African Woman and Child Feature Service

Ali Kheir recalls the trip from Kismayu, Somalia to Nairobi like it happened juts a few hours ago. He was chasing a dream and nothing was going to stand in his way to realising it. It is a trip that started very far and was covered through many hardships, but for Kheir the ultimate goal that was his final destination gave him the power not to give up but to keep pushing as every day shortened the journey with a few kilometres.

The trip

And it was with a sigh of relief that he landed in Nairobi. Once he got to the city centre, Kheir was lucky to find accommodation with a distant relative while establishing contacts with brokers who would help him get Kenyan identity card and passport.

“I got the documents within one month and the brokers connected us to one of their networks that ferries people to Europe through Eastern European countries like Czech Republic and Russia,” explains Kheir.

“The documents included an admission for a college in Russia. We were taken through the airport without any questions. We paid handsomely through our brothers in Norway and Sweden. We were taken to Russia from where we were able to join our brothers.”

Kheir, however, remembers the journey to Nairobi with shudder. He was in a group of ten youth who included three women when they were assembled outside Kismayu for the journey.

“I paid about $4,000 just to get to Nairobi. I joined the others a few kilometres outside Kismayu. I did not know them nor where they came from but I later came to learn as we progressed with the journey that some of them came from as far as Mogadishu and Marka in Somalia,” recalls Kheir.

They were forced to trek about 40 kilometres before they reached a place called Hara Hara on the Kenyan-Somalia border.

In Hara Hara, the team was joined by some guides in the border town whose work was to lead them through undesignated routes to avoid the Liboi border point where security forces are based.

Kheir says: “I could not withstand the 40 kilometre walk as it was hot and we were taken through a field with shrubs to an area outside Liboi town. From there we were ferried by a Land Rover through unmarked roads to Garissa town.”

“We were taken through the wilderness in a car and the journey took six hours. After that we were forced to walk through the bush for about 50 kilometres. The women in the group lost the energy to walk and the traffickers started beating them,” reveals Kheir, adding that one trafficker remained behind with one of the ladies and they could hear her cry.

“We never bothered to go back and find out what had happened to her but later on when we reached a village called Saretha, we asked her what happened. She said that she had been beaten and raped.”

They left the village by bus from Daadab to Garissa. On the way at a check point, security ignored asking for identity cards but searched the bus for arms. They continued with their journey to Garissa where they were taken to a village away from town to rest while arrangementswere being made on how to transport them to Nairobi.

At the village they were ordered to pack their bags and leave by a taxi which was hired to take them across the Tana River Bridge where security screens all passengers bound for Nairobi.

They were taken by taxi to an area outside Garissa from where they boarded a bus to another town and eventually to Nairobi.

“We passed through police barriers but we were asked nothing. I thought the money we paid for buying our way was facilitating that,” recalls Kheir.

Big dreams

Dreams of decent living as well as good paying jobs and working conditions have gripped the lives of many young people from Somalia, Ethiopia as well as northern Kenya. Youth aged between 20 to 40 years are being lured with promises of relocation to the developed world and other countries within the region like South Africa.

The human trafficking ring that is popular in northern Kenya has seen youth coming from as far as Ethiopia and Somalia subscribing to the illegal and dangerous activity that involves huge resources. Poor families are making great sacrifices so that their sons and daughters can get out of the poverty cycle and fend for them from the Diaspora.

However, while many youth leave home dreaming big, the dreams have ended up turning into nightmares and harrowing tales for the young men and women as they travel from various destinations to the capital city of Nairobi and Mombasa.

The human trafficking ring lure the youth with an easy ride to the destination. The traffickers have a strong network that includes bribing the Kenyan security forces so that they can easily pass through the various check points in northern Kenya to Garissa and finally to big cities like Nairobi and Mombasa before reaching the lucrative final destination.

Once they reach Garissa town, the youth are taken by taxi away from security check points in Tana River Bridge. At times they are taken across the Tana River by canoe, then they trek to the main road to board a Nairobi bound bus.

While this sounds like a normal journey, it is actually a multi-million business. The industry is swarming with greedy individuals who want to make quick money at the expense of young poor people living in the remote poverty stricken villages.

The human trafficking ring is so discreet. It involves an underground network that starts from major towns in Somalia and Ethiopia to Garissa town, Nairobi and Mombasa. The traffickers are mobile with no permanent addresses. They are very careful in their operations and leave no tracks behind lest they get trapped or fall into a security dragnet.

Extortion

Just like Kheir, Mulki Nuno brings to fore the other side of human trafficking after she was abandoned in Garissa and all her belongings and valuables like gold and money taken away by the smugglers.

Nuno recalls: “I was trafficked from Bardera area of Somalia and taken through various routes to Garissa. I was raped repeatedly and later when we reached near Garissa the trafficker ordered me to communicate with my parents so that they can send more money. They took about $13,000 from me and this was all the only money my parents had as they sold their land and livestock to enable me take the trip.”

She adds: “I remember being gang raped by two traffickers while the people who were taking the trip with me watched. I was crying and unable to walk.”

When they were unable to give more money, the trafficker left her and others in Garissa town. Those who got support from their relatives were able to make it to Nairobi. She was left stranded as her parents were unable to send more money.

Nuno was lucky to find a good Samaritan who has accommodated her since January last year to date. “I am lucky I got someone here in Garissa who accommodated me after hearing of my tribulations. I cannot go back to Somalia as my parents sold all their property to send me to Norway. Even if an opportunity comes I will not go back home as it will be a shame for me to take all my parent property and go back again to be a burden to them.”

Traffickers use Garissa town as the conduit to other destinations in Kenya. They prefer to ferry Somali youth from Ethiopia, Northern Kenya and Somalia. They argue that security personnel are not able to differentiate Somalis from Kenya with those from neighbouring countries.

The traffickers do not like ferrying Ethiopian refugees from the Oromo and Amhara through the said route as it raises suspicion from security officials.

Trafficking is not an easy process. The traffickers first interview their customers (the youths) with view of knowing their dreams, where they intend to relocate and how much they are ready to pay. The traffickers prefer dealing with customers who have relatives in Europe, USA or Australia. With this they make extra cash by calling the relative faking arrests and demanding money.

Customers are interviewed and closely monitored by the trafficker for some weeks before the journey starts. They are taken by the trafficker through a simple induction and orientation on some basic Kiswahili so that they can use it on the way when approached by Kenyan police. Some of the basic questions they have learnt to answer include the ones inquiring about identity cards, names, destination, where they stay in or out of Garissa.

High fees

Once they have gone through orientation, they choose a destination in Europe or South Africa. The destination will be determined by the amount a customer will indicate they are able to pay as fee for the trafficker, food expenses and money to buy their way in case they are arrested.

The fees range from $13,000 to Europe via major destinations like Nairobi and $7,000 for those heading to South Africa via Nairobi, Mombasa, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Trafficking is divided between those headed for Europe and South Africa as well as those destined for local towns within Kenya but may be plotting for other destinations in Europe or America. Once the youth get to Nairobi, they stay with relatives as they await Kenyan identity cards and passports that will enable them to travel. However, Garissa residents claimed that the human smuggling has decreased due to increased surveillance along the border over threats from al-Shabaab insurgents controlling Dobley areas along the Kenyan/Somalia border.

As residents in Garissa complained of government involvement in the ring, a senior police officer based in Garissa was arrested a few months ago ferrying Somali refugees in the official police vehicle before being intercepted by an administration police officer manning the Tana River Security check point. The officer was charged with trafficking people and his case is before Garissa magistrate court.

This article was originally published in the Reject Online Issue 34