A campaign has been launched against human trafficking in Kilifi county.

This is after it emerged that the cases of human trafficking are on the rise, exposing the victims to physical and psychological torture.

According to officials, some of the victims of human trafficking are not even aware that they are being trafficked to other countries.

They are lured with employment opportunities, especially in the Middle East, with little information about what they will go through.

Others are trafficked in Malindi, which is a renowned tourist resort town, and end up suffering psychologically after going through pains they never suspected.

Speaking during a community-based organisations leaders sensitisation session organised by Azad, Tina Tatu said the aim is to enlighten youth, especially girls about the dangers of human trafficking.

Azad is at the forefront of campaigning against human trafficking.

Tatu said most of those trafficked never knew and at times they go through psychological torture.

“Azad is an organisation which deals with human trafficking victims. It helps them by doing outreaches and reaching out to communities,” she said.

Tatu said they were pushed to act by the fact that Malindi was among the hotspots for human trafficking because it is a tourist destination.

“People think that human trafficking is just about going to Dubai or other countries, having organs removed but no; at times it is psychological, that’s why we decided to come to Malindi and create awareness,” she said.

Sally Riaz, a victim of human trafficking, said she was lured to travel to the Middle East with promises of getting good money.

Little did she know that life there required one to stay indoors without any freedom the way she lives in her motherland.

Once there, she said she was psychologically tortured and for two years she had to persevere but since then has never thought of going back to the Middle East.

“I have today learnt that even me at times I was trafficked because I was brainwashed and accepted to go abroad to work. I suffered psychologically and that was a violation of human rights. For example, I could not even go to a supermarket unless accompanied by my employer,” he said.

From December 2019 to December 2021 Riaz stayed in the foreign country as a house girl but did not have any freedom of movement, which affected her.

Riaz said upon returning home she was scared of people including her own family members due to the psychological torture she had gone through.

“Whenever I heard my cousin or neighbour come to greet me, I would lock myself in my room. It took me a while before I came back to the real old me,” she said.

She said she was comfortable speaking to people on phone or via video call but physically it took her one year to return to normal.

Riaz advised those interested in travelling to the Middle East or anywhere else abroad to go there as professionals.

Racheal Osabo, another victim, said she was in Saudi Arabia unwillingly as she had been promised a job as a salon in Turkey.

While there she said she received so many threats to the point that she demanded to return home after only three months.

Life became unbearable and she had to use the money she got to travel back home and has never thought of going back there.

“I paid my own air ticket from the cash that I was being given for the three months and I came back home to Malindi,” she said.

Since 2014 Osabo said she has never thought of going back to the Middle East because of the death threats she received.

“Since that day I said I’d rather die in my home country than go to Saudi Arabia,” she said.

Osabo said at Azad they receive a lot of training, which enlightens them on how to live after undergoing such trafficking.

She said there are therapies, yoga, training on how to write proposals of business plans to help one start a business.

Her advice is people should first do research before going to the Middle East as there are many fake agencies.

Esther Gamema from the LIT initiative said most people do not know that they are victims of human trafficking despite the fact that they are psychologically trafficked.

She said Azad deals with victims of human trafficking but also refers men to other organisations that deal with human trafficking.

Regina Joshua, a member of the Azad group, thanked Maono Hub Centre for offering the space for youth, including the victims of trafficking, who undergo counselling for free at the centre.

“We would like victims of trafficking to come out instead of hiding indoors because we have heard cases of many people suffering and fearing to come out to speak out what they have gone through,” she said.

Ezekiel Mwanje from the Kilifi Youth Assembly called on the county, national government and other stakeholders to come in and help victims of human trafficking as many were suffering.

Christophe Kariuki, the manager of Maono Hub, thanked Azad for sensitizing CBO leaders on the dangers of human trafficking.