[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

KENYA (Tier 2) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of Kenya does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.  The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Kenya remained on Tier 2.  These efforts included identifying more trafficking victims; providing identified victims with direct services or referrals to NGO-provided care; and developing a bench book for judges to improve hearing of labor trafficking cases.  The government finalized guidelines for the disbursement of funds for trafficking victims from the National Assistance Trust Fund for Assisting Victims of Trafficking and used the fund to support economic reintegration for trafficking survivors.  The government regularly sought input from survivors, particularly those exploited in Gulf states, on its anti-trafficking activities.  However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.  Protection services for victims, particularly adults, remained limited and inconsistent in quality.  The government continued to rely on civil society to provide most victim services, including all shelter services, and did not provide adequate in-kind or financial support for these efforts.  Despite serious and sustained concerns of official complicity in trafficking crimes, which hindered both law enforcement efforts and victim identification, the government did not report any law enforcement action against allegedly complicit officials.  Government efforts to protect Kenyan trafficking victims abroad, particularly migrant workers in Gulf countries, remained limited, and the government did not report any efforts to hold fraudulent recruitment agencies criminally accountable for trafficking crimes.

Prioritized Recommendations

Amend the anti-trafficking law to remove sentencing provisions that allow fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking offenses.

Significantly increase the availability of short-term shelter, long-term housing, and specialized services for all trafficking victims – particularly adult males, boys, Kenyan migrant workers returning from overseas, and victims identified in rural and coastal areas – including by partnering with and allocating increased funding to NGOs that provide victim care.

Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, which should involve significant prison terms.

Increase protections for Kenyan trafficking victims exploited abroad, including by providing pre-departure training to all migrant workers, training Kenyan embassy staff to identify and assist victims, negotiating additional bilateral labor agreements with destination countries that include strong protections for victims, and assigning additional labor attachés to Kenyan embassies to monitor migrants’ working conditions abroad.

Consistently enforce strong regulations and oversight of labor recruitment agencies, including by eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers, holding fraudulent labor recruiters criminally accountable, and training inspectors to report potential violations to the appropriate officials.

Fully implement the NRM by encouraging law enforcement officials to formally refer trafficking victims for assistance and ensuring protection services are available for all victims, including adults, foreign nationals, and Kenyans exploited abroad.

Systematically and proactively identify trafficking victims by screening vulnerable populations – such as refugees, asylum-seekers, individuals in commercial sex, Kenyan migrant workers returning from overseas, and all foreign national workers, including those from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Cuba – for trafficking indicators and refer all trafficking victims to appropriate services.

Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Expand training to all levels of the government, specifically to law enforcement personnel and local authorities in rural and coastal regions, on identifying, investigating, and managing trafficking cases.

Continue to increase victim-witness assistance for victims participating in the criminal justice process to prevent re-traumatization.

Finalize, adopt, and allocate funding to implement an updated NAP to combat trafficking.

Develop a comprehensive and centralized database on trafficking crimes to improve interagency coordination and accurately report anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts and victim identification statistic.