The Second Largest Criminal Enterprise in the World is taking root in Kenya and the true size of this problem is immeasurable.
Detectives from the Transnational Organized Crime have recently raided private homes, brothels and safe houses run by human trafficking gangs and rescued thousands of victims.
On a global scale, human trafficking is estimated to be a $32 BILLION (Sh3.2trillion) business and tied with the sales of arms as the second largest criminal enterprise worldwide. Drug dealing remains the largest criminal enterprise.
Kenya is striving to end human trafficking, but government action remains inadequate in several respects, the US State Department has said.
In its annual Trafficking in-person report, the US has assigned Kenya the ‘Tier 2’ category for a third consecutive year.
The ranking means the country has fallen short of American standards but has been found to be making “significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.”
Corruption has also hampered the fight against trafficking, with some government officials suspected of being complicit in the vice.
In December eight Pakistani women were flown into the country through the assistance of Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa.
The belly dancers were arrested at Balle Balle Club in Parklands, Nairobi, on January 1. They were deported on January 4 for violating terms of the temporary passes that allowed them into Kenya with the lawyer representing the eight Pakistani girls at the centre of a human trafficking probe pleading with the court to fine two ministers to pay them $90,000 (Sh9,171,900).
Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo says bringing perpetrators to book is a challenge since they are mostly well-connected and prepared to fight any person or organisation that can expose them.
“Those behind human trafficking are nameless. Those apprehended are always the small fish, not the masterminds,” Ms Odhiambo said.
“The United Nations estimates that human trafficking has victimised 21 million men, women and children around the world. Between 600,000 and 800,000 victims are trafficked across borders globally each year.”According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 79 per cent of human trafficking falls in the category of sexual exploitation, followed by forced labour at 18 per cent,” he said.
Organized crime revenues are very difficult to estimate, as criminals often spend a significant amount of time trying to hide what they make. Also, “organized crime” is a loosely defined concept. Anything from a vast drug smuggling ring to a handful of car thieves can be classified as organized crime groups, and the cohesiveness of organized crime organizations around the world varies widely.