Human Trafficking in Somalia: Underage Girls Rescued from Dangerous Smugglers

by: Horn Observer Contributor | 29 August 2024 21:00

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Human Trafficking in Somalia: Underage Girls Rescued from Dangerous Smugglers

MOGADISHU, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) - Luul Mahamed Ali, Nasteexo Sayid Nuur, and Meymun Abdullahi Ahmed—three underage girls—were targeted by human traffickers in Mogadishu and were supposed to be smuggled between late June and July 2024.

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Documents obtained by our investigative team include the girls' boarding passes, but none of them boarded the flight and were successfully rescued.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (HORN OBSERVER) - Luul Mahamed Ali, Nasteexo Sayid Nuur, and Meymun Abdullahi Ahmed—three underage girls—were targeted by human traffickers in Mogadishu and were supposed to be smuggled between late June and July 2024.

Thanks to timely alerts from sources and help from the airport officers, their families successfully thwarted the attempt to smuggle them out of the country.

The traffickers, who are reportedly powerful figures with alleged government connections, remain at large.

"Nobody can touch them," says Mohamud, a relative of one of the girls.

The planned route for the girls involved a flight from Mogadishu to Hargeisa, followed by an overland journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and ultimately crossing into Sudan and the Libyan Sahara. It is there where the traffickers were waiting for their "precious commodity".

Documents obtained by our investigative team include the girls’ boarding passes, but none of them boarded the flight and were successfully rescued.

While only one—Meymun Abdullahi Ahmed— had a Somali passport, Luul Mahamed Ali and Nasteexo Sayid Nuur did not. Despite this, the traffickers secured Somaliland travel documents for their journey from Mogadishu to Hargeisa.

Parents are now stunned to learn that the girls were issued documents with false birth dates to show them as adults.

Meymun has been reunited with her family, who live in a displacement camp in Mogadishu. However, there are fears that the traffickers may seek revenge and target her again.

"I am very worried. My daughter went missing for seven days only to be found at the airport. Now she is safe and back, but I am scared because those men [traffickers] know us and might come after us,” said Abdi, Meymun's uncle.

An immigration officer at Mogadishu airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the traffickers were colluding with senior Somali police officers but declined to name them.

"Once the girls reached Hargeisa, they would have been transported overland to Ethiopia and then crossed into Sudan and the Libyan Sahara. The traffickers would then demand ransom from their victims,” the officer explained.

Typically, traffickers lure young people with promises of jobs and a better life in Europe, only to coerce them into ransom situations. Known as "magafe," these traffickers operate through extensive networks within Somalia and abroad.

Investigators found a Tunisian contact communicating with a local travel agency in Mogadishu to arrange the girls' tickets. Texts and audio messages also revealed tickets issued for Meymun Abdullahi Ahmed.

The travel agency involved in facilitating the girls' journey is ExSom Cargo and Travel Agency, based in Mogadishu. Its owner is also the deputy director of the Somalia Immigration Department. When our reporter checked it on Thursday it was closed.

Requests for comment from the Mogadishu airport police and the Somaliland immigration department went unanswered.

Human trafficking remains a severe issue affecting Somali youth, with hundreds of girls and boys lost along the perilous Sahara route and many ending up in hostage situations in Libya, where families struggle to pay ransoms.

The Somali government has yet to take decisive action against this crime, as some involved are believed to be government officials themselves.