NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 23 — Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga has called for stronger cross-border cooperation among countries in the Horn of Africa to combat increasingly sophisticated human trafficking and migrant smuggling networks, warning that no single nation can effectively tackle the crimes alone.
Speaking at the opening of the Regional Conference on Counter-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Nairobi, Ingonga said criminal syndicates are exploiting poverty, conflict, displacement, and irregular migration routes to traffic vulnerable people across the region.
“The broad regional composition of this conference is itself a testament to the recognition that trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants are not isolated national concerns, but are transnational organised crimes that demand a coordinated, cross-border response,” he said.
The three-day conference has brought together delegates from Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan under Phase IV of the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The East and Horn of Africa region remains a major source, transit, and destination corridor for victims of trafficking, with criminal networks targeting men, women, and children for forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, forced begging, and other forms of abuse.
Ingonga noted that the growing use of digital platforms by traffickers and the ease of moving across porous borders have made detection and disruption of the criminal networks increasingly difficult.
He said efforts to address the menace must be anchored on four pillars — prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership.
“An effective response to trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants must rest on four mutually reinforcing pillars: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership,” he said.
Ingonga warned that trafficking syndicates continue to exploit weak institutions, poverty, displacement, and lack of public awareness to recruit and transport victims across borders for exploitation.
He urged criminal justice agencies across the region to deepen cooperation through intelligence sharing, joint investigations, and harmonized prosecution strategies to dismantle the networks.
“As trafficking syndicates evolve, exploiting digital platforms, crossing borders and laundering proceeds of crime, our prosecutorial response must keep pace,” he said.
The DPP highlighted ongoing collaboration between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and UNODC, which has supported specialized training for prosecutors and the development of Standard Operating Procedures for investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases.
Participants at the conference include representatives from UNODC, the Kenya Financial Reporting Centre, Egypt Financial Intelligence Unit, South Sudan Financial Intelligence Unit, Djibouti National Financial Intelligence Agency, Kenya Airports Authority, Ethiopia Airport Authority, Kenya Airways, Somalia Civil Aviation Authority, and Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.
UNODC Regional Representative Ali Elbereir and Associate Programme Management Officer Solomon Masitsa are among senior officials attending the meeting.
The conference is expected to produce practical recommendations aimed at enhancing intelligence-sharing mechanisms, strengthening cross-border investigations, and improving the region’s collective capacity to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
