Introduction

Trafficking in persons is considered internationally as one of the worst forms of inhumane treatment in the 21st century. This is an activity that has gained grounds as more persons are becoming victims. It has been described by many as another form of modern-day slavery.
Trafficking in persons is defined by the 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children in its Article 3(a) as follows: Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs. Section 3(b) of the protocol is to the effect that the consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in the definition above shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in the above definition have been used.

Trafficking can occur within a country or may involve movement across borders. Women, men, and children are trafficked for a wide range of reasons including forced and exploitative labor in factories, farms and private homes, sexual exploitation and forced marriage among other reasons.

With the outbreak of the Boko Haram insurgence in the Far North (2013) and the Anglophone crisis (2016) in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon, there has been an upsurge of trafficking in persons. The rate of trafficking has particularly increased because of the number of persons internally displaced as well as asylum seekers and refugees who form one of the most vulnerable groups. According to the US State Depart trafficking report for 2023, there were 1,013,568 IDPs in Cameroon as of March 2023, an increase from 933,000 reported in 2022.  In addition to IDPs, there were approximately 488,010 refugees and asylum seekers in the country as of April 2023. This has therefore exposed these vulnerable persons to trafficking. This is because they easily fall for some promises made by traffickers like the provision of good education and good jobs to lure them into trafficking schemes. Among the reasons advanced by former trafficked persons for falling prey to traffickers are unemployment, poverty, political instability which are all effects of the current crisis rocking most part of Cameroon.

The fight against trafficking in Cameroon

Cameroon has adopted both legal and institutional measures to fight against trafficking in persons. This ranges from principles guaranteed in the Constitution, the Penal Code and the 2011 Law relating to the fight against trafficking in persons and slavery, the courts, and the Cameroon Human Rights Commission.

Law N0 2011/024 of 14 December 2011 relating to the fight against trafficking in persons and slavery is the major specific legislation that criminalizes trafficking in persons and slavery. This law in its Section 2(b) defines trafficking in persons to mean

“The fact of promoting or ensuring the movement of a person inside or outside Cameroon in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit of whatever nature”.

This law punishes both persons who regularly or even occasionally engage in the act of trafficking in persons. Section 5 of this law provides for additional punishment for certain situations considered as aggravating circumstances. Section 342 of the Cameroon Penal Code also sanctions trafficking in persons. Away from the above legislations, Cameroon has also signed a respectable number of international conventions and treaties aimed at preventing human trafficking including the Trafficking protocol, ACHPR, ICCPR.

Despite these efforts put in place by Cameroon to fight against trafficking in persons, Cameroon is yet to meet the minimum standards as regards as regards this fight against trafficking in persons.

The Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), an affiliate of ISHR, has been one of the organizations at the forefront in the fight against trafficking in Cameroon. CHRDA has carried out activities aimed at eliminating trafficking and mitigating the impact of trafficking on formerly trafficked persons. CHRDA, together with some of her partners like the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is carrying out a project which aims at fighting trafficking.1 This project targets victims of trafficking and aims at providing material and financial support to these victims, as a means of facilitating their reintegration into society. This project targets major towns like Bamenda, Buea, Douala and Yaoundé because of their strategic nature regarding trafficking.

CHRDA has also organized advocacy campaigns and workshops aimed at educating the public and authorities about the dangers of trafficking.

Despite these efforts put in place by CHRDA and other stakeholders, there are several challenges faced in the fight against trafficking in Cameroon and include: lack of finances; the slow nature of the Cameroon judiciary in investigating and prosecuting traffickers, complicity of some authorities in this act of trafficking, poverty which makes the population vulnerable, political instability etc.

CHRDA recommends that the state of Cameroon should dedicate more resources to push forth the fight against trafficking. Judicial and executive authorities should receive more training on investigation and prosecution of traffickers and their networks. CHRDA also recommends that CSO’s and other stake holders should collaborate in the areas of capacity building and financing of initiatives aimed at fighting against trafficking in persons.

To contribute to these efforts, reach out to the International Society for Human Rights through various platforms.

Article by CHRDA