Unsafe migration in Africa: Lucrative business for traffickers

Migration from anywhere involves a certain amount of risk, and migration routes across Africa are some of the most dangerous. In pursuit of safety, security, and a better life, African migrants travel across oceans and deserts to reach Europe. Many run out of money before they reach their destination, beginning a vicious cycle that sometimes ends in trafficking. Threatened with abduction and forced labor, or, for girls and women, forced prostitution and forced marriage, the risk of becoming trapped in modern slavery looms large over each journey as unscrupulous smugglers and criminals turn a lucrative profit.

Thousands of migrants trapped in modern slavery or worse

In recent years people from Nigeria, Mali, Niger, and Senegal have been undertaking a perilous journey away from their homes in greater and greater numbers to find a better life in Europe or elsewhere. However, before they even reach the Sahara Desert or the Mediterranean Sea, many fall into the hands of traffickers and criminals waiting along the route.

Joyce Vincent, a Nigerian woman who barely survived her migration journey said:

“These thieves…if they catch you, they will either sell you into prostitution or they take your organs,”

Driven by a shortage of food, housing, and jobs as well as worsening security due to various regional crises, African migrants are desperate to find safety and security.

Scammers and traffickers exploit this desperation, turning it into a lucrative profit that costs migrants their freedom and sometimes their lives. According to human rights NGO Walk Free, across Africa, an estimated seven million people were living under conditions of modern slavery in 2021. Additionally, a recent International Organization for Migration (IOM) report found that at least 8,565 people died on international migration routes in 2023, making it the deadliest year for migration since IOM began keeping records.

Controversial agreements encouraging human trafficking

Leonie Jantzer from the human rights organization Medico International suggests that in a global context, particularly migration on the African continent is being criminalized by controversial partnerships between the E.U. and African states that sit along popular migration routes. In Jantzer’s opinion, current policies don’t stop migration and only encourage more human trafficking.

Jantzer said:

“If migration were legal, the traffickers’ business wouldn’t work at all,”

The controversial partnerships between the EU and African security forces were first launched in the early 2000s. Pressured and sanctioned by the E.U. which provides millions of Euros each year, these agreements allow African states to send migrants back to the places they fled. This, coupled with a lack of criminal prosecution for unscrupulous actors found along popular migration routes, is allowing human traffickers to turn a huge profit from modern slavery and to continue their exploitative activities with little concern of being caught or punished.

Migration should not cost your freedom or your life

Freedom United stands with those organizations demanding that governments cooperate more closely to catch the villains instead of criminalizing innocent migrants fleeing violence, exploitation, and unrest.

*Article from Freedom United, 30^th July 2024

1. Hesbon

Hesbon is a male survivor of trafficking whose story is quite moving. He lost his marriage upon travelling to the middle east (Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among other countries). His wife and kid left the matrimonial home during his job detour as he was not being compensated for the work he did hence, he was not sending any upkeep money back home. She eventually remarried.

His story is available on You-tube.

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Humphrey was doing a soap making and supply business with his late father at Kibera and he still speaks of it with a lot of nostalgia. He is keen to restart the business which he claims to understand deeply and sounds confident that he would do well re-establishing both the manufacturing and distribution as trained by his late father (RIP).

Upon our assessment, Humphrey exhibits good signs of integrity and abilities to re-start his life. This however may be monitored to ensure that he indeed does the correct things……especially at the start of the business.

2. Abdallah

Abdallah is a 20-year male who was sexually abused (sodomised) while being trafficked to Nairobi in the guise of a job. He traveled to Nairobi on 2^nd December 2023. An alleged friend lied to him that he had a job for him in Nairobi but when he arrived, the friend switched off his phone.

As he was trying to figure out what to do, he met a man who promised to get him a job of his choice and also offered to accommodate him for the night. The man later took him to a single room flat at Kayole where he sodomised him for 3-4 days under the influence of drugs. When Ismail regained his consciousness, he felt a lot pain while passing stool which was blood stained too. His aggressor later brought him to the CBD where he left him at the KENCOM stage. Abdallah walked aimlessly to Muthurwa market where he found an abandoned vehicle and he started using it as his new home while during the day he used to visit the Wakulima market to scavenge for any spoilt edible fruit.

One day, Abdallah walked towards South B where he was noticed by a CHTEA volunteer worker who took him to the mater hospital CCC clinic. He could not be attended there as they required a police P3 form. He was later facilitated and accompanied by a CHTEA staff to the Nairobi Women’s hospital where he received good medical attention. All this while, he stayed at a CHTEA rented accommodation at South B.

Abdallah got better and was released to travel back home on 8^th January 2024. Upon enquiry, Ismail indicated that he would be happy to run a vegetable/grocery shop back in Kakamega.

3. Grace

Grace is a female survivor who returned from Saudi Arabia in September 2022. She’s been going through a lot of traumatic after effects of the abuses mated on her while in Saudi. She recently texted me the following:

“I am a survivor of human-trafficking, I came back from Saudi Arabia and I haven’t been well mentally. I recently heard about CHTEA, I just really need help and support. Most importantly, therapy. I’m not okay and I really need help. Thank you.”

Upon her return, Grace was evicted from the family home (alongside her 3 children) by her biological mother as she had not been sending back any upkeep money for her children. She currently lives with a friend on borrowed time.

Upon discussion with a good therapist, Grace will need 10 -15 sessions spread over a period of time in order to deal with the incubated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) effects. The therapist was also of the opinion that her 3 children could also receive about 5 sessions to help them heal from the traumatic effects of the situation happening around them.

Is it true that human traffickers are tech-savvies, intelligent, quite ahead and sophisticated in ways anti-traffickers cannot comprehend let alone match up or outwit them? Well, this is debatable but one thing is for sure, even though it is not easy to quantify the magnitude of online human trafficking, it is undeniable that online exploitation of victims of trafficking is prevalent and is a brutal reality. Technology has been abused by traffickers and those working against human trafficking have not embraced technology as much to counter the vice.

Technological advancement is one of the most progressive innovations in the human history that has remarkably transformed how the world operates. Changes at the apex of this advancement include; value systems, cultural setups, means of communication, the travel industry, the healthcare sector, the corporate world  and the education system.

Even though the intention behind technological advancement was to make life convenient for the ordinary human being, it has come along with unprecedented negative consequences over time. Cyber crimes including child pornography, cyber bullying, cyber stalking, cyber grooming, online job fraud, online sextortion, phishing and vishing are currently on the rise exacerbated further by massive use of the internet during the COVID-19. This said, technological advancement is a double edged sword; presenting both challenges and opportunities in the whole phenomenon of human trafficking..

Traffickers harness technology through out the human trafficking stages; from recruitment, grooming, movement, control advertising and exploitation for a couple of reasons. They use technology to hide their identities and increase anonymity online; the perpetrator communicate through encrypted app/dark web to coordinate their activities. Traffickers use cryptocurrency to engage in money laundry, conduct financial transactions and move criminal proceeds anonymously.

Technology is used by traffickers to facilitate recruitment and exploitation of victims; through the internet traffickers are able to target potential victims, access personal data, recruit through social media and arrange travel logistics. According to a 2018 UNODC global report on trafficking in persons, perpetrators sequence their actions by identifying potential victims on social media establishing a relationship of trust and subsequently entrapping them in exploitative situations.

Traffickers use technology to access new venues and expanding the market. The internet helps traffickers to advertise fraudulent opportunities to potential victims and access a large market. Traffickers use the internet to advertise the services offered by their victims to potential customers/end users. Europol notes that the online advertisement of sexual services is an increasing phenomenon relating to human trafficking for sexual exploitation with children being advertised as adults.

The internet has made it possible for traffickers to expand the means victims by which they control and exploit their victims. Certain technologies help traffickers to control and coerce their victims. The technology includes using GPS software in phones to track the movements of victims or in domestic servitude and other forms of labour exploitation monitor and control victims through video surveillance. In sexual exploitation threats to share nude images are used to control victims.

Certain factors enable the misuse of technology by traffickers. First is insufficient legal frameworks which do not avail the necessary tools to aid successful  investigations and prosecution to online crimes and human trafficking. Second is the transnational nature of the internet facilitated human trafficking has introduced new challenges with respect to jurisdiction. Third is weak cooperation among national and international institutions and the private sector which impedes opportunities to promptly utilize innovative approaches embraced by traffickers and hampers full utilization of resources and expertise available in different sectors. Fourth is lack of capacity, awareness and expertise of law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary due to among other factors; the complex and dynamic nature of ICT facilitated trafficking. And lastly, limited technological tools as well as capacity to anti-trafficking practitioners.

Positive Use of Technology to Counter Human Trafficking  

Governments, NGOs, international organizations, the private sector and the corporate world have a wide range of technological tools within their reach to buffer their anti-trafficking endeavor. A number of interventions have already been launched and are in use to counter human trafficking. For example Tech Against Trafficking a coalition of technology companies working to combat human trafficking has survey more than 260 technology tools to aid anti trafficking work. More than half of this tools focus on labour exploitation while 18% focus on sexual exploitation. This tools consist mainly of mobile apps, social media handles and databases.

In a recent issue by freedom collaborative a digital game-May and Bay- has been innovated by the University of Kent’s Centre for Child Protection (CCP) with A21, ECPAT International and Playerthree. The game is set to help children and young people across Thailand and Cambodia learn to spot signs of online grooming and recognize the tactics that abusers and traffickers employ. The game is intended to alert children to the dangers of online interactions in Thailand and Cambodia. The game aims to empower young people and provide training for child protection practitioners.

The internet can be a vital tool for detecting, locating and addressing human trafficking. For instance, activities like data mining, mapping and advanced analytics can be valuable weapons against human trafficking. Research shows that online traffickers leave a trail that if followed up by those working against trafficking could avail vital information to build up their cases against the traffickers. 

Since it has a wider audience, avenues for instance, social media could be leveraged to create awareness on the horrifying crime of human trafficking. Highlighting the redflags to look out for, the modus operandi i.e what is done, how it is done and why it is done. Through information, traffickers activities will be crippled. The internet could also be used to generate and offer services for he victims of human trafficking.

Conclusion

As the world commemorates the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, it is incumbent upon governments, civil societies, businesses, academia and the international community to adapt to the rapid dynamic realm of technological advancement by leveraging it in order to outwit human traffickers. Technology will assist the law enforcement to provide substantial evidence to aid in the prosecution of victims. Collaboration and concerted effort are crucial now more that ever before to counter human trafficking.

After years of effort, the Kenya government finally emerged a step closure to realizing a major achievement in the rescue and repatriation of trafficked Kenyans in the diaspora. This was made possible through the National Employment Authority (NEA) with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) who jointly implemented the “Fostering Recruitment Agencies’ Ethical Practices and Accountability” project as well as supporting the government of Kenya to pilot a recruitment oversight and community feedback mechanism to prevent trafficking in persons. Funded by the US Department of State Office to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, through the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS), the project was implemented from November 2020 to October 2022.

The project which as steered by a technical committee set up by the Minister for Labour and Social Protection in 2020 was officially inaugurated in July 2021. The committee drew membership from a multi-agency government team who incorporated non-state actors. CHTEA was one among three Civil Society Organisations nominated to sit at the technical committee.

The oversight mechanism was however established in June 2021, through a collaborative process involving key labour migration stakeholders from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), non-state actors at National and County levels as well as communities at the grass root level. The Oversight Mechanism and Community Feedback Mechanism will serve to monitor the Kenya Labour Recruitment industry and identify Private Recruitment Agencies operating unethically.  

Some of the key achievements accomplished under this project include;

• The establishment of a 9-member Advisory Committee and the Multi-Stakeholder Technical Committee to provide technical guidance to the National Employment Authority (NEA) on the operations of the Oversight Mechanism.

• The establishment of the Toll-Free Hotline 0800222223

• The development of the distress reporting tool which is accessible through the NEA Information and Management System ( neaims.go.ke.). Through the system, Kenyan migrants in distress can report their cases and those seeking to get a job abroad can get a list of private recruitment agencies registered by the National Employment Authority (NEA).

• Over 100 Private Recruitment Agencies (PRAs) were trained using the IOMs International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS). Out of the 100 trained PRAs, 46 expressed interest to proceed and enroll in the IRIS capacity building program. 17 PRAs are currently enrolled in the IRIS capacity building training, with 2 agencies already undergoing a maturity assessment.

To ensure sustainability and continuous awareness creation at the community level, the project has trained over 250 resource persons on the Oversight and Community Feedback Mechanism in the five pilot counties of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi, Nandi and Busia. This led to the development and dissemination of the key labour migration guidelines and procedures which were translated to Kiswahili language for ease of understanding by the public. These include;

1. A guide to safe labour migration.
2. Information guide on the National Employment Authority Information Management System (NEAIMS).
3. Regulations on the Private Recruitment Agencies and key sections of the labour institutions Act, 2007.

Additionally, as an exit strategy, the 22-member multi-Stakeholder committee on the oversight and community feedback mechanism held a technical committee meeting on the 23^rd of September 2022 to review their terms of Reference (TORs) towards the establishment of sub-committees as per the agreed thematic areas which include;

1. Migration Governance and Compliance.
2. Capacity Building and Outreach.
3. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.
4. Media publicity and Advocacy.

The sub-committees will be composed of at least 5 members and shall report to the larger committee. The Ministry of Labour, NEA and IOM will act as secretariat to the sub-committees and the meetings will be held once per month before the technical advisory committee meetings or as per need basis.

To mark the closure of this project, IOM in collaboration with NEA, organized a one-day closing workshop on Tuesday 11^th October 2022 at the Crown Plaza Hotel.  In attendance were key labour migration stakeholders from Government, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), members of the Multi-Stakeholder Technical Committee and representatives from the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the Private Recruitment Agencies (PRAs).

The recent Kenyan Anti-Trafficking CSO-CTIP Coordination Workshop held from January 31 to February 1, 2024, at the ParkInn Hotel in Nairobi, showcased a significant step forward in the fight against human trafficking in Kenya. Organized by the Better Migration Management III Programme (BMM III), the workshop brought together over 30 participants, including key government partners, civil society organizations (CSOs), and BMM implementing partners.

The two-day workshop was designed to foster collaboration and coordination among stakeholders to counter trafficking of human beings effectively. With a focus on building partnerships for 2024 and sharing updates from the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Secretariat (CTIP). The event provided a platform for meaningful dialogue and action.

Above: CSO-CTIP Coordination Workshop: Learning topics as mapped out.

Participants engaged in discussions ranging from joint activity planning to coordination on service provision and partnerships. Through working groups and presentations, attendees identified areas for joint learning, developed activity planning tools, and gained a deeper understanding of CTIP-CSO activities for the year ahead.

The workshop's hybrid format allowed for both in-person and online participation, ensuring active engagement of stakeholders across Kenya. Overall, the outcomes of the workshop are expected to guide CSO activities throughout the year, strengthening the collective effort to combat human trafficking and protect vulnerable populations in Kenya.

The success of the workshop underscores the importance of collaboration and coordination in addressing complex issues like human trafficking and highlights the power of collective action in driving positive change.

It is 8.00am in the morning, Elima greets her friend as she hurries to open her small cereal/Mpesa and Equity Bank Agent shop. She is excited about today and hopeful that it will be a successful day. On a day like this, Elima remembers vividly after completing her secondary school exams, she received a sponsorship to a university in Uganda, it went well and she graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Commerce. She was joyous about her graduation, being the first girl in a village to go to university and successfully complete a degree course. She saw herself working as an accountant in a reputable organization in the future.

Life with its endless ups and downs did not go as she expected. She landed her first job as an Mpesa agent (where one can deposit and withdraw cash). Sadly, every day the owner would come at lunchtime, close the shop and lock her inside where he would sexually and physically assault her. She put up a lot of resistance and was very scared and hated him for the actions. She left after five months of absolute hell and she returned home. She found her mother supportive but she had no job after such a long struggle to gain her degree in a foreign country.

One day, a lady who was known by the family to trade between Kenya and Uganda told her of  wonderful job opportunities in Uganda. She claimed that she knew a certain hotel owner in Kampala who needed an accounts clerk. Elima fell for such a ‘golden chance’ and had no problem in agreeing to travel to Uganda. But she found herself as one of the ten girls who covered in a bar-restaurant 24/7. The hotel was also a major attraction for men who wanted ladies for sex services at any hour of the day or night. Elima and the other girls, were issued with contraceptives every morning. Elima says, “I was in this horrible, horrible place for 6 months, the only food they gave us was one meal daily.” At this stage she was in tears and her eyes were red.

One Morning, just days before Christmas in 2022, a man from her home area visited the eatery and on seeing her, he exclaimed, “My God, Elima, what are you doing here?” It was easily assumed that he was her client. But he had come in to have breakfast. After a brief conversation, he gave her his car keys and told her the registration of his vehicle and where to find it in the parking lot. In a matter of hours, they were crossing the international border into Kenya. He never harmed her in any way and he dropped her at her parents’ home. Since she had returned without any money, she coined a story that she had been robbed on the way back home. The parents accepted her story.

In early January, 2023, she travelled to Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Nairobi (where her aunt works with the MMM’s). while there, she met one of the CHTEA Trainer of Trainers (ToTs) doing an Awareness workshop and he referred her to CHTEA.

Elima had good ideas about starting a small business but she lacked capital. While at CHTEA, Sr.Mary recalls that, “I felt she was genuine and took a chance to offer her with a budgetary amount of Ksh.15000/-. Ordinarily, some of the victims of trafficking come with various needs such as medical and counselling which require much more money.” From the small capital offered, Elima has now a thriving business of retailing eggs from her home location and she also sells a variety of dried beans as well as an Mpesa and Equity Bank agent business.

*Elima is not her name