Complexity of mixed migration: Human trafficking

and smuggling Dr Luchetu Likaka PhD

Lecturer and Consultant

Mixed Migration

• Kenya is a critical hub in the region and attracts a large flow of mixedmigration. Predominantly, Kenya is destination and transit forsmuggled migrants, In addition, it also hosts a sizeable number ofIDPs.

• The phenomenon of mixed migration reflects the tendency of an increasing number of people to migrate, despite greater risk, in search of a better future in more affluent parts of the globalized world.

• It also indicates that people are on the move for a combination of reasons that are fundamentally related to safeguarding physical and economic security.

Mixed migration Includes:

• Irregular migrants: Migrants dislodged by a real and/or perceived inabilityto thrive (economic migrants) or motivated by aspirations, a desire to unitewith other family members or some other factor.

• Refugees and asylum seekers (forced migrants): Migrants in search ofasylum from conflict or persecution in their country of origin.

• Victims of trafficking (involuntary migrants): Internal and foreign migrantscoerced or deceived into servitude, forced labour or sexual exploitation.

• Stateless persons: Migrants without recognized citizenship, placing them ina limbo between different national borders.

• Unaccompanied minors and separated children and other vulnerablepersons on the move: Migrant children without protection or assistance, ina state of acute vulnerability.

Complexity –Definition and Practice

• Smuggling

• The procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident (Art. 3(a), UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000). Smuggling contrary to trafficking does not require an element of exploitation, coercion, or violation of human rights. See also illegal entry, trafficking.

• Trafficking in persons

• The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation (Art. 3(a), UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the UN Convention Against Organized Crime, 2000). See also abduction, coercion, exploitation, fraud, smuggling, trafficker.

The Complexity

• The U.N. Economic Development in Africa Report 2018 notes thatmigrants, both legal and illegal, from bordering countries such asSomalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan are passing through Kenya inpursuit of better lives in southern Africa as well as Europe and theAmericas.

• Many of these hopeful migrants become victims of exploitation. InKenya, illegal recruiters make fraudulent offers of employment in theMiddle East and Asia to deceive migrants, thus entrapping them, andoftentimes their children, in the trafficking web.

The Complexity

• Important to note that migration is closely linked to livelihoodproblems caused by complex issues such as persecution, politicalturmoil, armed conflict, poverty and environmental problems such asclimate change, population pressure and natural disasters.

• The social issues and emerging ‘cultures of migration’ in certain partsof the country create compelling push and pull factors affecting thedecision to move. All these factors present an opportunity for crimeto thrive.

The Complexity

• Mixed migration movements into and through Kenya include refugees, trafficked persons, irregular and economic migrants from other African countries particularly from East and Central African countries.

• Some of the biggest groups of refugees and migrants in Nairobi include Congolese, Ethiopian and Somali.

• Internally almost of ethnic groups are migrating from one part to the other for various reasons.

Smuggling

• People who are trafficked internally and internationally, and those who aresmuggled across borders, all form part of Kenya’s mixed migration flows.However, it is useful to distinguish between trafficking and smuggling as theterms are often used interchangeably when in fact there are importantdifferences between them.

• Migrant smuggling is an important component of mixed migration flows throughKenya.

• Given Kenya’s geographical location in the region, permeable borders andrelatively ineffectual efforts to control borders and regulate migrant movement,its role as a point of transit for both the Northern and Southern routes is of highimportance. In addition, corruption makes Kenya a popular transit country forsmugglers.

• Kenya is perceived to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world, ranking124th on a list of 179 countries in 2020.

Smuggling

• Somalis, Ethiopians and to some extent Southern Sudanese, Eritreans and Congolese, who come from neighbouring countries, take advantage of Kenya’s porous borders. They cross into the country on foot, by vehicle or by sea, either independently or facilitated by smugglers and brokers.

• There is, however, no accurate data available on the number of those transiting through Kenya, either smuggled or trafficked.

• It is estimated that up to 20,000 Somali and Ethiopian male migrants were smuggled to South Africa, mostly via Kenya, every year. That figure may have changed considerably since then. More up-to-date research is therefore needed on this issue.

Trafficking

• Many different actors -recruitment agents, truck drivers and transporters, boat owners, providers of forged and stolen documents, border guards, immigration and refugee officials, members of the police and military - are involved in migrant smuggling and risks are effectively spread through the network.

• Nearly 70% migrants use a smuggler for at least one part of their migration journey. Using smugglers can further expose refugees and migrants to considerable risks, such as violent abuse, kidnapping and extortion.

• Locally many victims of Human trafficking and smuggling come from almost very part of the Country.

• They most labourers (men), women and girls and lately the boy child.

Trafficking

• The cities of Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa are where trafficking occurs the most. Traffickers traffic children for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation as well as forced labor, forced begging and forced marriage.

• Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Kenya, and traffickers exploit victims from Kenya abroad. Within the country, traffickers exploit children through forced labor in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, and begging.

Trafficking

• Human trafficking is a growing concern for many countries in East Africa, and Kenya is identified in the US Trafficking in Persons Report 2019 as a source, destination and transit country for human trafficking.

• Crackdowns targeting the perpetrators and victims of human trafficking are becoming more common in Kenya, and trafficking activities tend to be focused in Nairobi as the prevalence of trafficking in Kenya increased.

• Government has increased efforts to crack down on human traffickers in Nairobi through investigations and prosecution of traffickers.

Trafficking

• Security agents continue to treat some victims as criminals and the availability of protective services for adult and foreign national victims remained inadequate, which contributed to quick repatriation of foreign victims due to lack of available shelters.

• Traffickers also exploit girls and boys in commercial sex throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism on the coast in Nairobi and Kisumu, particularly in informal settlements; at times, family members facilitate their exploitation.

Challenges

• Mixed migration is complex and driven by myriad of factors.

• Porous borders coupled with corruption, Insufficient funding to strengthen the capacity to fighting human trafficking, Uneven law enforcement efforts.

• Collaboration with foreign governments in extraditing human trafficking suspects.

• The ODPP also sometimes tried trafficking cases as immigration or labor law violations rather than crimes under the anti-trafficking law, which resulted in traffickers receiving less stringent sentences.

Recommendations

• Foster collaboration between partners working across the migration sector (including government, NGOs, and academia) to expand the narrative of mixed migration dynamics in Kenya beyond the singular trafficking and smuggling lens.

• Learn from the community structures which support the socio-economic integration of refugee and migrant populations in Kenya, and build on the best practices of formal and informal support mechanisms which are able to reach the most vulnerable groups.

Recommendations

• Improve coordination between Government, NGOs and Civil society to improve support and assistance to refugees and migrants in Kenya, with particular focus on access to decent work and protection.

• Implement the objectives and actions of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), adopted by Kenya. The GCM also offers a blue print for targeted responses to COVID-19 for people on the move.

• Increased awareness campaigns, trainings, and law enforcement efforts in the coastal region and in hotels and resorts have shifted the location of sex trafficking of minors to private hotels and short-term rentals.

Recommendations

• Increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking offenses, including of allegedly complicit officials.

• Ensure protective services are available to adult trafficking victims, including foreign nationals.

• Increase data collection and data sharing among relevant agencies on law enforcement and victim identification efforts.

• Strengthen coordination between government agencies on efforts to combat trafficking and implement a new national action plan.

END, Thank you