Bujumbura – In its 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TiP) Report released Thursday (1 July), the United States Department of State announced that Burundi has made significant strides in the combat against human trafficking.

The 2021 report indicates Burundi has successfully moved from Tier 3 to Tier 2 Watch List classification. Burundi is now among the countries whose governments made considerable efforts to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of TiP, although they do not yet fully comply with minimum standards. This is the first time that Burundi moves up this ranking. 

According to the report, Burundi is a source country for trafficked persons, where traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims internally, as well as Burundians from abroad. Adults and children can be coerced into forced labour, domestic servitude, prostitution, and other forms of sexual exploitation throughout the region and globally. IOM data sources show that over 1,000 victims of human trafficking have been identified and assisted in Burundi since 2017.

Over the past year, the Government of Burundi has significantly increased investigations and prosecutions of suspected trafficking offenses, convicted traffickers, and referred victims for assistance. The country has also institutionalized anti-trafficking training for law enforcement, prosecutors and judicial officials.

Additionally, the Government of Burundi has developed and implemented the country’s first-ever national data collection system on law enforcement’s efforts to combat human trafficking and trained prosecutors, judicial officials and law enforcement on its use. This advancement was made possible due to the government’s commitment and the leadership of the Ad Hoc Inter-Ministerial Counter-Trafficking Committee. They were supported by IOM, other UN agencies, and civil society organizations, including international non-governmental organizations.

“This change in ranking reflects the real progress made recently. I would like to congratulate the Government of Burundi and all counter-trafficking actors involved who have made tremendous efforts to reach the Tier 2 Watch List classification,” says Vijaya Souri, Chief of Mission for IOM Burundi.

Since July 2019, IOM Burundi has been engaged in a variety of initiatives to strengthen government capacity to combat TiP, thanks to generous support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States Agency for International Development.

Despite these gains, much remains to be done to further enhance prevention, protection, and prosecution in the country. To that end, IOM is collaborating with the Government of Burundi and its Counter-Trafficking Committee to finalize standard operating procedures and develop a national referral mechanism to identify and refer victims to appropriate services.

“We look forward to continuing our collective work to assist and protect as many victims of human trafficking and vulnerable migrants as possible from the devastating impact TiP can have, as well as to undertake comprehensive prevention measures through livelihood options and support for law enforcement,” adds Souri.

CONTACT

Triffin Ntore, IOM Burundi, tntore@iom.int, Tel +257 75 150 145

Lauriane Wolfe, IOM Burundi, lwolfe@iom.int, Tel +257 79 999 735

IOM Burundi’s press releases are available on www.reliefweb.int.