The Fight Against Trafficking in Ethiopia: Progress and Obstacles

Ethiopia stands at a critical juncture in its fight against human and drug trafficking. As both a source and transit country for trafficking operations, Ethiopia faces complex challenges that require coordinated responses from government agencies, NGOs, and communities. While recent years have seen significant legal reforms and increased enforcement efforts, persistent gaps in protection services, community awareness, and resource allocation continue to undermine progress in this ongoing battle.

Understanding Ethiopia’s trafficking landscape 🔗

Ethiopia’s position as a major hub for both human and drug trafficking stems from its strategic location and extensive airline connections. The country serves as the epicenter of irregular migration from Eastern Africa, functioning as both an origin and transit state. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians leave the country through three primary routes, making them vulnerable to exploitation.

The eastern route passes through Djibouti or Somalia to Yemen and onward to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The southern route involves transit through Kenya toward South Africa, while the northwestern route leads through Sudan to Libya or Egypt and onward to Europe. Along these routes, traffickers exploit victims in both sex and labor trafficking, often subjecting them to severe abuse.

The role of trusted community members 🔗

What makes Ethiopia’s trafficking crisis particularly challenging is that perpetrators often come from within victims’ own communities. Trusted community members known as manamasas recruit vulnerable youth on behalf of trafficking syndicates by exaggerating the advantages of working abroad. This social embeddedness of trafficking networks means that victims may not even recognize they are being exploited until it’s too late.

Scarce economic opportunities, poverty, and familial encouragement compel tens of thousands of Ethiopians to take these risky journeys. The Middle East remains a primary destination, where Ethiopian women face exploitation in domestic servitude under employer-based visa systems that bind them to single employers and restrict their freedom of movement.

Government responses and legal frameworks 🔗

Ethiopia has taken important steps to combat trafficking through legislative reforms and institutional strengthening. In April 2020, the country enacted Proclamation No. 1178/2020 for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. This law established penalties of seven to 15 years imprisonment for labor trafficking and adult sex trafficking, and 10 to 20 years for child sex trafficking.

The legislation created a high-level National Council chaired by the deputy prime minister to spearhead the country’s response, along with a National Partnership Coalition that coordinates prevention and control efforts. The federal government allocated 1.58 billion Ethiopian Birr (approximately $28.3 million) to combat trafficking and transnational organized crime in the most recent fiscal year.

Training and capacity building initiatives 🔗

The government has prioritized training for law enforcement and judicial officials. In partnership with civil society organizations, Ethiopia provides regular training to federal and regional police, prosecutors, judges, and immigration officers on distinguishing between human trafficking and migrant smuggling, victim identification, and investigation procedures. The Ministry of Justice maintains a specialized prosecution unit focused on trafficking crimes under its Transnational Organized Crime Directorate.

Despite these efforts, challenges remain. The government lacks a centralized data collection system for trafficking crimes, which likely results in underreported statistics. Officials continue to conflate human trafficking with migrant smuggling, particularly at regional and local levels. Additionally, law enforcement efforts disproportionately focus on transnational trafficking while internal trafficking crimes, including domestic servitude and child sex trafficking, receive inadequate attention.

Victim protection services 🔗

Protection services for trafficking victims have expanded but remain insufficient. The government operationalized its first government-run shelter for trafficking victims in Dire Dawa during the recent reporting period. However, most shelter facilities continue to be NGO-run, with minimal financial or in-kind support from the government. Protection services are particularly limited outside of Addis Ababa, and services for male victims remain scarce.

The government maintains migration response centers that can accommodate vulnerable migrants and provide basic needs, temporary shelter, and family reunification support. Ethiopian diplomatic missions in Gulf states offer temporary shelter and facilitate repatriation for trafficking victims abroad. In the most recent year, the government repatriated more than 80,000 Ethiopians in collaboration with international organizations.

The drug trafficking challenge 🔗

While human trafficking dominates discussions, drug trafficking through Ethiopia poses an equally serious threat. Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport has become a major transit hub for illicit drugs entering Africa. As Africa’s largest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines connects to over 127 international destinations, making the airport an attractive route for drug traffickers.

Ethiopian police arrested almost 100 drug traffickers at the airport in 2019 and 2020. However, these arrests represent only a fraction of the problem. Information from arrested traffickers indicates that only around 10% of drug traffickers are actually caught, meaning 90% succeed in moving illicit drugs through the airport to destinations across Africa, with Nigeria, South Africa, and Cape Verde being the top three destinations.

Limited detection capabilities 🔗

Several factors explain why Bole International Airport has become exploited by traffickers. Despite needing to inspect over 120,000 pieces of luggage daily, the Counter Narcotics Operations Unit relies on rudimentary technology and techniques. The unit has no specially trained officers, on-site scanners, sniffer dogs, or testing laboratories at the airport. This limited capacity stems partly from the perception that Ethiopia is not the final destination for these drugs, reducing the incentive to invest heavily in prevention efforts.

The drugs transiting through Ethiopia include cocaine from Latin America, heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and cannabis. In recent years, Ethiopian authorities confiscated approximately 402 kilograms of cocaine and 1,377 kilograms of cannabis. These seizures, however, represent only the tip of the iceberg given the high success rate of traffickers passing through the airport.

Looking ahead: strengthening the response 🔗

Addressing trafficking in Ethiopia requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond law enforcement. Community awareness remains crucial. Many Ethiopians undertake risky migration journeys despite awareness campaigns, suggesting that communities do not view trafficking and smuggling as crimes deserving law enforcement intervention. This social and cultural embeddedness of irregular migration impedes effective criminal prosecution.

Recommendations for enhanced action 🔗

Several priority actions could strengthen Ethiopia’s anti-trafficking efforts. First, the government must expand anti-trafficking training beyond Addis Ababa to ensure all levels of law enforcement understand victim identification protocols and the differences between trafficking and smuggling. Second, protection services need significant expansion, including partnerships with civil society organizations that can provide comprehensive care to victims.

For labor migration specifically, Ethiopia should assign dedicated labor attachés to its diplomatic missions to monitor working conditions of migrants abroad. The country needs to establish more bilateral labor agreements with destination countries and enforce stronger regulations on recruitment agencies, including eliminating recruitment fees charged to workers.

Addressing drug trafficking requires international cooperation. Under the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs, member states are obligated to provide technical and financial assistance to transit countries. Ethiopia needs support from destination countries that benefit from intercepting drugs at Bole International Airport, including advanced scanning equipment, trained personnel, and coordinated intelligence sharing.

The importance of addressing root causes 🔗

Ultimately, sustainable progress requires addressing the factors that drive people into trafficking situations. Poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and limited access to education create vulnerability. While law enforcement and victim protection are essential, they must be complemented by economic development initiatives that provide alternatives to risky migration.

Ethiopia’s progress in establishing legal frameworks and institutional structures is commendable. The country now needs sustained political will, adequate resources, and strong international cooperation to translate these frameworks into effective action that protects its citizens from exploitation both at home and abroad.

What do you think? How can communities in Ethiopia be more effectively engaged in preventing trafficking while addressing the economic pressures that drive migration? What role should international partners play in supporting Ethiopia’s efforts to combat both human and drug trafficking?

References

1. https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/combating-human-trafficking-and-migrant-smuggling-in-ethiopia-more-effectively
2. https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report/ethiopia/
3. https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/addis-ababa-low-risk-choice-for-trafficking-drugs-into-africa