Police detain 54 foreigners in illegal entry, probe human trafficking links
Kenyan police detained 54 foreigners at Kibish and Bungoma, including Ethiopians, Eritreans and Somalis, in suspected human trafficking cases, highlighting persistent gaps in Kenya’s anti-trafficking response.
Police have detained 54 foreigners as they attempted to cross into the country illegally.
The detainees, who include 44 Ethiopians and Eritreans, were detained in a dramatic incident at the Kibish border as they tried to cross to Kenya.
10 Somalis who were nabbed in Kanduyi, Bungoma County, while being transported in a saloon car from Uganda are being investigated over possible links to human trafficking.
In the first incident at Kibish, police said the group had crossed the border and was hiding in a bush in the Kaguta area, prompting them to call for reinforcement from Ethiopian authorities to detain them.
They 44 spent their night at the Kibish police station under heavy guard ahead of their scheduled repatriation.
At the same time, police said the 10 Somalis who were arrested alongside a driver who was allegedly trafficking them in a saloon car were found lacking identification documents.
They claimed to have come from a refugee camp in Uganda and were heading to Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
Cases of human trafficking have continued to be rampant in the country, with many using Kenya as a source, destination or transit country in their pursuits for better lives abroad.
Sadly, the most prevalent forms of trafficking in Kenya are for labour and sexual exploitation.
Despite efforts, human trafficking in Kenya is worsened by a lack of government-run shelters, a major setback in offering direct assistance to victims of trafficking, as well as inadequate access to accurate, timely and reliable data on trafficking in persons.
This year's annual US human trafficking report says that police officers continued to accept bribes to warn traffickers of impending operations and investigations, particularly along the coast, where perpetrators sometimes escape conviction by bribing court officials, intimidating or paying off witnesses.
"Observers alleged criminal syndicates colluded with various law enforcement and immigration departments, including those at border checkpoints and airports, to transport trafficking victims into and within Kenya. Traffickers continued to easily obtain fraudulent identity documents used to facilitate trafficking crimes from complicit officials," the report indicated.
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