New CSO data on survivor outcomes could help inform support efforts in East Africa
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The report, which was developed with support from the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme, coordinated by Freedom Collaborative, and funded by the European Union and Germany, documented outcomes in 274 cases – a substantial sample size. The most frequently reported outcome, present in 170 cases, was referral to support services, including psychosocial support, shelter, medical care, and family reunification assistance. Nearly half the submissions documented ongoing support, indicating continued engagement beyond the initial response, while authorities were involved in 94 cases, with legal action taken in 46. Many submissions reported multiple outcomes, such as referral and reintegration alongside legal or institutional involvement, suggesting coordinated responses by civil society, legal actors and government agencies.
Legal support was recorded in 83 cases and was particularly prevalent in submissions that reported more comprehensive and clearly documented outcomes. These cases often included multiple services, such as referrals, institutional involvement, or reintegration assistance, highlighting the critical role of legal assistance in supporting broader recovery and access to follow-up care, as well as highlighting its centrality in complex and cross-border cases.
Furthermore, 13 compensation cases involved legal assistance, indicating its important role in securing financial redress – while not guaranteeing compensation, legal support often facilitates the navigation of the administrative and judicial processes necessary for restitution. In compensation cases in which legal support was present, other services, such as referral, medical care, psychosocial support, and shelter, were also more frequently reported, suggesting that compensation claims are part of broader, more comprehensive case engagement, especially where institutional responses were involved.
Despite these gains, many submissions highlighted limited follow-up and persistent service gaps. Notably, 119 submissions included no outcome data, and 12 explicitly stated that clients received no support at all. Inconsistent or inadequate responses were often due to external constraints while, in some cases, survivors declined services due to stigma, mistrust or fear. Even where services existed, people were sometimes excluded, either because of their migration status or due to narrow legal definitions that prevented them from being formally recognized as trafficking victims.
Further barriers to access were cited in 209 submissions. Common challenges included underfunded or unavailable services, particularly for male clients or those in rural areas. Gender bias was a recurring issue, with assistance often geared primarily towards women. Language was also a significant barrier, particularly for those moving across multiple regions without interpretation. Others withheld personal information, leaving them invisible to official systems and ineligible for formal support.
CSOs can use this information to advocate for more inclusive and sustainable support models that move beyond emergency care and address systemic needs, while donors and policymakers can identify critical service gaps and fund interventions proven to reduce re-trafficking risks. Crucially, the strong correlation between legal assistance and positive case outcomes reinforces the importance of expanding access to justice. This includes ensuring that CSO-documented cases are linked to formal referral systems, and increasing support for local legal providers, particularly in rural and cross-border areas.
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Our new EHAAT regional routes mapping report highlights re-trafficking as a persistent concern in East Africa, with nearly half of documented survivors trafficked more than once. The findings point to layered vulnerabilities across age, gender, education, and displacement, underscoring the need for long-term, trauma-informed support.
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Civil society groups in the EHAAT Network are shifting focus from documenting re-trafficking to identifying practical steps, like expanding legal aid and compensation, to strengthen survivor protection.
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Freedom Collaborative convened EHAAT and our Forced Criminality Working Group for the first session of a new learning series, exploring how East Africans are trafficked into Southeast Asian cyber-scam centers and the protection gaps survivors face.
Civil society groups in the EHAAT Network are shifting focus from documenting re-trafficking to identifying practical steps, like expanding legal aid and compensation, to strengthen survivor protection.
New data collected by EHAAT civil society groups offers fresh insights into survivor recovery journeys, service gaps, and outcomes across East Africa. The findings highlight the central role of legal support in enabling access to services, compensation, and longer-term protection.
Our new EHAAT regional routes mapping report highlights re-trafficking as a persistent concern in East Africa, with nearly half of documented survivors trafficked more than once. The findings point to layered vulnerabilities across age, gender, education, and displacement, underscoring the need for long-term, trauma-informed support.
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Freedom Collaborative and the EHAAT Network have released a new regional routes mapping report documenting nearly 400 cases of unsafe migration and trafficking across East Africa. The findings reveal shifting destinations, persistent re-trafficking, and emerging patterns of exploitation — and highlight the vital role of civil society in shaping more effective protection responses.
East Africa’s annual Regional CSO Forum brought together EHAAT members in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, to strengthen cooperation, share new research, and agree on concrete commitments to enhance anti-trafficking responses and support for vulnerable migrants.
Civil society groups from the EHAAT Network joined a regional call with Red Rope and HAART Kenya to discuss rising cases of African women trafficked into India, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities, rescue efforts, and the urgent need for survivor-led solutions.
EHAAT civil society organizations have launched a new bi-weekly communications training program, hosted by BMM, to strengthen outreach, media engagement, and ethical storytelling in the anti-trafficking sector.
EHAAT members met in Kampala, Uganda, for a three-day Resource Mobilization Strategy Workshop facilitated by Freedom Collaborative, developing a collective plan to strengthen sustainability, expand reach, and amplify impact across the region.
EHAAT members gathered in Juba, South Sudan, for the final phase of a regional training series on survivor inclusion, equipping CSOs with tools to ethically, securely, and sustainably embed survivor voices in their work.
Collaborative efforts by the East and Horn of Africa Anti-Trafficking (EHAAT) Network, facilitated by Freedom Collaborative, recently led to the development of impactful region-specific recommendations for the Africa Regional Review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which took place in October 2024
East African CSOs agree plans to build on previous successes at this year’s EHAAT Regional Forum.
Our new EHAAT regional routes mapping report highlights re-trafficking as a persistent concern in East Africa, with nearly half of documented survivors trafficked more than once. The findings point to layered vulnerabilities across age, gender, education, and displacement, underscoring the need for long-term, trauma-informed support.
Civil society groups in the EHAAT Network are shifting focus from documenting re-trafficking to identifying practical steps, like expanding legal aid and compensation, to strengthen survivor protection.
Civil society groups in the EHAAT Network are shifting focus from documenting re-trafficking to identifying practical steps, like expanding legal aid and compensation, to strengthen survivor protection.
New data collected by EHAAT civil society groups offers fresh insights into survivor recovery journeys, service gaps, and outcomes across East Africa. The findings highlight the central role of legal support in enabling access to services, compensation, and longer-term protection.
Our new EHAAT regional routes mapping report highlights re-trafficking as a persistent concern in East Africa, with nearly half of documented survivors trafficked more than once. The findings point to layered vulnerabilities across age, gender, education, and displacement, underscoring the need for long-term, trauma-informed support.
Freedom Collaborative and the EHAAT Network have released a new regional routes mapping report documenting nearly 400 cases of unsafe migration and trafficking across East Africa. The findings reveal shifting destinations, persistent re-trafficking, and emerging patterns of exploitation — and highlight the vital role of civil society in shaping more effective protection responses.
East Africa’s annual Regional CSO Forum brought together EHAAT members in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, to strengthen cooperation, share new research, and agree on concrete commitments to enhance anti-trafficking responses and support for vulnerable migrants.
Civil society groups from the EHAAT Network joined a regional call with Red Rope and HAART Kenya to discuss rising cases of African women trafficked into India, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities, rescue efforts, and the urgent need for survivor-led solutions.
EHAAT civil society organizations have launched a new bi-weekly communications training program, hosted by BMM, to strengthen outreach, media engagement, and ethical storytelling in the anti-trafficking sector.
EHAAT members met in Kampala, Uganda, for a three-day Resource Mobilization Strategy Workshop facilitated by Freedom Collaborative, developing a collective plan to strengthen sustainability, expand reach, and amplify impact across the region.
EHAAT members gathered in Juba, South Sudan, for the final phase of a regional training series on survivor inclusion, equipping CSOs with tools to ethically, securely, and sustainably embed survivor voices in their work.
Collaborative efforts by the East and Horn of Africa Anti-Trafficking (EHAAT) Network, facilitated by Freedom Collaborative, recently led to the development of impactful region-specific recommendations for the Africa Regional Review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which took place in October 2024
East African CSOs agree plans to build on previous successes at this year’s EHAAT Regional Forum.
Our new EHAAT regional routes mapping report highlights re-trafficking as a persistent concern in East Africa, with nearly half of documented survivors trafficked more than once. The findings point to layered vulnerabilities across age, gender, education, and displacement, underscoring the need for long-term, trauma-informed support.
Civil society groups in the EHAAT Network are shifting focus from documenting re-trafficking to identifying practical steps, like expanding legal aid and compensation, to strengthen survivor protection.
New data collected by EHAAT civil society groups offers fresh insights into survivor recovery journeys, service gaps, and outcomes across East Africa. The findings highlight the central role of legal support in enabling access to services, compensation, and longer-term protection.
Our new EHAAT regional routes mapping report highlights re-trafficking as a persistent concern in East Africa, with nearly half of documented survivors trafficked more than once. The findings point to layered vulnerabilities across age, gender, education, and displacement, underscoring the need for long-term, trauma-informed support.
Freedom Collaborative and the EHAAT Network have released a new regional routes mapping report documenting nearly 400 cases of unsafe migration and trafficking across East Africa. The findings reveal shifting destinations, persistent re-trafficking, and emerging patterns of exploitation — and highlight the vital role of civil society in shaping more effective protection responses.
East Africa’s annual Regional CSO Forum brought together EHAAT members in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, to strengthen cooperation, share new research, and agree on concrete commitments to enhance anti-trafficking responses and support for vulnerable migrants.
Civil society groups from the EHAAT Network joined a regional call with Red Rope and HAART Kenya to discuss rising cases of African women trafficked into India, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities, rescue efforts, and the urgent need for survivor-led solutions.
EHAAT civil society organizations have launched a new bi-weekly communications training program, hosted by BMM, to strengthen outreach, media engagement, and ethical storytelling in the anti-trafficking sector.
EHAAT members met in Kampala, Uganda, for a three-day Resource Mobilization Strategy Workshop facilitated by Freedom Collaborative, developing a collective plan to strengthen sustainability, expand reach, and amplify impact across the region.
EHAAT members gathered in Juba, South Sudan, for the final phase of a regional training series on survivor inclusion, equipping CSOs with tools to ethically, securely, and sustainably embed survivor voices in their work.
Collaborative efforts by the East and Horn of Africa Anti-Trafficking (EHAAT) Network, facilitated by Freedom Collaborative, recently led to the development of impactful region-specific recommendations for the Africa Regional Review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which took place in October 2024
East African CSOs agree plans to build on previous successes at this year’s EHAAT Regional Forum.