Policy uncertainty threatens anti-human trafficking gains

The report, cited by Tanzania Relief Initiatives (TRI) chief executive officer and Tanzania Network Against Human Trafficking (TANAHUT) executive director Edwin Mugambila, notes that despite intensified prevention and enforcement efforts, the number of identified trafficking cases is projected to rise.

“This upward trend reflects a dual reality,” Mr Mugambila said. “On one hand, it signals improved national capacity in victim identification, reporting and support—an expected and necessary phase in which stronger systems initially uncover more cases before longer-term reductions take hold.”

On the other hand, he warned, the trend may also point to a genuine expansion of trafficking activities, particularly those facilitated through digital platforms.

Online-enabled exploitation—especially targeting children—alongside trafficking for forced criminality, has emerged as a rapidly growing and difficult-to-detect threat.

“While institutional progress is evident, Tanzania’s anti-trafficking response remains at a pivotal juncture,” Mr Mugambila said. “The report underscores the urgent need for renewed policy direction through an updated National Action Plan, stronger legal and institutional frameworks, improved technical implementation and victim-centred services and enhanced inter-agency coordination that places survivor protection, recovery and rights at the core of the response.”

In recent years, the government has strengthened coordination through the Anti-Trafficking Secretariat (ATS), including extending its operational footprint to Zanzibar with the establishment of a new ATS office.

Budgetary allocations to ATS activities have doubled over the past two years, a move that, while still insufficient to match the scale and sophistication of trafficking networks, signals growing political recognition of trafficking in persons as a national priority.

Further institutional reforms have sought to improve coherence across the Union. The creation of two deputy executive secretary positions within ATS—equivalent in rank to permanent secretaries—has established parallel leadership structures for Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, aimed at enhancing oversight, coordination and responsiveness across jurisdictions.

However, the report highlights a stark paradox confronting Tanzania’s anti-trafficking efforts: as protection mechanisms improve and institutional capacity expands, more victims are being identified, even as traffickers exploit new digital tools and platforms.

The report also places Tanzania’s experience within broader global debates on trafficking in persons, particularly interpretive challenges surrounding the Palermo Protocol. Certain forms of exploitation, such as child marriage, remain inconsistently classified across jurisdictions.

While some countries, including the United States, exclude child marriage from trafficking definitions, several African states recognise it as a form of trafficking under national law.

Other emerging issues—including digital trafficking, state-sponsored exploitation, climate change-induced migration and trafficking in conflict settings—are acknowledged in the report but remain underexplored, either due to limited local manifestation or gaps in prevailing theory and practice.

Data from Mainland Tanzania illustrate the scale and complexity of current trafficking trends. More than 2,400 trafficking cases were reported during the period under review, reflecting both widespread internal trafficking and significant cross-border movements.

Boys were disproportionately affected by labour-related exploitation, while girls and women were more commonly subjected to domestic servitude and sexual exploitation.

“Labour exploitation and forced criminality dominate domestic trafficking patterns,” Mr Mugambila said. “A pronounced surge in forced criminality cases was recorded in the Morogoro Region, positioning the Eastern Zone—comprising Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Coast regions—as the national epicentre, with approximately 1,700 reported cases.”

The Lake Zone recorded about 400 cases, largely driven by cross-border movements linked to tobacco plantations and small-scale artisanal mining in the Great Lakes region, drawing victims from neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Burundi.

By trafficking typology, forced criminality accounted for more than 1,000 reported cases, far surpassing other forms and largely concentrated in Morogoro. Labour exploitation followed with approximately 900 cases, including domestic servitude and child labour in extractive sectors. Sexual exploitation accounted for about 370 cases, while other forms of trafficking totalled roughly 210.

The report concludes that without a renewed and comprehensive national action plan, Tanzania risks losing momentum at a time when trafficking dynamics are evolving rapidly, underscoring the need for decisive policy action to sustain and deepen recent gains.