The Ugandan police in collaboration with a non-governmental organization, on Thursday, September 16, rescued 38 victims of human trafficking in Kenya.
Charles Twiine, Uganda's Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) spokesperson told an international media agency that his detectives were able to conduct a rescue mission in conjunction with “Make a Child Smile” - a local NGO.
The spokesperson noted that the victims were taken to a hotel at the border town of Busia where they are being housed.
“The victims who are 31 females and 7 males all Ugandans are at Busia, housed in a hotel pending reintegration to their respective homes.” Twiine's statement read in part.
According to the Uganda immigration department, human trafficking is a prevalent crime in Uganda.
They noted that the country was increasingly being used as a transit route by traffickers who promise to take people to work in the Middle East.
The challenge is shared across other Eastern African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
In the past month, two Tanzanians were charged with sneaking their compatriots into Nairobi for exploitation through commercial begging.
In its effort to prevent trafficking, the government, in partnership with an NGO, continued to operate a 24-hour hotline to report child abuse and exploitation, including child trafficking.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) assured that the National Police Service will also have a direct link for reporting children abuse cases by sending in images and videos.
Cases of human trafficking have become rampant in the last few years in Kenya, with detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) rescuing eight Eritreans who sneaked into Asia through Kenya in 2019.
Interpol was conducting operations on counter-terrorism, money laundering, carjacking, drug and human trafficking, smuggling of weapons, poaching and piracy in East Africa, dubbed Operation Simba.
However, the International Criminal Police Organization was forced to cancel its operation due to the coronavirus outbreak.
