A session on the fight against human trafficking with the national police
On 13 July 2022, Together for Development-Birashoboka organized an awareness raising session for religious leaders and the police force working in the municipality of Bujumbura in Burundi. The session took place at the Swedish mission in Bujumbura on 13 July 2022 from 9:00 a.m to 14:00 p.m
The opening of this exchange and information session was made by the envoy of the Mayor of the City of Bujumbura, the person in charge of social and cultural affairs in the Bujumbura City. He thank the TD-Birashoboka Association and his partner for the good initiative to organize this activity dedicated to the Fight against Human Trafficking: Monitoring of Transits. In his speech, he said that the Mayor of Bujumbura supports with his energy the fight against human trafficking.
The guests were:
- The leaders of local churches
- The different police forces in Bujumbura City Hall
- And the members of TD-Birashoboka plus the staff and personnel of the project of Fight against Human Trafficking: Surveillance of Transits
- Officials from the Bujumbura City Council
- The coordinator of the gender and women’s promotion unit in the Ministry of National Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender.
The National Director of Td-Birashoboka presented the vision, mission and objectives of the Anti-Human Trafficking Project in its Transits Monitoring strategy and how it works to intercept victims and traffickers.
The Project Manager of the Anti-Human Trafficking Project: Transit Monitoring enlightened the participants on what human trafficking and its various forms are here in Burundi and elsewhere in the world
The root causes of trafficking in Burundi are
– Unemployment
– Lack of affection for children
– Poverty of households
- After explaining to the participants the strategy to fight against human trafficking through transit monitoring, Mr. Ephraim Ngendakuriyo, Director of TD-Birashoboka urged the Migration and Security Police and the police in general to work together to intercept victims and traffickers.
During the question and answer session, several speakers thanked Together for Development-Birashoboka and partners for this initiative and wished to make a great diffusion and sensitization of the different leaders all over the country.
This seminar of 13 July 2020 had immediate impacts on the collaboration with the police because after a few days, the police signaled to the Project Manager, Me Prime Mbarubukeye, that they had just arrested two children at the station car of Kinindo of vehicles going to the south of Burundi on the Kinindo market in the Commune of Muha, in the city of Bujumbura, which leads to Rumonge in south of Burundi not far of Tanzania, where the children said they had someone who promised them work/job. All the Children are minors. The monitors immediately went down to the place and intercepted the two children and the next day, on 19th July 2022, the children were returned to their home in the North of Burundi in the Commune of Muhanga by one of the Monitors, Charles Hakizimana. Before we sent them back home, the two children passed the night at one of the monitors, Me Heroine.
These children have been returned at their home and are now in hands of their parents. What is needed is to be followed and help their parents to improve the way they live but supporting them to help them to go back to school and get enough food and daily needs like clothes.
We are very grateful to Love Justice International who funded this seminar on 13 July 2022 to sensitize local church leaders and the police.