N’Djamena – Last month (02/08), the Government of Chad announced the establishment of the country’s National Commission against Human Trafficking (CNLTP). The role of the newly formed Commission is to develop national policies and programs to combat human trafficking and coordinate the management of data related to the phenomenon in the country.  

“This decree is a milestone in Chad’s fight against trafficking in persons and a historic step forward in the global efforts to eradicate all forms of abuse”, said Anne Schaefer, IOM Chad’s Chief of Mission. 

The National Commission brings together representatives of key Government ministries including the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate for Immigration and Emigration, the national police, Interpol, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Association of Traditional Chiefs, among others.  

In addition to establishing the CNLTP, the Government also appointed a Multisectoral Technical Committee against human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. The committee is tasked with the implementation of national counter-trafficking programmes, collecting data on trafficking in persons in Chad, and training magistrates and police officers on the protection, assistance, and referral of victims of trafficking. 

“IOM will work closely with the newly established multisectoral committee and provide institutional support and capacity-building to strengthen protection and referral mechanisms for victims of trafficking in the country”, added Anne Schaefer. 

In recent years, Chad has made considerable efforts to strengthen its political and judiciary apparatus to combat trafficking in persons. In 2018, the country passed its first law criminalising trafficking in persons in the country. However, according to the US 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report, only one person has been convicted for crimes of trafficking in persons since then, despite the existence of the phenomenon in the country.  

Since 2019, IOM has been supporting the Government of Chad’s counter-trafficking efforts through capacity-building of Government officials and awareness raising against trafficking in persons. Between 2019 and 2020, IOM helped more than 330 victims of exploitation in Chad. 

To further strengthen counter-trafficking at the institutional level, IOM, since September 2019, has trained 239 officials from security agencies, administration, civil society organisations on combating human trafficking. IOM will also support the development of a national counter-trafficking referral mechanism which will be deployed at key transit areas to enable border and security officials aptly detect and orient suspected cases of trafficking to safer spaces. 

IOM Chad’s counter-trafficking activities are supported by the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration, and the Regional Development and Protection Programme – North Africa. 

For more information, please contact François-Xavier Ada, Communications and Policy Officer at IOM Chad. Email: fadaaffana@iom.int