This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
On August 17, 2019, Burundi signed a $3 million deal with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to combat human trafficking in the next three years.
The Burundi Counter-Trafficking 2019-2022 project aims to tackle trafficking in persons (TiP) in the country, which has been plagued by a precarious security situation that has created opportunities for human traffickers to target vulnerable people.
According to the US Trafficking in Persons Report, Burundi is a source country for trafficked persons, with an estimated 346,000 nationals living as refugees in neighboring countries and 130,000 people internally displaced.
Adults and children are coerced into forced labor, domestic servitude, prostitution, and other forms of sexual exploitation throughout East Africa and elsewhere in the world.
The IOM's three-year project, funded by the Netherlands, will not only help combat migrant smuggling but also improve the security of communities affected by human trafficking and provide support to victims of trafficking.
“Trafficking in persons is a subject that requires all of us to find a solution where ordinary people find themselves in a nightmare when they believed they would start a promising phase of their lives,” said Caecilia Wijgers, Netherlands ambassador to Burundi.
The partnership between IOM and the Burundian government will serve as a coordination mechanism for government ministries, linking them to the national police and civil society to implement anti-trafficking measures.
