Human trafficking has become the subject of attention from the East African Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution.

The Committee led by MP Fatuma Ndangiza has issued a rallying call to regional policymakers to treat the crime with a sense of urgency because it was threatening to undo the gains made in securing peace and security.

For starters, the Committee’s assessment in February this year revealed that over the past decade human trafficking — characterised by forced labour and sexual exploitation had become the most  profitable activities of organised criminal groups worldwide.

Adult women and girls are the easiest prey to these criminal groups, which are now exploiting online platforms for their illicit operations.

In Rwanda, over the last three fiscal years 119 cases human trafficking were investigated, according Rwanda Investigation Bureau. They involved 215 victims of whom 165 were females and 59 males.

The global outlook is grimmer given that the coronavirus pandemic and climate change have both conspired to drive more people into forced labour and sexual exploitation, according to reports and experts.

From lockdowns to job losses and border closures, the pandemic fuelled trafficking in humans, hindered efforts to tackle the crime, secure justice and help survivors.

 According to a report by Reuters, lockdowns, the inability to find work as well as economic constraints made people more vulnerable to criminal activity.

In some parts of the world, climate change has occasioned floods and drought forcing workers from rural areas, which eventually leads to their exploitation in cities.  

Globally, about 25 million people are estimated to be victims of trafficking, a trade worth $150 billion-a-year, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

To put this into context, the number of people who are trafficked globally every year is nearly two times Rwanda’s population of around 13 million people.

And the trade is 15 times bigger than the size of Rwanda’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is estimated at $10.33 billion as of 2020.

Some countries in the region, including Rwanda, have developed strong laws to tackle this crime.

Some aspects need fine-tuning. For instance, the region must increase cross-border partnerships, intelligence and information sharing as well as more collaboration in research.

But, most importantly, the region and the rest of the world must address the structural inequalities that leave women, children and marginalised groups vulnerable to human trafficking.