O C T O B E R 2 0 1 0 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 8

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

IOM Kenya Welcomes

the Passage of the

Counter Trafficking in

Persons Act

1

Kenya’s Border

Control Initiatives

Receive a boost as

IOM Hands Over a

Mobile Border Patrol

Unit to the Ministry of

Immigration and

Registration of

Persons

2

Cultural Orientation

Department Explores

New Ventures

2

IOM Organizes Out of

Country Registration

and Voting for

Sudanese Referendum

3

IOM Hosts Horn of

Africa Media Training

in Addis Ababa

3

Diverse Human

Trafficking Trends in

East African Region

Highlights Urgent

Need For Greater

Protection

4

International Organization for

Migration

Mission with Regional

Functions For Eastern Africa,

Church Road, Off Rhapta Road,

Westlands

PO Box 55040- 00200-Nairobi,

KENYA

Phone: + 254 20 4444167/174

Fax: + 254 20 4449577

E-mail: piunairobi@iom.int

Website: http://nairobi.iom.int

The Government of Kenya has signed into law new

legislation to crack down on human traffickers and

offer protection to trafficking victims in Kenya.

The law which was signed by President Mwai Kibaki

last month slaps a 30 year jail term or a hefty fine

of 30 million Kenyan Shillings (USD 370,000) on

convicted traffickers, sending a stern warning to

individuals who engage in this illegal trade.

“This legislation represents a significant new tool

for Kenya in counter-trafficking law enforcement”

says IOM’s counter trafficking expert Tal Raviv.

Although previous legislation under the 2001

Children’s Act and 2006 Sexual Offences Act

addressed the issue of trafficking, neither law

comprehensively defines the criminal nature of

human trafficking as stipulated in the UN Palermo

Protocol, signed by Kenya in 2005.

Under the new law, trafficking in persons is legally

defined and recognized for the first time, as a

distinct crime in Kenya. National counter trafficking

efforts have until now been focused on prevention

and protection of victims with limited prosecution

of traffickers within the existing legal framework.

“We hope that the new Counter Trafficking in

Persons Act will create momentum to expand

counter-trafficking initiatives in accordance with

the 2008-2013 National Plan of Action (NPA)” notes

Tal Raviv. The Action Plan includes activities such

as supporting school retention rates as a preven-

tive measure, conducting information outreach to

targeted populations, and reducing vulnerability by

supporting socio-economic development and

empowerment in vulnerable communities.

Other efforts include putting in place systems and

procedures for a national referral mechanism and

strengthening the capacity of law enforcement

agencies and the judiciary to protect victims and

prosecute offenders. In addition to supporting

drafting of the new law, IOM has also provided

technical support to the Ministry of Labour to

strengthen labour migration practices and to the

Kenya Association of Private Employment Agencies

(KAPEA) to promote ethical recruitment practices

that do not contribute to human trafficking. IOM

also provided media training to enhance

investigative and reporting capacities and encourage

coverage of human trafficking and related issues.

Other partners who contributed to the bill include

the Children’s Foundation the CRADLE, the UN

Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Attorney

General’s Office, Children’s Department in the

Ministry of Gender, the Law Reform Commission,

the Federation of Women Lawyers of Kenya (FIDA-K)

and the Kenya National Commission on Human

Rights (KNCHR).

STIFF PENALTY FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKERS AS PRESIDENT KIBAKI SIGNS THE COUNTER

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ACT

MRF NAIROBI

BULLETIN

IOM Kenya has implemented a series of information campaigns

to help create awareness on human trafficking

IOM provided technical and financial

assistance in drafting the new law as part of

the “Counter-trafficking Through Capacity

Building, Awareness Raising and Assistance

to Victims Programme” funded by the Royal

Norwegian Embassy in Kenya.

IOM has implemented a series of awareness campaigns on

human trafficking

P A G E 2 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 8

Border management initiatives in Kenya received a major boost

last month when IOM handed over a Mobile Border Control Unit to

the Government of Kenya.

The mobile unit is designed for rapid deployment of immigration

personnel and law enforcement officers to Kenya’s remote border

areas with no established border control stations and is fully

equipped with up-to-date immigration control facilities and

communication equipment. The core element of the Unit is a fully

equipped office container, mounted on a 6x4 truck and fitted out

with HF/VHF radios, forensic document examination equipment, a

mobile workstation for registering persons and vehicles, as well as

a generator for providing auxiliary power supply.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Minister for Immigration

and Registration of Persons, Otieno Kajwang, acknowledged IOM’s

efforts and collaboration with the Ministry in controlling and

ensuring the orderly movement of persons.

“Garissa and Isiolo are some of our most difficult borders to

manage due to the deteriorating security situation in Somalia, with

high numbers of people crossing the borders - mainly uncontrolled

- every day. It is important for us to know who is moving across our

borders in a timely manner and this border control unit will facili-

tate our mobility and presence in these difficult areas.”

The IOM Regional Representative for East and Central Africa Mr.

Ashraf El Nour emphasized IOM’s support to the ministry.

“Movement of people is fluid and this border control unit can now

enable immigration officials to go where needed. It is a major mile-

stone in the ministry’s effort towards effective border manage-

ment for Kenya”.

Earlier this year, IOM provided the Kenyan Ministry of Immigration

with three vehicles specially adopted for border management pur-

poses. Provision of the vehicles and the Border Control Unit are

part of overall IOM efforts to support the Ministry of Immigration

to improve management of Kenya’s porous borders.

The support was provided through IOM’s Capacity Building in Mi-

gration Management Programme, funded by the Danish Govern-

ment.

MINISTRY OF IMMIGRATION RECEIVES A BOOST IN

BORDER MANAGEMENT EFFORTS

As the cultural orientation portfolio grows, the IOM trainers in

Nairobi continue to seek new training venues for labour migrants

in Kenya, even as they spread out to train refugees in Sudan and

South Africa.

Migrants destined for the Netherlands from Sudan and South

Africa received training in Cape Town and Khartoum in October.

This training followed a training of trainers session that was

conducted for cultural orientation coordinators and senior trainers

at the Hague in April this year. The trainings targeted 14 refugees

whose files have been reviewed and accepted for resettlement in

the Netherlands. About 150 places have been allocated for these

cases that are referred to as dossier cases.

In Kenya, the cultural orientation team has carried out several

trainings in Mombasa, a venue that is now becoming a popular

training site for labour migrants destined for Saudi Arabia, Qatar,

Dubai, Afghanistan and Kuwait. This programme is implemented

through the collaborative efforts of IOM and the Youth Enterprise

and Development Fund.

The trainings were extended to Mombasa to enable labour

migrants from the coastal city of Kenya to participate and benefit

from the pre-departure cultural orientation.

Cultural orientation helps migrants acquire the information and

skills necessary to gradually adapt to a new society and culture.

MRF NAIROBI CULTURAL ORIENTATION TEAM EXPLORES

NEW VENTURES

The Mobile Border Patrol Unit is equipped with up to date immigration

control facilities

The CO Coordinator (extreme left) and participants in Khartoum, Sudan

Labour migrants destined for Dubai pose for a picture during a training session in

Mombasa in October 2010

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 8

IOM is organizing the out-of-country registration and voting (OCRV) for a referendum on 9 January 2011 to decide whether Southern

Sudan remains part of a unified Sudan or secedes.

The referendum, which will allow the people of Southern Sudan to exercise the right to self determination, is part of the Comprehen-

sive Peace Agreement of 2005 that ended more than two decades of conflict in Africa’s largest nation.

The decision follows the signing of an agreement between IOM and the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) consistent

with the specific role assigned to IOM in the Referendum Act for enfranchising Southern Sudanese abroad.

The Act, which spells out the modalities of the referendum within and outside of Sudan, states IOM’s responsibilities as “assist[ing] in

the organization and supervision of the procedures of registration, polling, sorting, counting and declaration of the results”.

The eight countries where the OCRV will take place - Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, United Kingdom and the

United States of America – have been identified by those who drafted the Act as areas outside of Sudan with significantly large

numbers of Southern Sudanese people. Nevertheless, Southern Sudanese in other countries who meet eligibility criteria can also

participate by registering and voting in one of the named countries.

Those eligible to register and vote according to the Referendum Act are Sudanese that can prove residential, indigenous or ancestral

links to Southern Sudan. Registration and voting will be carried out in neutral centres in the eight capital cities, and subject to

confirmation by the SSRC, elsewhere in those countries where there are concentrations of more than 20,000 eligible voters.

“The out-of-country voting constitutes a huge responsibility,” says IOM Chief of Mission in Sudan Jill Helke. “The Referendum is a key

step in completing the tasks set out for the six years following the signing of the peace agreement in 2005, and a historic moment in

Sudan’s history. IOM will be working closely with the SSRC, the UN and the eight host governments to enfranchise as many eligible

Southern Sudanese as possible in the given timeframe.”

IOM requires an estimated US$25 million to carry out the OCRV. The Organization, which has long supported the inclusion of migrant

communities including refugees and the displaced in democratic electoral processes in their countries of origin, has unprecedented

experience in out-of-country voting.

Since 1996, IOM has assisted eligible nationals in 74 countries to exercise their right to vote. More than 1.832 million votes have been

cast in IOM-organized out-of-country elections in mainly post-conflict situations such as for Bosnia Herzegovina, East Timor, Kosovo,

Afghanistan and Iraq.

IOM ORGANIZES OUT-OF-COUNTRY REGISTRATION AND VOTING FOR SUDANESE REFERENDUM

A group of 28 journalists from Ethiopia, Somaliland, Puntland and Djibouti in Sep-

tember attended a two-day workshop in Addis Ababa on mixed migration flows in

the Horn of Africa.

The training, which was funded by the Swiss and Japanese Governments, aimed to

further the media’s understanding of migration dynamics in the region, with a

view to promoting partnerships for informed and balanced reporting on the

realities of mixed migration.

“Participating journalists showed a tremendous interest in reporting migration

related issues,” says Odile Robert, IOM’s mixed migration programme officer.

“They voiced their commitment to work with IOM to raise awareness of the needs

of migrants and to advocate through their reporting on the dangers of irregular

migration.”

Every year, tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers make the hazardous journey from their place of origin through

Somalia, the region of Puntland state, Somaliland, Djibouti and onwards across the Gulf of Aden. These individuals, driven by political

unrest and extreme poverty face not only dangers at sea but also physical risks, harassment and discrimination during their journey

on land.

IOM HOSTS HORN OF AFRICA MEDIA TRAINING IN ADDIS ABABA

Journalists react to a presentation during the media training

in Addis Ababa

Although exact numbers of eligible voters are unknown, Kenya and Uganda

host the largest numbers of Southern Sudanese. Registration will begin on

14 November and end on 21 November. Voting in the referendum will begin

on 9 January and last seven days.

P A G E 4 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 8

An IOM cross-border assessment of human trafficking in Kenya and its neighbouring countries has revealed highly diverse trends

affecting people of all ages and both genders, and highlighting a much greater need for protection of victims.

The assessment, presented last month at an IOM regional

workshop in Kenya focusing on cross-border trafficking in the

East African region, found that although people initially may

have travelled across borders voluntarily in search of greener

pastures, they were invariably deceived by a range of actors

including family, religious acquaintances, business men and

retired prostitutes, into working in exploitative situations.

In Kenya, the assessment found evidence of Rwandan,

Tanzanian and Ugandan victims of trafficking, including

children, working in the capital, Nairobi, as domestic

labourers, in the commercial sex and hospitality sectors, and

in the agricultural sector in various locations around the

country. Victims were identified in the Kenyan-Ugandan

border town of Busia, while Tanzanian children were found

working as cattle herders and in motorbike repair shops in

Oloitoktok on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border, as well as

begging on the streets of Nairobi and Naivasha.

In Tanzania, IOM found evidence of child trafficking from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda for sexual exploitation, fishing, domestic

servitude and agricultural labour.

Adult victims were identified in the domestic sector, as well as the mining, agricultural and hospitality industries.

The IOM assessment established that Ugandan children are trafficked to all the countries in the region with Uganda also a

destination for trafficked victims from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. In addition, instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC) was found to be fuelling the influx of trafficked children to Uganda. Victims are usually transported by road using buses,

lorries and trucks. Adult victims originate from DRC, Kenya and Rwanda in the domestic, agriculture, fishing and sex industries.

Although information on Rwanda was scant, the country was identified as a source for victims destined for Italy, Norway and the

Netherlands as well as for child victims destined for Nairobi and the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa as domestic workers and for

sexual exploitation.

Rwanda is the only country in the region where the government, through

the Police and the Ministry of Gender, has established shelter and hotline

services to assist victims of gender violence including victims of trafficking.

However the lack of appropriate referral mechanisms across its border

hampers efforts to expedite the return and rehabilitation of cross-border

victims.

The findings of the assessment used by 50 senior East African government

officials, civil society partners and international experts at the IOM

organized workshop, led to the decision to create an IOM facilitated

regional network of partners as a first step to creating a functioning

referral mechanism.

Participants also called for the implementation of a region-wide 116

emergency number - an internationally recognized hotline number for

trafficked children which is currently in use in Kenya. Other recommenda-

tions included: the establishment of a centralized regional database on human trafficking to include information on traffickers that

can be shared with law enforcement agencies in the region; greater research to determine the scale of the problem in the region;

the harmonization of anti-trafficking laws in East Africa and the development of common procedures and standards on countering

human trafficking.

DIVERSE HUMAN TRAFFICKING TRENDS IN EAST AFRICAN REGION HIGHLIGHTS URGENT NEED FOR

GREATER PROTECTION

Participants of a regional counter trafficking workshop follow proceedings

The lack of referral mechanisms providing protection and support, especially for

adult victims, is a major weakness in the counter-trafficking response in the region.

The workshop brought together participants from the East Africa

Region

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 8

MRF NAIROBI WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE DONORS AND PARTNERS WHO HAVE FEATURED IN THIS

MONTH’S NEWSLETTER AND WITH WHOSE SUPPORT THESE PROGRAMMES HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE

International Organization for Migration

Mission with Regional Functions For Eastern Africa,

Church Road, Off Rhapta Road. Westlands

PO Box 55040- 00200-Nairobi, KENYA

Phone: + 254 20 4444167/174

Fax: + 254 20 4449577

E-mail: mrfnairobi@iom.int

Website: http://nairobi.iom.int