{"id":20117693,"date":"2025-06-17T18:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20117693"},"modified":"2025-06-17T18:20:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T16:20:13","slug":"acjps-human-trafficking-surges-in-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/acjps-human-trafficking-surges-in-sudan","title":{"rendered":"ACJPS: \u2018Human trafficking surges in Sudan\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Human trafficking in Sudan has intensified dramatically since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, according to a new report from the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS). The report, \u201cHuman Trafficking in Sudan: Roots, Context, and Current Challenges<\/em>,\u201d released yesterday, describes the crisis as \u201ca humanitarian crisis and an organised crime\u201d driven by \u201cviolence, fragile security, poverty, political conflict, and social divisions.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0ACJPS warns<\/a>\u00a0that the collapse of judicial institutions and lack of legal oversight have enabled \u201csystematic violations [to occur] with complete impunity.\u201d The report highlights that \u201carmed groups and organised gangs\u201d are recruiting children, exploiting women, and smuggling people across borders, particularly in Khartoum, El Gezira, and Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan\u2019s strategic location and porous borders have made it \u201ca major hub for\u00a0human smuggling<\/a>\u00a0and trafficking networks,\u201d with some operations allegedly colluding with \u201csecurity officials or elements of the government forces.\u201d These networks are accused of committing \u201cransom kidnapping,\u00a0sexual slavery<\/a>, forced recruitment, and forced labour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women and girls constitute many victims, facing \u201csexual exploitation, forced marriages, or inhumane conditions.\u201d Children are \u201cforcibly recruited for military activities<\/a>\u00a0or exploited in begging and trade networks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Sudan\u2019s adoption of anti-trafficking legislation and ratification of international conventions, the report concludes that \u201cthe lack of political will, weak enforcement mechanisms, limited resources, [and] corruption within state institutions\u201d have rendered these laws ineffective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACJPS warns that \u201cwithout recognising the scale of this disaster, thousands of people will remain vulnerable to exploitation, and suffering will persist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US trafficking report<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the\u00a0US State Department<\/a>\u00a0has downgraded Sudan to Tier 3 in its latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the lowest ranking, indicating that Sudan is failing to meet minimum standards to combat trafficking and is not compliant with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This marks a drop from Tier 2 in 2023, when Sudan was still considered to be making \u201csignificant efforts\u201d to improve. Sudan now joins 13 countries identified as having a \u201cdocumented policy or pattern\u201d of state-sponsored trafficking, including Eritrea, Russia, Syria, and China. Tier 3 status can result in sanctions or cuts to non-humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the downgrade, former US President Joe Biden announced in October that Sudan would remain exempt from TIP-related sanctions, allowing continued access to development and global health assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read the full African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies report here: Human Trafficking in Sudan: Roots, Context, and Current Challenges<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n