INTERNATIONAL NEWS KENYA’S TICKING BOMB AS UNEMPLOYED YOUTH LURED INTO TRAFFICKERS’ DENS Young people in Nairobi and Kenya’s coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking into Somalia. Despite ongoing instability in the horn of Africa nation, many young people are lured with promises of opportunities to work in humanitarian NGOs and as teachers and translators. BY JOYCE CHIMBI AHMED BAKARI’S ILL-FATED JOURNEY to ‘greener pastures’ started with a social media private message from a stranger back in 2017. The message said an international NGO was recruiting teachers and translators to work in Somalia. “I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communication in 2013. Other than for the odd job here and there, I was mostly unemployed,” Bakari says. “My mother raised five of us single-handedly, and I was her hope. Taking loans to put me through university, but it was all amounting to nothing.” With a starting salary of $500 and additional food and housing allowances, Bakari had no dilemma – he was going to Somalia. Growing up in Lamu, a small group of islands situated on Kenya’s northern coastline, he knew that Somalia was not far from the border, and the journey there was uneventful. Upon arrival in Somalia, he says, the unexpected happened. Bakari was taken to a house where he cooked and cleaned for between 10 to 20 men – without pay. “I do not know what was going on in that house because they would come in and go at all hours. I lived under lock and key TRAFFICKERS TARGET UNEMPLOYED YOUTH IN KENYA. WHILE THE GOVERNMENT IS WORKING TO COMBAT THIS CRIME, COVID-19 IMPACTED THEIR EFFORTS. HERE A POLICE OFFICER IS IN DISCUSSION WITH A COMMUNITY POLICING COMMITTEE THAT WORKS TOGETHER TO COMBAT CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, LIKE TRAFFICKING. CREDIT: JOYCE CHIMBI/IPS FREE HOT MEALS Capitol Hill Community Services at Trinity Church 1820 Broadway HOURS Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 11:45 – 12:30 11:45 – 12:30 closed 11:45 – 12:30 11:45 – 12:30 Closed on National Holidays YOU ARE WELCOME HERE 10 DENVER VOICE May 2022 for one year. One day there was a disagreement among them, and a fight broke out. During the chaos, I found my chance to leave the house,” he recounts. “I remained in Somalia for another six weeks until somebody helped me get to the Dadaab border. I crossed over into Kenya like a refugee because I was afraid of telling my story.” Young people in Nairobi and Kenya’s coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking into Somalia. Despite ongoing instability in the horn of Africa nation, many young people are lured with promises of opportunities to work in humanitarian NGOs and as teachers and translators. Bakari, who now runs an eatery in Mombasa, says criminal groups are particularly interested in young people who can speak Arabic, Swahili, English, and Somali. “Criminals take advantage of historical marginalization of communities in the coastal region, very high youth unemployment rates, and poverty. They also use radical Islamic teachings to lure young and desperate minds,” says Abubakar Mahmud, an activist against human trafficking. “There was a time when the Pwani si Kenya (Swahili for ‘coastal region is not Kenya’) was gaining traction as a backlash campaign against the national government. These are the emotions that terror groups are happy to stir and exploit,” Mahmud says, adding they also take advantage of the high levels of youth unemployment. According to the most recent census released in 2020, youth unemployment is a serious issue in Kenya. More than a third of Kenyan youth aged 18 to 34 years are unemployed, and the situation has worsened since COVID-19. Kenya National Crime Research Centre says this East
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