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Burundi arrests 14 women for human trafficking

Xinhua, July 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 14 Burundian women who were victims of human trafficking were returned to Burundi after they were intercepted by Democratic Republic of Congo's police at Goma International Airport, the Burundian police spokesman said Monday.

"This is the fourth case of human trafficking in Burundi. 14 women were intercepted at Goma International Airport (in DR Congo) on July 1 and were handed over to the Burundian immigration police on July 2 at Kavimvira on the border between Burundi and DR Congo," said Burundian Police Spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye.

According to him, the 14 women victims of human trafficking were in two groups.

Nkurikiye said, "The first group was made up five women with a destination to Oman and were led by two persons from Buyenzi neighborhood in the Burundian capital Bujumbura while the second group was made up of nine women with a destination to Saudi Arabia and were led by a person from the Industrial Area in the capital Bujumbura."

"One of the things that raised the police suspicion is that a 19 year-old-woman had declared that she was 23 years old. Another suspicious element is that all the women lived in Bujumbura except only one who lived in Rumonge town, in the south of Burundi," said Nkurikiye.

By mid June, the Burundian police arrested seven persons over human trafficking accusations and identified 11 companies involved in human trafficking in the east African nation.

The arrested persons included three Burundians and four Kenyans.

Four of the 11 companies or organizations involved in human trafficking are based in Burundi, other four companies are based in Saudi Arabia and two others are based in Oman while the 11th one is based in Kenya.

Nkurikiye indicated that the four Burundian companies had been collaborating with the remaining seven foreign companies in the human trafficking business.

He indicated that since mid April this year, 267 persons most of them girls were victims of human trafficking.

The Burundian police suspect that those girls do sex work when they arrive at their destination. Endit