"Riding on jobseekers' desparation: Human trafficking redflags"

Trafficking in Persons remains a thorny issue in Kenya, which has been identified as a country of origin, transit and destination for human trafficking...Different recruitment agencies in the country have been linked with human trafficking. To try and establish how people are duped, I carried out a social experiment where I reached out to three agencies to find out their requirements for job placements overseas. I was very specific; I wanted a teaching job... randomly picked the agencies to call from the National Employment Agency’s list of accredited recruitment agencies...

The third call got interesting. The lady who picked up identified herself as the director of the agency. In a sad voice, full of desperation, I identified myself and my credentials, and went ahead to ask if they were recruiting any teachers. She said that they had none at that moment, but it was very likely that there would be openings in September in Qatar. Supposing I picked the agency, what would the requirements be? I would need Ksh 4,000 as the registration fee, an additional Ksh 10,000 for medical tests, and a passport. They would take care of the visa application. But that was not all. If the agency in the recipient country was not offering her a commission, I would have to part with Ksh 150,000 before leaving the country. I was silent for a moment. Isn’t this monetary requirement too much for someone who is desperately seeking for a job? Before I ended the call, I asked whether there were any further requirements. “I would need to see you in person to determine if there are any other requirements we need,” she responded. So much for a teaching job. It was at this point that I decided to put an end to the experiment...

Michelle Koinange, the Coordinator for Stop The Traffik-Kenya, identifies four major red flags for any job applicant. One is when the deal is “too good to be true”.  Recruitment agencies or individuals, more often than not known to the person, lure the job seeker with promises of a better life and opportunity to make “good money”. What they leave out are the exact job descriptions, and payment details, which should be clear from the onset.  Secondly, when a recruitment agency asks too many personal questions about your family, be worried. The only information they need to know about your family  is next of kin, in case of an emergency. Details about where your family members live, their occupations, and property owned should never be disclosed when seeking any job, whether locally or internationally.