KARUSI March 26th (ABP) – The operational and standardized procedures to combat human trafficking, particularly of children, which is beginning to take on worrying proportions in the province of Karusi, were on the agenda of a meeting which has just been held at the head of the place of that province. The latter brought together the judicial and educational administrative authorities supported by the IOM via the National Federation of Associations Engaged in the Field of Children (FENADEB).
Household poverty, the various socio-political crises which have not spared the province of Karusi, ignorance of school education, the high unemployment rate, are cited among the main causes of that phenomenon.
According to FENADEB data on human trafficking in Burundi, the province of Karusi has a rate of 28%. It is followed by the provinces of Ruyigi and Gitega.
The data provided by that collective of Burundian civil society organizations engaged in the field of childhood also reveals that 42 people, including 27 children, were arrested along the way in February 2024 while on their way to Tanzania. Yves Ishimwe, in charge of programs in that organization, proposes working in synergy until that scourge is abolished.
The chief of staff of the governor of Karusi, Mr. Innocent Ntirampeba, deplored that phenomenon, specifying that human trafficking generates unfortunate consequences including school dropout, sexual violence, reduction in the active workforce and depravity of morals.
The definition of the concept of trafficking, the understanding of the protocols for identifying victims of trafficking, the mastery of rescue and immediate assistance of victims of trafficking are the few points which were discussed during that meeting.