforcement only has the capacity to rescue a few children at a time and safe houses have a limited number of beds to help those children recover. Meanwhile exploiters have nearly limitless access to children through social media apps, and therefore abuse more girls like Maria than we’ll ever know.

Young boy was groomed for sex trafficking via an online video game

You’ve heard the tragic stories of men, women, and children who have been abused and harmed by the current culture of rampant sexual exploitation. But did you know that in uncertain and confusing times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic gripping our nation and the larger global community, the threat of exploitation looms even larger?

We recently heard a tragic story of a young boy who we will call Leo*. That is not his real name but he and his story are very real. Leo was just 16-years-old when he was groomed and trafficked through what seemed like an innocent online video game platform, one used by millions of American children. He wanted to connect with other players, and when the man who reached out to him acted like his friend, it seemed to both Leo and his parents to be just another way to talk to friends on the Internet.

But the reality was far worse! Men like Leo’s trafficker use and abuse mainstream platforms with children, like video games and social media platforms, in order to locate and abuse vulnerable victims.

When Leo decided to meet up with his online “friend,” traveling across state lines, he was shocked to discover the person on the other side of the screen was no friend, but rather a group of seven grown men who proceeded to traffic and sexually exploit the young boy.

Leo was used as a sex slave for over a year, trapped in a filthy trailer while his traffickers spent their time trying to lure other victims. It wasn’t until another 17-year-old boy arrived, also groomed and lured through the video game platform, that Leo was finally released from his prison. The men were arrested for sex trafficking, but Leo’s life has been scarred forever from his experience.

It’s no secret or surprise that stories like Leo’s are happening all across Africa too. Our child protection projects urgently need funding right now not only because we are running short of cash, as importantly, because these projects are gaining so much momentum. We are a grassroots non-profit organization that relies on passionate advocates like you to help us change the narrative of the online sexual abuses of our children for their success by convincing them to beef up their child-protection measures.

Every amount can be used to make a big difference right now. We’ll turn your monthly donation, whatever you can afford, into advocacy with legislators and corporate executives as well as a means for getting crucial information and resources into the hands of parents so they can protect their children through our robust school awareness programme.

With children online more than ever during this period of social isolation and distance, the threat of online sexual exploitation is more pressing now than ever.

*Names changed to protect the innocent children

CHTEA Joins a Global Campaign to Abolish the “Kafala” System in Lebanon

Migrant domestic workers’ lives in Lebanon are getting harder every day. They need action NOW. Lebanon is reeling from an accumulation of unrelenting disasters. A currency crisis, fuel and food shortages, price hikes, electricity outages, the aftermath of a devastating explosion in Beirut last year, and the continuation of a pandemic have plunged the country into a desperate situation that is only made worse for the country’s migrant domestic workers by the kafala system.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Labour must ensure migrant domestic workers are empowered to leave conditions of servitude, particularly during national crises.

Maybe bullet the points below
Governed by the kafala sponsorship system that ties workers’ immigration status to their employers, migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are particularly at risk of exploitation and domestic servitude.

Reports from migrant domestic workers in Lebanon speak of depletion or non-payment of wages, withholding of legal documents such as passports, and exploitative labor conditions are widespread.

Earlier this year, we saw how migrant domestic workers were being dumped by their employers outside of their embassies without their owed wages, their passports, or any financial means to return to their countries of origin.

For some, returning without their wages just isn’t an option. Without the financial support their working in Lebanon promised, some women report fearing retaliation from their communities, including the risk of violence and death.

There was deep concern that the law was not providing adequate protection to domestic workers from exploitation. That is why Freedom United and a coalition of organizations (including CHTEA) are calling on Lebanon’s Ministry of Labour in an open letter to issue clear guidance on migrant domestic workers’ rights to payment of wages and retention of legal documents.

We will be sending the letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants asking them to send an urgent appeal to Lebanon’s government to act.

Sign the open letter today and help us reach 10,000 voices for change!

Lucy Turay is founder of the Domestic Worker Advocacy Network and a campaigner working to raise awareness of the dangers of the kafala system facing domestic workers in Lebanon. In her home country of Sierra Leone, she campaigns for greater protections for migrant domestic workers, recalling her own experiences of being a domestic worker in Lebanon.

She explains:

“The situation of slavery is because of the sponsorship system because the person knows they are entitled to … and because of that, most people treat us like slaves. We [experience] much abuse. Not only from Sierra Leone but many other countries, like Ethiopia, Ghana, Saudia Arabia, etc. We don’t want a sponsorship visa, we are advocating for a work visa. We want people to help us to abolish the kafala system.
The active disempowerment of these workers under the kafala system is further compounded by intersectional discrimination against migrant domestic workers. As predominantly migrant women of color, they are subjected to structural racism and consistent dehumanization that allows for the extreme exploitation of migrant domestic workers to thrive.

In their submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Freedom United partner organization Anti-Racism Movement Lebanon explain:

“The state [also] turned migrant domestic workers into commodities that can be “imported” at high profit, through a kafala (sponsorship) system […] reinforcing the cultural and societal dependence on and conceptualization of migrant domestic workers as an essential “commodity.”

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One year later: Commemorating the Lebanon disaster – Kenyans’ candid Survivor voices and videos (never heard nor seen before)

Two enormous explosions devastated Beirut’s port on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 leaving at least 78 people dead and thousands injured, shaking distant buildings and spreading panic and chaos across the Lebanese capital. When this happened, hundreds of Kenyans trapped in a human trafficking situation took the opportunity to rise up and demand to be repatriated.  Owing to their fears of the deteriorating security and economic conditions in Lebanon they ‘stormed’ the Kenyan embassy, prompting the Kenyan government to send a special delegation to assess the situation. Furthermore, all of them were women who had been trapped into exploitation owing to abusive working environment and their inability to travel back to Kenya due to lack of travel documents. Many of them had been trapped in exploitative conditions for over 5 years.

Through the concerted efforts by CHTEA and her partners, a total of 129 Kenyans were evacuated/repatriated back to Kenya between September and November 2020. CHTEA can now for the first time bring you a comprehensive interview clip which provides you with an in-depth set of survivor and expert voices regarding the Lebanese situation as well as the dynamics of trafficking of Kenyans to the Gulf region at large.

You can listen and view the clip here How Kenyan Workers are Trafficked Abroad

 CHTEA & Trauma Counseling

Subsequent to their return, CHTEA has never been able to support the full total of 129 survivors towards their rehabilitation, reintegration and business start-up capital. CHTEA was able to give support to 60 survivors, most of whom were in total despair and had deep Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) conditions.  Some of them had to be referred to a specialist in Trauma Counselling. He is Dr L. Khasakhala, MD. Psychiatrist, PhD in Clinical Psychology and Lecturer at the University of Nairobi.  He has done tremendous work with us for over 8 years when we first took a post-Rwanda genocide survivor to him and he gave her excellent care.  Later she did some studies here and subsequently returned home a totally transformed 21 year old lady.

Special Donations Appeal

As a way of commemorating the first anniversary of the Kenyan Lebanese survivors, CHTEA is making another passionate Appeal for Donations in order to support the pending cases and restore some of the relapses. The average estimate cost of supporting one survivor is approximately USD$200 (psycho-social and business start-up capital).  Some also need school fees assistance to take their children who have been neglected in this critical area to re-enter education and help to break the cycle of poverty in the future. CHTEA will give an equivalent match to any contribution towards this cause. Any donations received will be receipted and full accountability will be provided with respect to expenditure. You can donate using the provided portal elsewhere on this newsletter (either through bank or PayPal). CHTEA will further acknowledge your donation by sending you an Honorary Certificate of Donation for Survivors of Human Trafficking.

Religious Against Human Trafficking – Kenya (RAHT-Kenya): 2021 Conference

RAHT had its annual conference on 16th October 2021 at the Tangaza University College, Nairobi. Even though a majority of the participants were following proceeding online, the conference nevertheless, attracted major speakers from the Government of Kenya, Talitha Kum, University Dons, The Church and the Civil Society. The RAHT annual conference idea was conceived in 2018. CHTEA is a collaborating member of RAHT.

Foundations of RAHT

Vision: Inspired by the mercy of God, we envision a world free from Human Trafficking.
Mission: To uphold human dignity at all costs from modern-day slavery to freedom by collaborating in eradicating human trafficking.

Founding Congregations

Canossian Sisters
Comboni Missionary Sisters
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Medical Missionaries of Mary
Missionary Benedictine Sisters
Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa
St. Patrick’s Missionary Society
Brothers of St Francis Xavier (Xaverian Brothers)

Later, the founder members admitted the following membership:

  • Consolata Missionaries (IMC)
  • Contemplative Missionary Sisters of St De Foucauld (MDF)
  • Edmund Rice Advocacy Network (ERAN)
  • Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM)
  • Franciscan Sisters of St Joseph (FSJ)
  • Incarnate Word Sisters (CVI)
  • Institute of the Blessed Virgin of Mary – Loreto Sisters (IBVM)
  • Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB)
  • Little Sisters of St. Joseph (LSSJ)
  • Quebec Missionaries (Foreign Mission Society, SME)
  • Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM)
  • Sisters of St Joseph of Mombasa (SSJ)
  • Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SSHJ)
  • Society of Missionaries of Africa (M. Afr.)
  • Yarumal Missionaries (MXY)

Collaborators

  • Counter Human Trafficking Trust – East Africa (CHTEA)
  • HAART- Kenya
  • Sema Nami

Laity 

  • Justice and Peace group (Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish – South B)
  • Patrick Society & SPS Safeguarding Children Project
  • Maryknoll Lay Missionaries

RAHT is hosted by RACK and AOSK and an affiliate of the Talitha Kum International (a global network of women religious congregations with headquarters in Rome).

 The Journey: RAHT from 2019 to 2021

  • On February 9th 2019 a Symposium was convened, followed by a 3-days training in March the same year.
  • In April 2019, field research was carried out in Kayamaiko, Nairobi to establish the child trafficking and child labor situation at the slaughter houses. A Position Paper was submitted to KCCB for endorsement. The research project was done in collaboration with CHTEA and members of Yarumal Missionaries and Contemplative Missionaries of St Charles de Foucauld.
  • In July 2019, RAHT convened a 3-days’ Training-of-Trainers’ workshop which had representation from the Eastern Africa region.
  • In September, 19-27, 2019, RAHT–KENYA was officially represented at the 10th anniversary of the international assembly of Talitha Kum in Rome, Italy.
  • In October 2019, a 3-days’ training was conducted to ground workers of slum areas within Mathare-Kariobangi-Kayamaiko-Ruaraka. The training was conducted by CHTEA, a collaborator with RAHT.
  • In November 2019, Human Trafficking awareness was carried out at the Tanzania-Kenya Border of Namanga to the youth by the Quebec Missionaries Parish.
  • On February 8th, 2020, RAHT participated in the World Day of Prayer through members’ initiatives
  • In April-May, 2020, members responded to the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns in different ways for example, St Patrick Society used the Child Safeguarding Program. Changes had to be effected to align with the changing Covid-19 situation/environment.
  • In July 2020, RAHT held an online sharing of Best Practices of Members and collaborators and this was carried out successfully.
  • On January 7th, 2021, Talitha Kum conducted a Leadership Course through an on-line workshop. It was dubbed “Impact of COVID-19 to migrants vulnerable to Human Trafficking”. The course incorporated participants from Kenya, Uganda & the United Arab Emirates.
  • On January 31st, 2021, RAHT held its first Annual General Meeting of members. During the same meeting, the leadership presented the final version of the RAHT Policy and 2021 program of activities.
  • On February 8th, during the World Day of Prayer, members took different initiatives in their Parishes.
  • On February 11-12, 2021, there was an on-line awareness training to the Seminarians & Lay partners of the Quebec Missionaries.
  • On March 6th, 2021, during the Celebration of International Day of Women, RAHT commemorated the event at Mombasa in collaboration with the Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya, Misereor and the Archdiocese of Mombasa.
  • From May 22nd to 23rd, RAHT convened the first of 3-phased Training- of-Trainers for the Coastal areas in collaboration with Caritas Mombasa and with funding by Talitha Kum
  • During July and August 2021, in an effort to commemorate the international United Nations’ World Day against Human Trafficking, RAHT organized a talk show series through a Catholic FM Radio called Waumini. RAHT members and survivors participated in the talk shows some of which drew a lot of interest from the public audience.

 

Tanzanian child traffickers lured into the hands of law enforcers

Emman, aged 14 years is a disabled minor from Tanzania who was lured and trafficked from Shinyanga to Nairobi. At his age, he has never been to school. According to his own account, Emman was lured by a lady through his uncle. The alleged lady trafficker was well known to his uncle and she had promised to educate Emman besides offering to give him a good life in Nairobi, Kenya. On arrival in Nairobi, the trafficker deserted Emman at a popular bus terminus called the Machakos bus station. Upon realizing that his would-be guardian was not returning after faking that she was going to the washrooms, Emman decided to crawl to a safe ground on a verandah along the nearest street to take some rest from the scorching sun.

It was during this time while Emman was resting at the verandah of a nearby market that a different lady approached him and tried to find out how she could help him. After listening to the boy’s plight, the lady offered to go with him to her place of abode and provide him with shelter and food. The new stranger also promised to take Emman to school, he little realized that she was part of a complex network of traffickers (both Kenyans and Tanzanians).  These cruel individuals traffick disabled persons (both children and adults) to Kenyan towns for begging purposes. This phenomenon has turned out to be a big industry in Kenya where the general Kenyan public ‘giving spirit’ is considered to be highest in the East African region. This originates from the “Harambee” philosophy (it’s about ‘pulling together’) which was adopted immediately after Independence as a catalyst for communal projects where the public were asked to give donations for the public good. Many schools and health centers were constructed through communal giving to take care of local projects. Therefore, this was a well calculated move to confuse the young Emman. He gladly accepted the new offer and she took him to her house at Shauri Moyo, a poor neighborhood in Nairobi.

Forced labor – a beggar in Nairobi

After two days of rest, the young Emman was summoned by the same would-be guardian (the woman) and given instructions to move to the city on a daily basis and beg with a target of five thousand shillings (USD $50) a day. This was a condition in order for him to continue being hosted by his new “master”.  Whenever he didn’t manage to hit the target as required by his host, he was assaulted, denied food and psychologically tormented by the alleged host. The exploitation went on until Emman could no longer bear with the demands, hence he contemplated escaping at the earliest possible opportunity.

Early one morning after he was released to head towards his usual beginning street, he decided to take a different direction and headed towards another expansive slum called Mukuru. While loitering there, he was noticed by a community volunteer who happened to have received training from CHTEA. After a screening exercise, the volunteer contacted a CHTEA officer who validated the assessment report and classified Emman as a case of cross border child trafficking.  Emman was immediately removed from the slum and placed at a protection center outside of Nairobi from where the process of court committal documentation was commenced to facilitate repatriation. The court committal process was handled by a Government Children’s Officer.

The child trafficking ring

In a surprise turn of events, on the day that the young Emman was to be taken to the court for committal orders, the CHTEA officer accompanying the Children Officer received a call from an unknown caller who identified himself as a Police Officer based at a police station in Eastern Nairobi. The caller further claimed that he was in the company of another three men who were supposedly relatives of the young Emman. The whole team of four would later turn out to be part of the trafficking ring based in Nairobi. The caller asked the CHTEA officer to hand over Emman to them as one of them claimed to be his uncle who had brought him to Nairobi. The caller further claimed that Emman had got lost while at his custody as he played with other children in Eastlands. The discussion ended up with a fake arrangement for Emman to be handed over at a designated local administrator’s office.

After brief internal consultations, the CHTEA head office swung into action and immediately alerted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (Child Protection Unit) who dispatched two police officers to accompany the CHTEA Officer to meet the masquerading group. When they arrived at the designated meeting point, all the four men were already there waiting to be handed over the trafficked boy. The two police officers camouflaged themselves and asked that they be refunded for the expenses of the Emman’s upkeep before they could release him. The traffickers further alleged that the young Emman was a nephew to one of them. The alleged police officer turned out to be real and that he was offering protection to the real traffickers.

Setting a trap for traffickers

At the local administrator’s office, the masquerading group was patiently waiting for Emman’s hand over. The police officers claimed that they had spent a lot of money to keep the boy and that they needed a refund. The request was immediately accepted by asking how much the boy’s upkeep had cost. In a flash of a second, the three masqueraders found themselves under arrest alongside their police protector. On a quick search, they were found with loads of coins (signifying that they were the actual exploiters….as most of the beggars receive much of their donations in coins).

The arrest of this group was a major success in dealing with the child trafficking rings spread across the East African region. Two of the suspects have since been arraigned in court and their case is proceeding at the Kenyan high court under the watchful eye of the Kenyan public and the media. The head of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit (AHTCPU) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Madam Mueni Mutisya has since commended the efforts of CHTEA in enabling the arrest of the traffickers.

From other reliable sources, it was said that the same clique of traffickers had already trafficked four other disabled children from Tanzania. The DCI Officers are keenly investigating to get on the bottom of the story.  Since the traffickers are from another country, this case will likely be handed over to the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) to ensure that all those traffickers are handed down lengthy jail sentences of approximately 30 years.

The victim’s real name has been changed to protect his identity

Above left: 3 Tanzanians suspected of child trafficking during arrest.  

 

Above right: Two of the suspects in court

Tanzania: 3 Arrested for Child Trafficking

Tanzanian police arrested three suspected child traffickers transporting a group of children aged between 10 and 14 years. According to police, the children were headed for various domestic duties ranging from house help, farming and livestock tending.

On 7th September 2021, the Police Commandant of the Mbeya Province, Mr. Ulrich Matei reported that the suspects were arrested while organizing to transport the children to Mbarali district in Mbeya Province for very small wages. This is against the International Labour Organisation’s statutes which prohibits the use of children for labour under all circumstances.

According to the Police Commandant, the traffickers were expected to receive an equivalent of a month’s salary for each child successfully delivered to their exploiters. This was happening even as the Tanzanian law prohibits child labour as well as child trafficking.

The Executive Director of a non-governmental organisation called “Sauti ya Mama Africa (Women Voice in Africa), Ms. Thabitha Bughali asked the Tanzanian government to take stern action on the perpetrators as their actions were depriving vulnerable child the right to education and instead exposing them to social abuse and all manner of deprivation and suffering.  Reports of lost or stolen children are quite rampant in Tanzania, yet most of these cases are targeting local child market destinations for a myriad of petty jobs for profit.

For more see: CLICK HERE ( A Kiswahili version)

Kidnapped and rescued from the jaws of a Kidnapper/Child Trafficker

James is a minor boy aged 9 years hailing from a single parent family. He has two other siblings; an elder brother aged 14 years who is in F/2 and a younger sister aged 9 months. They reside with their mother at the Mukuru kwa Njenga slum. Coming from an unstable background makes him vulnerable to many realities of social, environmental and economic dynamics of life.

The young James was used to supporting his mother with house chores and other minor economic activities. He used to accompany his mother daily to her business venue selling cabbages and charcoal in the vast slum village. On the fateful day in April 202, at around 3.00pm in the afternoon, James requested his mother to allow him to go for football practice at a training ground called Galaxy, not far from their home.  Due to the fact that James had a great passion for playing football and a champion player for his team, his mother had no objection hence, she let him go for the practice.

When James’ mother time for business closure was due, she closed at around 8.00pm but without seeing her son return from the football practice. She consoled herself by assuming that he may have decided to go straight back home. At about 9.00pm, she arrived back home but James was nowhere to be found. She rushed to report the matter to the local security team where she was referred to report the matter at the nearest Police station.

James’ case was later referred to the CHTEA office by a Community Health Volunteer based at the Medical Missionaries of Mary – Counter Human Trafficking unit at the St. Mary’s Health Centre. The case was immediately profiled at CHTEA office after which the mother was facilitated to report the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (Child Protection Unit) where she was assisted to locate the telephone number an alleged kidnapper who had been calling from Western Kenya. The mother was further facilitated to travel to her separated husband’s home to confirm if he might have been involved in kidnapping the boy but to no avail.

Fast forward: On 22nd`August 2021, James’ mother claimed that she received a reverse call from her son and after a long chat with him, she alleged that a lady who claimed to be the kidnapper’s sister also spoke to her. During their discussion, the alleged sister offered to sneak the boy (James) back to his mother in Nairobi. The alleged sister further indicated that the kidnapper was allegedly her brother who she claimed was a psycho. The two ladies agreed to meet at Nakuru where the alleged sister would escort and hand over the boy while her alleged brother was away from home attending a burial function. It was not easy to trust the alleged sister to the kidnapper.

Armed with this information, James’ mother was accompanied by a CHTEA staff to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations with one mission: to ascertain the location of the caller. The initial plan was for the mother to travel to pick the boy from Western Kenya the following day. However, this was not to be, as a call was received early morning the same day from the alleged kidnapper’s sister who committed to take the boy up to Nakuru if facilitated with transport. James’ mother and a CHTEA staff took time to consult with the police on the new developments and also to examine security considerations. At the least they did not know that the alleged sister of the kidnapper had already left Western Kenya for Nakuru. As consultations concluded in Nairobi, the alleged sister to the kidnapper called to say that she was already at Nakuru (half way between the kidnapper’s village and Nairobi).

A series of negotiations kicked off with the alleged sister to the kidnapper to ascertain if indeed she had traveled with James. The first card on the table was to quickly express willingness to refund all expenses incurred during the journey. Then a handover discussion was done. As it was not possible to travel to Nakuru at that late hour, it was agreed that Peter be put in to a public transport vehicle headed to Nairobi as the mother and a CHTEA staff waited to receive him. They had allegedly arrived at Nakuru at around 12noon.

As fate would have it, the whole story turned out to be true.  At exactly 5.00pm, James’s mother shed tears of joy when she finally spotted her son alighting from the designated public vehicle. He was carrying a back pack and showed he was in good health. She hugged him incessantly for some 10 minutes without believing her eyes.

In the ensuing moments, James (the survivor) recalled how he was called by a stranger from the football field where he had gone to practice. The eventual kidnapper lured him to a corner where he grabbed him and held him tightly by his mouth and warned him not to make any noise lest he kills him. The 9 year old boy decided to cooperate with the kidnapper who in turn took him to his house in Mukuru Kwa Njenga and instructed James to say that he was his father in case he was asked by anyone. On the following day, the kidnapper traveled with James to Webuye, in Western Kenya. According to James, there were other children he found at the same home and who he later learnt had been abducted from other parts of the country.

The main pre-occupation during his stay at the kidnapper’s home in Webuye was to work at his family farm. His main duties included collecting firewood, cooking and washing utensils until late in the evening. Even though he was woken up very early in the mornings to start his duties (alongside other kidnapped boys), he never got to rest for the full day until past midnight. He was not allowed to walk alone and some times he was denied food depending on the moods of the kidnapper.

This case is still under investigation as the kidnapper/trafficker is still at large. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is still working closely with CHTEA with a consideration to eventually arrest the perpetrator.

The victim’s real name has been changed to protect his identity