Young Somali refugees targeted by Libyan-based traffickers
Trans-Saharan syndicates lure youngsters from Kenya’s Dadaab camps, promising a better life in Europe.
Published on 03 September 2025 in
ISS Today
By
A Libyan-based criminal group, the Magafe, is reportedly leading a kidnapping and trafficking network that targets Kenyan refugee camps. The trans-Saharan human trafficking syndicate deceives young Somali refugees with false promises of relocation to Europe. The dangerous journeys that ensue often result in severe abuse and sometimes death.
Refugees living in Kenyan camps already face significant challenges. In 2024, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Kenya country programme reported receiving only 23% of the required funding, primarily due to insufficient international aid.
That was before the United States (US) President Donald Trump cut 90% of foreign contracts from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has worsened the situation. USAID has long played a crucial role in providing food, shelter, and other support to refugees and migrants in Kenya.
Limited access to essential government services has also made it difficult to obtain documentation, which impedes refugees’ ability to secure work permits. In the face of these hardships, and believing that better opportunities must exist abroad, young refugees are vulnerable to recruitment by trafficking networks.
According to Kenyan Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Officer Benson Kasyoki, the syndicates use social media platforms such as WhatsApp and TikTok for recruitment. Both platforms’ broad reach among youth populations and the privacy of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption make them ideal recruiting tools.
Once in Libya, victims are subjected to violence, slavery, organ trafficking, forced labour and extortion
Once engaged, victims are trafficked via three routes to Libya. The first is from Dadaab in eastern Kenya to Kampala in Uganda, then South Sudan and Libya. The second is from Dadaab to Mombasa on Kenya’s coast and from there to Kampala, South Sudan and Libya. The third route is from Dadaab up through north-western Kenya to South Sudan and then Libya.
An anonymous DCI source says some refugee youths are lured from Dadaab by traffickers who transport them to Nairobi’s Eastleigh suburb. They are handed over to brokers in the city’s central business district who facilitate their journey to Uganda, then on to South Sudan and Libya.
The traffickers bribe border officials to facilitate cross-border transportation. Systemic corruption in Kenya and neighbouring regions is a key facilitator of human trafficking and smuggling.
The refugees face harsh conditions on their way to Libya, with many falling ill or dying. Once in Libya, victims are frequently subjected to violence, slavery, organ trafficking, forced labour and extortion.
As a transit country to Europe, Libya faces persistently high levels of human trafficking. Vast ungoverned areas in several regions, the fragile status of the Libyan regime, a lack of governmental oversight and weak state capacity ensure the country’s continued appeal as a transit route used by traffickers.
Refugees are often held ransom by organised criminal groups that demand payment from victims’ families
There are also reports that refugees are often held ransom by organised criminal groups that demand payment from the victims’ families. The Magafe, which has been active since 2017, is notorious for engaging in kidnapping migrants and demanding money in exchange for their release. A DCI official told how, despite the family of a young man recently trafficked to Libya paying US$10 000, the victim was not released.
In this context, Kenya and Libya have made efforts to protect refugees from human trafficking and smuggling. The Kenyan Refugees Act of 2021 provides refugees with freedom of movement, the right to work, and access to financial services, including M-PESA, a mobile-based money transfer service that connects several East African countries.
However, there are challenges in implementing certain aspects of the act. Refugees International reports that refugees living in Kenya face bureaucratic obstacles. For example, getting refugee identity cards needed for purchasing land or registering a business is difficult. This makes it difficult for refugees to create more stable livelihoods and become productive members of society.
Insufficient staffing and capability in refugee agencies also hampers the government’s efforts to effectively enforce protective measures, leaving refugees vulnerable to exploitation. Likewise, efforts to combat fraudulent labour recruitment regarding refugees remain inadequate.
Libya has criminalised forms of sex trafficking but not labour trafficking. Along with the challenges mentioned above, this legislative gap has been repeatedly exploited by transnational organised criminal groups such as the Magafe.
Kenya needs to ensure that its Refugee Act adequately reduces refugees’ vulnerability to traffickers
Limited policing capacity and inadequate laws mean that traffickers escape prosecution and punishment. Indeed, the government has never reported the trial or conviction of anyone for sex trafficking crimes.
National and cross-border efforts are needed to tackle the weaknesses in source, transit and host countries that enable refugee trafficking.
Kenya needs to streamline procedures for the Refugee Act’s new provisions, particularly the issuance of work permits, access to financial services and movement passes. This will reduce refugees’ vulnerability to traffickers by providing opportunities for local livelihoods.
Addressing cross-border trafficking – including the labour-related and sexual exploitation of refugees – requires cooperation between law enforcement and border agencies in all countries concerned.
Fake job adverts on social media must be countered with realistic and fact-based information on the consequences of undertaking uncertain and arduous journeys across the Sahara. Government communication departments, the media, civil society organisations and refugee aid organisations need to spread the word.
This article was first published by ENACT.
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