“I Absolutely Had to Leave to Become an Important Person”: 23 Chadian Women Victims of Deceptive Promises Rescued in Extremis

Raïssa* is a smiling 19-year-old girl. Orphaned, she lived with her grandfather and cousins in their family compound in N’Djaména, the capital of Chad. The young woman struggled to find her place in this environment, where she was constantly told that it was time for her to leave. Two sentences were repeated over and over again by those close to her: “find a job” and “find a husband”.

Lacking education and impoverished, the young girl ended up accepting a proposal from a cousin who contacted her from Amman promising her a better future. By becoming a cleaning lady in Jordan, Raïssa is convinced that she will be able to emancipate herself socially and financially: “I had to leave to have a job and make money, to have a good life and not be a burden on my family.” The travel formalities, visa and flight ticket are taken care of by the family, which plans to employ her there.

Determined to try her luck, Raïssa claimed to be 23 years old to obtain an authorization to leave Chadian territory. She took out a debt of 160,000 CFA (245 euros) from the shopkeeper in her neighbourhood. Her neighbour and a friend also lent her money so that she could return to Yaoundé to board a plane to Amman.

It was in the centre of the Cameroonian capital that she was intercepted on 16 June 2022 in the presence of 22 other Chadian women targeted by a trafficking network. These women, aged between 22 and 45, who were planning to return to Amman by air, did not know each other. They all thought they were fleeing precarious living conditions and were in an extremely vulnerable situation.

The victims describe the same modus operandi. A cousin or an aunt would contact them and offer to work as a cleaner in the Jordanian capital and thus obtain better living conditions. “This trip meant everything to me and my family; it was a way out of the misery; it was a dream for me,” says Djamila, one of the victims of this practice.

When her cousin contacted her and offered to join her in Jordan to work as a cleaner, the mother immediately saw the possibility of getting her family out of poverty. At 37, Djamila has been raising her five children and two nephews since her sister died. This job was supposed to be the end of her misery, says the mother: “This trip was a hope for me to be able to take care of my children and my family.”

Her cousin paid for her visa and flight ticket. Djamila borrowed 150,000 CFA (230 euros) from her to obtain her passport and 250,000 CFA (383 euros) for her trip from Chad to Cameroon where she planned to fly to Amman.

Like Djamila, many mothers tried their luck at what they thought would be a better future. For example, Béatrice, a mother of two, went to Cameroon with her aunt, also a mother. The latter assures her that by working as a cleaning lady in Amman, she was able to save enough money to return to Chad, buy a plot of land and a motorbike that allows her to employ a mototaxi driver. Béatrice was impressed by her aunt’s achievements, as she struggled to make ends meet and care for the nine people in her care, despite being a shopkeeper. The two women are arrested just in time by Interpol.

After intercepting the 23 Chadian women, Interpol handed them over to the Cameroonian Government, through the Ministry of Social Affairs. The latter called on the IOM and then directly installed the women in the premises of the temporary reception site for voluntary return migrants. This site has seen its capacities optimized thanks to the support of the European Union under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative.

According to the site manager, Charles Atangana, all these women were in a state of psychological distress when they arrived, “they were completely disillusioned, their fake dream of a brighter future elsewhere had been shattered.” Charles Atangana goes on to say that the victims “were all afraid of us and of everything, they thought we would condemn them or harm them.” For this reason, they immediately received appropriate support through psychosociological first aid, which aimed to deconstruct certain misconceptions. Indeed, although they were victims of trafficking, these women were convinced that they had been placed in prison. It was therefore essential to reassure them of the protective environment provided by the centre. 

Educational discussions were conducted and some of the women received individual counselling. This support enabled them to express themselves without fear and be more confident in themselves and in the future. “They had difficulty talking to us, they were tense and stressed, but today, with the psychological support they received, they are more fulfilled and more expressive,” concludes the centre’s manager. All the women received voluntary return assistance four months later and were able to return to Chad on 2 September 2022.

A person’s gender shapes every stage of their migration experience. The risk of being trafficked is increased when women have limited community support as well as economic and educational resources. To prevent and mitigate the risk of further harm, a comprehensive and coordinated approach to migration is essential.

Since the mid-1990s, IOM and its partners have provided protection and assistance to victims of trafficking. For example, between 2017 and 2021, IOM provided voluntary return assistance to countries in West and Central Africa to more than 2,900 victims of trafficking, 85 per cent of whom were women.

* Names of individuals quoted have been changed to preserve their anonymity.

This article was written by Gisèle MASSINA, Awareness Raising Assistant, IOM Cameroon.