UMVA has learned that a major call to action has been issued to combat the increasingly sophisticated human trafficking and migrant smuggling networks plaguing the Horn of Africa, with a top official warning that no single nation can effectively tackle these crimes alone.
The warning came from Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga, who emphasized that criminal syndicates are exploiting poverty, conflict, displacement, and irregular migration routes to traffic vulnerable people across the region, making cross-border cooperation essential to combat these crimes.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the East and Horn of Africa region remains a major source, transit, and destination corridor for victims of trafficking, with criminal networks targeting men, women, and children for forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, forced begging, and other forms of abuse, highlighting the need for a coordinated response.
Ingonga noted that the growing use of digital platforms by traffickers and the ease of moving across porous borders have made detection and disruption of the criminal networks increasingly difficult, underscoring the need for a multi-faceted approach to address the menace, anchored on four pillars — prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that efforts to address human trafficking and migrant smuggling must rest on these four mutually reinforcing pillars, with Ingonga urging criminal justice agencies across the region to deepen cooperation through intelligence sharing, joint investigations, and harmonized prosecution strategies to dismantle the networks.
The conference, which has brought together delegates from several countries in the region, is expected to produce practical recommendations aimed at enhancing intelligence-sharing mechanisms, strengthening cross-border investigations, and improving the region’s collective capacity to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling, marking a significant step towards a more coordinated response.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that ongoing collaboration between law enforcement agencies and international organizations has supported specialized training for prosecutors and the development of Standard Operating Procedures for investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases, a crucial step towards building capacity to combat these crimes.
In a development reported by UMVA, the conference has highlighted the need for continued cooperation and information sharing among countries in the region to stay ahead of the evolving trafficking syndicates, which are increasingly exploiting digital platforms and crossing borders to launder proceeds of crime.
