National Carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ) Monday launched its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Policy and Public Awareness Campaign in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The fully endorsed Trafficking in Persons Policy came into effect in January 2023, outlines the airlines stand and actions against Human Trafficking.
The Public Awareness and Outreach campaign is designed to educate Kenya Airways staff and the public about the misconceptions, the realities of human trafficking as well as how to identify and report cases of Human Trafficking.
Kenya Airways Chief Financial Officer, Hellen Mwariri Mathuka said KQ takes a firm stand against all forms of human trafficking and fully supports the elimination of the exploitation of human beings and modern slavery.
“Kenya Airways connects Kenya to the rest of Africa and the World through its vast network. This network and its connectivity should only be used for good and to advance the development of Africa.”
“We therefore stand against all forms of human trafficking, fully support the elimination of the exploitation of human beings and modern slavery and will not condone human trafficking in any part of our organization,” she said.
She added they have invested in capacity building programs to give employees the tools to identify and report suspected cases of human trafficking because they recognize employees at the airport and on flights are uniquely positioned to look out for this type of crime.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen commended KQ for launching their policy and the role they are playing in combating trafficking in persons.
“The airline has developed actions points that have protected its systems from being misused to facilitate the transportation of human trafficking victims,” he said.
He added they are keen on ensuring such measures are replicated by other players in the sector through closer collaboration, with the support of partners like the UNODC.
2021 Global Estimates indicate that 49.6 million people are in modern slavery on any given day, according to a 2022 IOM’s report on Global Estimates of Modern Slavery Forced Labour and Forced Marriage.
Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore said due to the global and criminal nature of trafficking in persons, prevention and response efforts require multi-disciplinary approach within and across sectors and borders.
“Transport is one of the important sectors in the fight against trafficking. The launch of the Kenya Airways Policy on Trafficking in
Persons (TIP) is a clear testament of Kenya Airways’ commitment, as a key player in the airline industry, to strengthen our combined efforts in combatting trafficking in persons in the country and across the globe,” she said.
She added it is no doubt that, the training and creation of awareness among the KQ airline staff, provided for in the policy, will build their capacity to proactively play their role in the fight against trafficking in persons.
In December 2021, UNODC combined the expertise of two of its programmes – the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme and the Airport Communication Project (ARCOP) to organise a specialised inter-agency workshop on combatting Trafficking In Person (TIP) at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The workshop brought together officers based at JKIA from police, immigration, airport authority, customs, prosecutors, and representatives of Kenya Airways.
The participants adopted recommendations, including for Kenya Airways to develop actions to prevent and combat TIP.
