Update by:Social Affairs Department

African Union Commission (AUC)Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION: DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS

Trafficking in Human Beings & Smuggling of Migrants

An African Perspective

2AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION: DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS

People tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from home/ country, forced to work on exploitative terms.

Victims used in a variety of situations:prostitution, forced labor, involuntary servitude,

including the sale of infants for adoption and trafficking in body parts.

Migrant smuggling refers to facilitating illegal entry of a person into a State

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

3AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION: DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS

SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS•As border controls have improved, migrants deterred and

are diverted into the hands of smugglers

•Highly profitable business

•Modus operandi of migrant smugglers is diverse and

constantly changing, often dangerous

•Gaps in knowledge about migrant smuggling highlight need

for research and analysis

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WHY THE GROWTH IN TRAFFICKING AND SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS?

•Push factors:IgnoranceExposure to “outside world”Poverty

•Pull factors:Demand for cheap labour Demand for commercial sexual exploitation.

•Negative consequences do not trickle back

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• 80 million or 41% African children 5-14 years old work

• ILO: 200,000 to 300,000 children trafficked and/or smuggled each year in West &Central Africa

• UNICEF: 10,000 to 15,000 children work on cocoa plantations in Côte d’Ivoire, price ±$340 pp

• UNICEF: 25,000 children working in Gabon

• IOM: Ethiopian girls trafficked/smuggled to Middle East to work as domestic servants

CHILDREN – OUR FUTURE

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• Africa has source, transit and destination countries for commercial sexual exploitation

• Controlled by organised criminal gangs from Bulgaria, Russia, Thailand, China and Nigeria

• ILO: Child prostitution increasingProblem in TanzaniaThe Gambia, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa

are becoming increasingly known as destinations for sex tourists.

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION INCREASING

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• Increased vulnerability due to:civil unrestinternal armed conflict natural disasters

• Human Rights Watch estimates over 120,000 children used in armed conflicts in Africa.

• All sides involved in abductions, used as:portersforced labourers sex slaves

CONFLICT ZONES

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WHY TRAFFICKING AND SMUGGLING

•UN estimates are TIP and smuggling generate $7 to $10 billion p/a

•Can provide repeated income

•Minimal risks

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The impact of trafficking

• Violating human rights

• Social exclusion and crime

• Undermining public health

• Undermining government authority

• Sustaining illicit activities and organised crime

• Eroding human capital

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WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

•Legislation

•Capacity building

•Shelters

•State programmes to combat human trafficking and

smuggling in migrants

•Improve cooperation

•Contact points or units

•Establish databases

11AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION: DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS

Thank you for your attention