The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has released a report revealing that Mombasa is Kenya’s biggest human trafficking centre.
The city is followed by Nairobi, Kilifi, Kwale and Lamu counties.
The report conducted by the IOM Kenya country office between October 2017 and February 2018 revealed that 22 per cent of human trafficking victims travel to Mombasa due to tourism and in search for Middle East jobs.
"Proximity to the ocean makes the target counties key international transit points and facilitates a common destination for victims. This is particularly true for forms of sexual exploitation such as forced prostitution and child pornography because the counties are popular tourism destinations," reveals the report released on Monday.
IOM Programme Manager Etsuko Inoue said child trafficking takes lead, followed by labour exploitation, sexual exploitation and forced marriage, with the most common route used by the traffickers being Mombasa-Tana River-Garissa-Somalia.
During the World Day Against Human Trafficking in Mombasa, the civil society marched in songs, dance, and chants against human trafficking in Mombasa streets.
County Director Gender, Department of Youth, Gender, Sports and Cultural Affairs Esther Ingolo also gave her insights on human trafficking on July 29.
The unwillingness to report such cases to authorities was cited as one of the reasons that hamper the fight against human trafficking.
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