WAJIR, Kenya — Wajir Deputy Governor Ahmed Muhumed Caato has sounded the alarm over rising human trafficking in the region, warning that the crisis is derailing access to education for youth in pastoralist and marginalized communities.
Speaking during a local development forum, Caato said many young people who should be enrolled in colleges or vocational institutions are instead being lured into dangerous migration networks under the false promise of better opportunities abroad.
“Most of our students who ought to go to college and tertiary institutions do not go but pursue avenues to be trafficked overseas,” he said. “Often disguised as job offers or scholarships, traffickers are preying on desperation and exploiting entire communities.”
Caato described human trafficking as one of the most serious challenges facing northern Kenya today, with long-term consequences for education, youth development, and the region’s economic future.
“The victims are lured into forced labour, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation both within and outside the country,” he said, urging urgent national dialogue on the issue. “It’s one of the most difficult problems—we must start that conversation.”
The deputy governor appealed for a coordinated, multi-agency response to stop the recruitment of youth into trafficking networks and to offer safer, structured pathways for young people to succeed through education and employment.
“This requires more than just laws. We need real action from government, civil society, and communities to restore hope and protect the future of our youth,” he said.
His remarks come amid growing concerns raised by international organizations about Kenya’s role as a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), children in Kenya are trafficked domestically for domestic work and street begging, while many youth from northern and coastal regions are smuggled abroad to the Middle East, South Asia, and parts of Europe under false recruitment schemes.
“Once overseas, many are trapped in exploitative conditions—without pay, without protection, and without documentation,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope.
She said poverty, unemployment, limited access to education, and weak enforcement of anti-trafficking laws continue to fuel the crisis, despite existing frameworks such as the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act and the National Assistance Trust Fund for Victims.
Implementation of these laws, she noted, remains patchy, while public awareness is still dangerously low.
Caato urged national leaders to take the issue more seriously and to ensure that young people in regions like Wajir are given viable alternatives to irregular migration.
“Our youth deserve more than false promises and dangerous journeys,” he said. “They deserve an education, dignity, and a future here at home.”
