KENYA: Climate Change, Poverty and Tourists put Maasai Daughters at Risk

APRIL 16, 2010...12:54 AM

KENYA: Climate Change, Poverty and Tourists put Maasai Daughters at Risk

A rise in human trafficking points to more than one cause

Kenya Correspondent, Charles Njeru – Women News Network – WNN

A Maasai tribal girl studies at a school near Narok, Kenya. World Concern, an international relief organisation, provides opportunities for education in an area without other schools. It's a big deal culturally for girls to have a chance to learn. Image: Derek Sciba / World Concern via http://worldconcern.org

Nairobi: Lack of adequate education, extreme poverty and the encroaching fallout of climate change is now forcing Masaai parents in the Mar region of Kenya, Africa to ‘sell off’ their young underage daughters to a group of human traffickers who are posing as white foreign tourists.

Problems relating to extreme poverty are not new to the Maasai. As the incidence of human trafficking rises and the sex tourists flock to Kenya, frustration, fear and distrust among Maasai communities is also rising.

“Human trafficking is a serious problem in Kenya,” says a recent 2010 IOM – International Organisation for Migration factsheet. “Kenya has been recognized as a country of origin, destination and transit as well as a place for domestic trafficking. Women, men, girls and boys have been identified to be trafficked in Kenya, although most cases identified to date involve children, especially in cases of domestic trafficking.”

Tourists who come to the region with intentions to market the work labour of Maasai girls, whether for domestic work; street vending; factory or sex slavery; are now entering the country outside the radar of most standard reporting agencies.

“Victims are trafficked mainly for sexual exploitation and domestic labour but also for agriculture work, factory work and street work,” continues the report. “Victims from neighbouring countries have been identified in Kenya and Kenyan victims have been identified in Europe, South Africa, the Gulf States and North America.”

Some traffickers who are entering the Mara region come into Kenya as standard ‘tourists’ saying they are there to visit the nearby Masaai Mara National Park and view wildlife in the world renowned park. But the travel cover is a farce. For those who may not want to stay in high class hotels inside the Mara Game Reserve, they end up choosing lodges in Kajiado and Narok Townships, where they interact freely without sanction from the communities there.

“They are usually friendly and they shower us many times with some small pocket money,” says Hezbon Sarpur, a member of Narok Township, as he describes the general parade of tourists who come to the area legitimately.

Climate Change Impacts

Gáldu – Known as The Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples works from its base in Norway, specifically for the indigenous rights of the Maasai, especially its women.

“The Maasai historically have not worked outside their communities,” says Gáldu in a August 2008 report. “They have eschewed a Western style, currency-based economy, opting instead for a life based on nomadic pastoralism. Cattle are the central component of the society. But because of climate change, things are changing in the Maasai lands.”

As climate change intensifies, the impact for families to find food, brings desperate measures. Families are now seeking any solution to survive. The selling of daughters into slave markets is, one of the solutions, causing young women , girls to be swept away by what many guess are modern slave traders.

“In the past few years alone, because of droughts, we have seen a huge number of economic refugees targeted by human traffickers with a promise of better life elsewhere,” said Mr Abdullahi Hirsi, the executive director of Northern Heritage, a local aid agency in Garissa. “A spot-check in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera shows that the illegal business is conducted daily, final arrangements done in Nairobi,” he added.

For decades human trafficking in Nairobi has been relatively ignored. Only within the last ten years has attention to this growing plight been given more notice. Political strife in Kenya, added to climate change stress on the economy has made the area an easy target for international crime cartels.

“They even give us lots more money ($2000 Kenyan Shillings, which equals approx $27 USD) for them to take our daughters, nieces, cousins, and younger sisters for a better life for the girls,” continued Sarpur, explaining the selling of girls.

Some of the Kajiado residents do not see anything wrong in the selling off of young girls to foreigners, despite being warned and advised by a few fellow residents. They blame poverty in the area, saying conditions are very extreme. But this doesn’t excuse the disappearance of young girls.

“Several young have disappeared with no trace and lack of communication since last year,” added Hezbon. “As a community we are now very worried.”

Like other areas around the globe, sex tourism in Africa, and specifically in the regions of Kenya, is now rising.

Land Grabs, Tourists and Human Trafficking

Poverty levels, which have been at its lowest ebb, are now lowering even faster for Maasai communities who live in the Mara region. Due to the fall-out of change to the region problems have reached epic proportions. Seven years of climate change has been a precursor to increased hardship.

Impacts of climate change also affect the “legitimate” international tourist trade, a main source of bringing money into the region. With worsening weather conditions and disappearing animal populations, including a wide array of birds, some 380 bird species in all, bird species and other wildlife in the region are now showing impacts in the Mara Game Reserve which surrounds Lake Manyara National Park.

“It is likely that changes in climate as well as change in the lake level and hydrological conditions may alter both migration patterns and other wildlife dependent on the lake,” says a detailed report from the University of East Anglia (UK).

But wildlife are not the only ones who are facing serious impact. Changes in food sources due to the deaths of numerous cattle and goats in the region are forcing Maasai families to seek more work outside the region. This opens the door to traffickers who also encourage families, and their daughters, to seek what they describe as “good paying jobs” in other regions.

“Human trafficking is a growing problem in Kenya,” said Millie Odhiambo, director of The CRADLE – The Children’s Foundation, which works daily to secure rights for children in Kenya. “Due to the secret and criminal nature of trafficking,” continued Odhiambo, “its extent and magnitude is largely unknown. There is however anecdotal and some empirical evidence that shows human trafficking could be more rampant in Kenya than earlier thought.”

In spite of harder conditions for locals, some residents in the area are reporting that a number of foreign “tourists” are deciding to settle down in Kenya, as they buy land from Maasai community members for as little as $250 KES – Kenyan Shillings (approx $3.24 USD) per acre.

“During the colonial period, the pastoral Maasai were forcibly removed from large areas of their land to allow room for European and Indian farmers and plantations,” says a current report from the CIDCM – Center for International Development and Conflict Management, an interdisciplinary research center from the University of Maryland (US).

The story of Maasai opportunists taking advantage of land grab deals is still an issue today. Acts like these continue to increase the levels of distrust and extreme poverty in the Kenya, especially for the rural regions of the Maasai.

Many Families Hinder Education for Maasai Girls

Obstacles for Maasai girls, within the context of extreme poverty, include common acts denial for them in spite of their wishes to receive some education. Often families cannot afford the costs that come with educating a child, especially a daughter. Costs including school uniforms and books are often make school an impossibility.

With a severe lack of schools in the rural areas, girls, if they are allowed to attend, often have to walk over 15 plus miles round trip each day to attend school. “Many girls are denied an education solely because of parental concerns for their safety during these long walks,” says Maasai Girls Education Fund.

More now than ever fathers, who feel increased pressures to feed their family, also insist their daughter must marry at increasing early ages in order for the girls family to gain a dowry. Marriage also relieves the father of any further debt in caring for his daughter as she becomes part of her husband’s family upon marriage. The obligations of early marriage often prevent girls from attending any classes.

Expectations by families toward girls for early child marriage and experiences for girls in what is locally known as ‘female circumcision,’ a term which is known today in global circles as FGM – female genital mutilation, add much to the hardships many girls must face at an early age. Even though Kenya has outlawed FGM the practice continues. With so many limitations placed on girls, along with the costs associated with raising them, it is no surprise that some girls are being given to strangers in the region at very early ages.

“After one sells his land they (the family) have nowhere to sleep,” explains Hezbon Sarpur. “The fathers and other relatives then begin to negotiate with the traffickers. How does one negotiate with a stranger for a child or niece to be taken somewhere for a better life?” asks Sarpur.

In what has been quoted as, “the worst drought in the area in more than 70 years,” elderly residents from Enkaroni in the Narok District of Southern Kenya, just a few miles away from Nairobi, say they have not experienced any rain for quite some time. The drought has now lasted almost past the point of nature’s ability to return.

Women gather water in the arid lands of Kenya.

Deceptions of Slavery

Tumaroi Malkit is an elderly resident of Kajiado. “Our cattle dying as a result of the prevailing drought has come with serious consequences. As a result, we are forced to sell our daughters and granddaughters to traffickers who promise us wealth,” he says honestly.

“We gave away our dear girl to the foreigners for them to send our child to a good school in Europe and we regret our action,” admits Tumaroi Malakit. “Even the police have been reluctant to assist us.”

Malakit also admits that the loss and disappearance of his granddaughter has also increased his own poverty and that of his extended family. It has come with “serious social problems which the government has failed to address,” adds Malakit.

The resource that girls offer to the Maasai community cannot be easily monetized. It includes many hours of work most girls offer their family as they walk miles to harvest wood, manage water gathering, heard animals & perform chores.

“Our single biggest challenge is human trafficking in our community. Young girls aged below 13 are now believed to be in Europe. Some are believed to have been kidnapped even without the consent of their parents,” Ms. Ole Lakutit Kuyioni, a member from one of the Mara region Maasai communities, aged 90, explains.

The culture of the Maasai as herders doesn’t help the situation. “We the Masaai do not plant crops,” said Joseph Leseyio, administrative Chief of the Kajaido District outlining the life of the Maasai. “We depend on our cattle for our livelihood and we are asking the government to come up with guidelines that will help us get seeds to plant crops and change our lifestyle away from being cattle herders.”

Government Intervention

“We are asking the government to focus on education, even just for them to invest more funds in building schools in this community is very important,” added Leseyio. “These initiatives will reduce incidences of people here in Kajiado giving away their young daughters to dangerous human traffickers.”

During the days of normal climate in the region, a cow would fetch as much as $400 KES ($5.21 USD). With the drought situation the value of a cow has gone down to only $5 KES ($.07 USD), if it can manage to survive the harsh climate surrounding Kajiado.

From 2008 – 2013, the European Commission is bringing Kenyan experts in the field of children and sex-trafficking together to compile an ongoing investigation and report. The name of the report is, “Building the dream: Saving the African Child from Trafficking.” Data presented in the report has already been coming from agency “experts” inside Kenya, including CRADLE, FIDAH – Kenya, CLARION and KOVAW – Kenya.

As an advocate for children, Hassan Omar, Senior Commissioner with the government funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, has become aware of the violations of Kenyan girls, many younger than 13.

“The numbers of girls that have gone missing since November last year stands at 40,” Omar confirmed recently in an interview. “All are mostly from the Narok areas. The government has done nothing to ensure the safety of the young children despite several pleas to the government. There is greater need for efficient screening of people coming into our borders to minimize such negative impacts. Our files show that young girls have been trafficked mostly from Narok, since November 2009.”

Following the 2007 post-election strife in Kenya, the government is currently still in transition. A new draft constitution that guarantees limitations within the power of the office of the President is scheduled to be passed later this year in a national referendum. The Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya has worked to encourage the Parliament of Kenya to pass specific laws that will help curb sex-trafficking. Other agencies are working now on getting stronger protective laws for children passed in the Kenyan Parliament.

Magnitude of the Problem

Human trafficking expert, Associate Professor for Women, Gender and Development Studies, from the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, Ms. Thanh-Dam Truong, was one of the first scholars to provide in-depth analysis of organised crime and sex-trafficking in South East Asia. In 2005, in partnership with UNESCO, she turned her attention to the African region, specifically to the region surrounding the SSA – Sub-Saharan Africa. While the SSA region is different than the East African area surrounding Kenya, the issues of human and girl trafficking are the same.

“Many aspects of human trafficking remain poorly understood,” explains Than-Dan. “Even though it is now a priority issue for many governments. Information about the magnitude of the problem is limited.”

Ms. Thanh-Dam Truong reminds us that, “human trafficking requires a multi-dimensional answer.”

“No single organisation is capable of ‘solving’ all affiliated problems,” says Than-Dam. “Nor should it enforce one vision of the problem as global. A combination of practices capable of creating synergetic effects and consolidating policy goals among engaged actors is sorely needed.”

While Kenyan government officials begin slowly now to look at the problems of human trafficking and sex-trafficking using a local eye on the region, the problem of slavery increases each year. Regional networks of organised crime cartels that are involved as players in human trafficking in Kenya clearly need a more thorough and transparent investigation.

“We have told the government to be more vigilant to come up with tough immigration policies as well as draft new laws that will punish the perpetrators of human and child traffickers,” explained the Commissioner on Human Rights, Hassan Omar.

The Kenyan Commission on Human Rights is currently working on a draft which it will forward to the government for review in a move aimed at encouraging the government to make new and stricter laws aimed at protecting women and young children against slavery.

“Once the government reviews our draft, it will then go to parliament for debate where new laws will be recommended. The draft may take some months before it is ready for debate,” added Omar.

Police Reports in the Region

In addition to reports inside the country, Kenyan police reports have also confirmed allegations of Kenyan girls being trafficked to Europe to work as domestic house helpers and prostitutes in high end European brothels.

“We are investigating 5 foreigners from the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Spain with the involvement of child trafficking. We will charge them with other offences such as sexual abuse of young girls below 18,” police spokesman Eric Kiraithe, in Nairobi, confirmed.

At least 34 young Kenyan girls under the age of 14, from the Narok area, have been traced by the police. Six of the girls are from Kajiado.

“We have only managed to make one major arrest,” Kiraithe added. “The man we arrested is already being prosecuted in court with no police bond. Evidence that we are getting, shows that the young girls are used as sex workers. Some have even been raped by some traffickers themselves. There are also several other charges.”

Kiraithe has also confirmed that one of the girls has now been rescued by the international police and brought back to Kenya. One suspect is also assisting with investigations back in the UK.

“Unfortunately she has contracted HIV,” said Kiraithe about one of the trafficked girls. “The girl is only 9, and she has a lot of physical damage, especially in the reproductive organs such as the cervix. She is undergoing medical attention as we speak,” Kiraithe confirmed.

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