Human Trafficking as Organised Crime: A Collective Challenge and HAART’s Response

By Winnie Mutevu, Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART Kenya)

The East and Horn of Africa remains a major source, transit, and destination for trafficking victims. Every year, thousands are moved across porous borders, often under the guise of labour migration. Political instability in countries like South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia, combined with high youth unemployment, continues to drive the trade. Since 2022, HAART has sheltered a growing number of foreign nationals rescued or intercepted by law enforcement.

While the Gulf remains a key destination, Western and Southeast Asia have become hotspots for forced labour and cyber-enabled trafficking, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigations reveal that victims are being lured into scam centres in Myanmar and Laos, run by criminal syndicates linked to transnational organised crime. Once trafficked, many are forced into digital fraud schemes known as “pig-butchering.” Since 2022, HAART has supported over 200 victims—mainly Kenyans, but also some Ugandans and Burundians—who were trafficked to these compounds.

Justin* is one of them. He sold part of his land to pay a recruiter who promised him a supermarket job abroad with a salary of US$1,800. The agent secured fraudulent documents and coached him to obtain a tourist visa, claiming the work permit would be processed later by his employer. He was required to go to a specific teller for processing at the embassy. After landing, he was fast-tracked through immigration by whom he identified as law enforcement and taken straight to a scam compound in Myanmar. There, he was abused, starved, and unpaid. When he contacted his family for help, the recruiter alerted his captors. Restrictions tightened, and the abuse worsened.

Names linked to Justin’s case and other victims from the compounds have appeared in other cases involving victims trafficked to countries like Malaysia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE, Cambodia amongst others —for similar or different types of exploitation. The scale and coordination of these networks is becoming clearer as more intelligence emerges. Justin’s experience reflects that of many others. It shows how trafficking networks exploit hopes of opportunity—and how critical international cooperation is to stopping them.

HAART Kenya connects these local realities with global frameworks. Through national dialogues, legal training, public awareness, and survivor-focused reintegration, HAART works to build sustainable and informed responses to this transnational crime.

Challenges

The challenges are evolving. Traffickers are now targeting victims not only through online scams but also for organ and drug trafficking. Many victims are lured with false promises and do not realise the truth until it is too late. Recruiters often direct victims to use platforms with weaker regulation. Corruption also plays a key role in facilitating irregular migration.

Most victims travel on tourist visas, misled to believe their status will be regularised upon arrival. This leaves them exposed and entirely dependent on traffickers at the destination, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation.

The UNODC 2024 Report highlights a troubling trend: while victim numbers rise, prosecutions and convictions are falling. This reflects broader systemic issues—weak enforcement, gaps in victim identification, limited shelters, and under-resourced police and courts. Financial investigations remain limited, and few cases result in asset seizures that could disrupt criminal operations.

The finance sector is still behind. Suspicious transactions often go unreported, especially across borders and via blockchain. Airlines and airports, increasingly understaffed, lack training and systems to flag high-risk travel or fake documents.

Even after rescue, survivors face stigma, trauma, and few opportunities. Reintegration is slow, and without sustained support and community acceptance, many risk being trafficked again.

The Opportunities

So, what can be done? One of the most effective ways to dismantle trafficking networks is to follow the money. Financial investigations must become central in trafficking cases. Many of the 153 Kenyan victims repatriated from Myanmar in early 2025 had paid recruiters—tracking those payments could help identify and prosecute traffickers.

Trafficking networks operate across borders, and so must the response. Cross-border investigations, intelligence sharing, and legal alignment are essential. The Civipol Better Migration Movement multiagency training in the East and Horn of Africa is one model, strengthening law enforcement and cross-border cooperation. HAART, a trainer in the Kenyan component, ensures trauma-informed, survivor-centred approaches guide investigations and prosecutions. A multi-agency effort between HAART, counter trafficking in persons secretariat, Kenya airways, State Department for Diaspora Affairs, and Law enforcement in Kenya ensured a safe repatriation early 2025  and emergency support for victims trafficked to Myanmar. 

Public-private partnerships can turn potential facilitators into allies. HAART works with Meta and TikTok to remove trafficking related content and with Kenya Airways to provide discounted flights for repatriated victims—practical efforts that can be scaled.

Prevention starts with information. Campaigns focused on digital safety, legal rights, and safe migration reduce risk. HAART’s awareness campaigns in schools, media, and community spaces promote safe migration and digital safety. A current multiagency campaign led by HAART with state actors, civil society organisations (CSOs), tech companies, and UN agencies focuses on trafficking for forced criminality and evolving recruitment tactics. Long-term impact requires empowering vulnerable communities. Through Young@HAART, the organisation supports youth with skills and opportunities to reduce risk.

Survivors play a vital role. Their lived experience brings essential insights into trafficking systems. HAART’s survivor-led programmes build trust, shape solutions, and strengthen resilience.

HAART’s approach combines survivor care, legal advocacy, law enforcement support, and community education. But real progress demands collaboration—between states, financial systems, tech platforms, and grassroots actors. Disrupting trafficking networks means raising costs and reducing opportunities for exploitation. It’s a shared challenge—one that goes beyond criminal justice and into the realm of human rights and dignity. And it's a fight we must all take on.