Human smugglers turn eastern Kenya into a hub

They sneak Ethiopians into Kenya at the Moyale border and transport them to Nairobi via Isiolo. But the final destination is always in South Africa or Europe, writes ALI ABDI

Amid promises of high life in South Africa, Estepheno Haile, an Ethiopian, sold all his earthly possession to raise money to pay smugglers to take him to South Africa.

The 23-year-old youth from Hawasa area in Ethiopia had to sell his cows and land to raise 35,000 birr (Sh350,000) last November to pay the smuggling cartel in Kenya and Ethiopia to facilitate his safe passage to South Africa. He was not alone in this, but in a group of 23 other Ethiopians.

Regrettably, their mission aborted in Isiolo town when they were arrested by police.

They were charged before an Isiolo court with being in the country illegally and ordered to pay a fine of Sh5,000 or serve a six month jail term.

Haile could not afford to raise the fine and was taken to serve his time in jail. He joined 75 other Ethiopians who were serving time for similar offences at the congested facility.

• .

  Keep Reading

• 
  Report links illegal sandalwood trade to banditry, blames Uganda
• 
  Two suspected human traffickers arrested, 9 minors rescued in Embakasi
• 
  Uphill task for a town that shuts down at 9pm to compete as city
• 
  Fear of human trafficking ring as pastor arrested with human limb

While in jail, he told CCI he was lured into the deal by Kenyan and Ethiopian human smugglers with promises of getting a well paying job in South Africa.

"I sold all my belongings to enable me travel to South Africa where I was promised a good job that would totally transform my life, but it is unfortunate that I have now found myself a prisoner in a foreign country," he said while sobbing.

Success stories

‘‘I heard the success stories of my countrymen who went abroad and made a lot of money. Their families are rich today. I also wanted to make money and help my family,’’ he added.

Haile said he was introduced to the smugglers at the Ethiopian town of Moyale.

After paying the cash, Haile says he crossed into Kenya’s Moyale town at night together with 22 other Ethiopians. They were taken on foot by Kenyan brokers to Odha area where they boarded a Land Cruiser belonging to a businessman in the town.

He says the road was bumpy all through until they were arrested by police at Ngaremara, 20km from Isiolo town at around 5am.

Police in Isiolo say the Ethiopians were ferried from Moyale town through the border line between Eastern and North Eastern provinces to Abijan and Merti in Isiolo then to Archers Post in Samburu East District before they were arrested at Ngaremara.

Haile’s story is similar to those of many other Ethiopians who have been hiring services of human smugglers to deliver them to South Africa through Kenya. Dozens have been arrested in Kenya while on transit, but police say hundreds of others escape their dragnet and pass safely.

The smuggling business for Ethiopians and Somalia nationals has increasingly become a major source of concern for security officials in Eastern Province.

Last December, Isiolo recorded more than 300 arrests of foreigners mainly from Ethiopia. Others were from Somalia.

Following stricter surveillance by authorities in Garissa, smugglers have turned to Isiolo to sneak Somalis into Kenya.

On a weekly basis, hundreds of Ethiopians are ferried on trucks and Land Cruisers from Moyale, through Marsabit and Isiolo before they are sneaked to Nairobi on buses, matatus and taxis. They are later smuggled out of the country to South Africa.

Some of the foreigners who manage to dodge police barriers in Moyale, Marsabit and Isiolo have in the past been arrested in Nairobi, Nanyuki, Namanga, Kikuyu or Narok.

Lucrative business

The smuggling is so lucrative that some traders in Moyale, Isiolo and Marsabit have bought special vehicles, mostly Land Cruisers, specifically for the purpose.

More than ten Ethiopians have died through accidents and attack by bandits recently while being ferried in overcrowded vehicles. Last December a Land Cruiser speeding to avoid a police road block in Timau rolled and killed five foreigners. Their bodies are still lying unclaimed at Nanyuki District Hospital.

In December, a bus in Isiolo was impounded and two of its crew arrested after they were found ferrying 38 Ethiopians to Nairobi.

Using shortcuts

Matatu operators in Isiolo say at least two buses and several matatus have abandoned normal matatu business to remain on standby to ferry the Ethiopians.

To avoid police roadblocks, the cartel use unofficial routes that include cattle tracks.

The newest route is the Eastern-North Eastern border that runs from Badaarero in Moyale to Arbjan in Merti before it connects to Isiolo town through Archers Post.

With the high number of foreigners arrested, prison facilities in Isiolo, Marsabit and Moyale are now overcrowded, a situation that forced those at Isiolo GK Prison to be relocated elsewhere.

Last December, the number of foreigners sentenced to serve jail terms at prisons in Isiolo, Marsabit and Moyale far outnumbered Kenyans in those prisons at the time.

Isiolo Prison, which has a capacity of 200 inmates, had 362 in December. Ethiopian nationals were 190 in the prison as at December.

"The Ethiopian inmates have overstretched our capacity forcing many inmates to sleep on the floor without blankets and mattresses in congested cells,’’ said the Officer in Charge of Isiolo GK Prison, Mr Ibrahim Hassan.

Following Mr Hassan’s plea, the Prison Service relocated foreign inmates from the overstretched facility in Isiolo. Sixty Ethiopian convicts were moved to Kangeta and Uruku prisons in neighbouring Meru County to complete their six-month jail term.

Recently, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said he would talk to Ethiopian embassy officials in Nairobi to help pay the fine for convicted Ethiopians in order to decongest the facilities.

While police are arresting dozens of the foreigners on a daily basis, more still find their way to Nairobi as well-organised cartels manage to dodge police.

Isiolo OCPD Augustine Thumbi said the well-organised cartel involved in human smuggling had devised many ways to dodge arrests, saying many of them use unofficial routes that include cattle tracks.

‘‘The number of those who manage to find their way to Nairobi is more than those we arrest here. We need concerted efforts to ensure that foreigners do not get into the country,’’ said Thumbi.

He identified Merti-Kom-Archers Post and Merti-Gotu-Mutuati as the latest routes used by the smugglers. He said smugglers hide their human cargo in the bushes and later bring them to Isiolo town in tinted taxis or personal cars.

Defeating cartels

Ethiopians get into Kenya through Moyale, Dukana and Forolle in North Horr, Bute in Wajir North and Takaba in Mandera West. However, most of them connect to Isiolo from Moyale using cattle tracks passing through Merti to avoid arrest.

‘‘This is a big business and it is very difficult to fight the cartels, some that operate in Ethiopia and South Africa. But we are liaising with the Immigration Department to see how we can beat them,’’ said Thumbi.

Eastern Provincial Police Officer Marcus Ochola blamed the laws for the menace, saying the arrested foreigners are only charged with being in the country illegally, an offence that attracts a maximum jail term of six months or a fine of Sh10,000.

Kenyans charged with either harbouring or facilitating their movement also face lenient charges.

Ochola said police have sent their proposal to the Government calling for amendment of the current laws so that penalties on such offences are made stiffer.

He said police are concerned that there is an influx of foreigners especially Ethiopians who are smuggled through Moyale border.

‘‘We have forwarded our proposal to the executive on changes we want to curb influx of foreigners. In the meantime we have put measures to check entry of the foreigners,’’ he said.

‘‘Long jail term and hefty fines for foreigners would serve as a deterrent measure for others intending to break the law. This would help in checking the movement of foreigners,’’ said Ochola.

He said to stem the influx, police would arrest drivers and owners of the vehicles and impound their vehicles, adding that they would be charged with harbouring foreigners.