Patricia Okello, Mercy Kithaka and Elizabeth Mbuka at Texas Annex Hotel in Busia on Wednesday. [Photo/Busia County Government]
Most human trafficking victims in Western Kenya are vulnerable groups. This is according to Elizabeth Mbuka, from the Counter Trafficking in Persons Secretariat at the Ministry of East African Community Labour and Social Protection.
Speaking during a workshop to disseminate the National Referral Mechanism on assisting victims of human trafficking at Texas Annex Hotel in Busia, she said Busia County is at the border and many cases of human trafficking into and out of the county are prone in the region.
"Such groups go to towns like Nairobi, Mombasa, and Malindi in search of jobs and good living. Most of them especially end up in domestic work whereby they are actually exploited or never paid for work done. When it comes to the point of being exploited then it means you have been trafficked because you are not getting the value of what you have been promised to do," she said, adding that some children end up joining militia groups or drug peddlers.
Mbuka said the stakeholders agreed that there is the need for a baseline survey to come up with the statistics for Busia and other border towns to know the number of people who are trafficked out of the Country so as to be categorized as priority county.
She warned families against giving their children to strangers in the form that they are going to will be educated or assisted.
"That type of assistance you will not know. It is the child who will suffer and may not be able to communicate with their parents. Parents should visit their children who are not under their custody frequently and the custodian of such children should allow them to visit their homes frequently," she said on Wednesday.
Busia County Chief Officers for Culture, Sports and Social Services Patricia Okello said there is need to include Sub County and Ward Administrators to work with their counterparts in the national government to sensitize and involvement of the communities.
"There is need to form County advisory committees at the border points and existing advisory committees at the border points be strengthened," she said.
Stakeholders in attendance were from Busia Kenya and Uganda.
Uganda delegation was led by Assistant Inspector of Police in charge of Family Protection Unit, Rose Atim. Others present included County Director for Children's Services Esther Wasige, Registrar of Persons Evelyn Mandi and Mercy Kithaka from Counter trafficking secretariat.