Nairobi - Two years ago, if you had told Safari* that she would be a thriving businesswoman in her home country of Kenya, she would not have believed you. But with support from the International Organization for Migration’s Kenya and Iraq offices, Safari has rebuilt her life — after enduring unimaginable abuse as a victim of trafficking.

Safari, like many young graduates in Kenya, could not find a steady job after completing her studies in dental care. Unable to fend for herself and driven by the need to supplement her mother’s income and support her siblings, she decided to try her luck working abroad. Safari found an opportunity in Iraq through a private recruitment agent. Contrary to the common practice in Kenya, the recruitment agent did not charge her any fees so, satisfied with the terms and conditions of employment, she signed what she thought would be a two-year contract as a dental assistant and moved to Iraq in 2018.

Three months into her job assisting the lead dentist at a clinic with dental procedures including braces, cleaning, fillings and root canals, Safari was contacted by the recruitment agency in Kenya and told to expect a call from an agent in Iraq to discuss her employment. She was not alarmed, as she assumed it would be a regular check-in with her original agent. However, that call would change her life.

Safari was informed that her dental assistant contract had been terminated and that the agent in Iraq found a placement for her as a domestic worker instead, due to her ability to read and write in Arabic. This is when she understood that the recruitment company in Kenya had been sub-contracted by the Iraqi agent. Later she learned that the family she was being sent to work for had paid a higher commission for her labour than the dental clinic. At this time, the agent in Iraq was lodging Safari and several other migrants in a shared accommodation; unwilling to sign the new contract, Safari was denied food and water for days and physically abused until she conceded. Eventually, Safari signed a two-year contract — this time as a domestic worker.

“I thought to myself, ‘is this the better life I was looking for?’ How did I move from being a qualified dental assistant to a house manager?” said Safari, during a conversation with IOM Kenya colleagues in July 2021. “I did not have a choice. I had a family back home that needed my help. How else would I have provided for myself and my siblings?”

Surprisingly, despite her initial hesitation, Safari came to enjoy her new job; she worked for an elderly couple who treated her well. “I was part of the family. I am [still] in constant communication with them,” Safari said. “They genuinely care about my wellbeing. I would visit them if I had a chance.”

But the agent came calling again. Safari had been “sold” to another bidder, and she was forced to leave the friendly couple to work for another family. This time, the conditions in her working environment were extremely hostile, and she suffered both physical and sexual abuse.

“I was forced to work for extremely long hours, some days more than 18 hours. I was working like a donkey. I was cleaning and cooking for a larger family with little food [for myself] to recharge for the workload,” Safari explained.

Safari was kept under lock and key and only let out while accompanied by her employer for shopping and other errands. Enduring relentless abuse by her employers, Safari yearned to tell her family and friends about the abuse and hardship she endured daily. She wanted to reach the Kenyan Embassy to be rescued but lacked the means to communicate with the outside world as her phone had been confiscated.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and had devastating effects globally. For Safari, it was a blessing in disguise. Wary of the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, her employers returned her phone. Still locked in her room, she seized the opportunity and reached out to her mother and the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via Facebook. The government reached out to IOM in Iraq; IOM helped Safari leave the home of her third employer and ensured that she met all the legal requirements necessary to return to Kenya. While waiting to go home, she was provided with accommodation, food, medical support and comprehensive case management support by IOM Iraq’s Protection Unit. while adhering to the COVID-19 prevention and control measures. 

Upon her arrival at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Safari was welcomed by staff from IOM Kenya. Following her harrowing experience, they provided her with psychosocial support through the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme. AVRR is a comprehensive approach to migration management, that aims to promote the orderly, humane return and reintegration of migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in host or transit countries and wish to return voluntarily to their countries of origin.

“Victims of trafficking are targeted when they are at their most vulnerable. The true scale of the problem is difficult to gauge in Iraq, but the COVID-19 pandemic increased the number of people around the world who are in precarious economic situations, and thus more vulnerable to crimes like human trafficking,” said Emily Peel, Protection Coordinator for IOM Iraq. “In recent years, the Government of Iraq has made important progress to improve migration management capacity and prevent and respond to trafficking; as this continues, victim-centred approaches and direct assistance services will be essential in the fight against trafficking in persons.”

According to the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report, the government of Kenya reported identifying 383 victims of trafficking—51 adult males, 176 adult females, 104 boys, and 52 girls—a significant decrease from the 853 victims identified in 2019. Of the 227 adult victims identified, 150 were Kenyans exploited in or in transit to Middle East countries, including Iraq, or India.

Back home in Kenya, Safari continues down the road to recovery after her harrowing experience.

“I was having extreme nightmares about my former employer’s drinking and his abuse while in Iraq. Six months after returning to Kenya, they were still persistent,” Safari recalled. “IOM Kenya provided therapy and counselling sessions. I am now in a better place.”

IOM also helped Safari start a retail cosmetic business that has now grown into a wholesale enterprise and expanded into selling women’s clothing. Thanks to her business, she can now provide for herself and her family. Safari is working to put her ordeal behind her, one day at a time.

IOM Iraq helped Safari with protection and Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) assistance with support from the Government of the Czech Republic.

 

For more information please contact:

IOM Kenya, Email: iomkenyaPI@iom.int

IOM Iraq, Email: iraqpublicinfo@iom.int

 

*Name changed to protect identity

SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
 

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