Social media fuels human trafficking

DODOMA: Human traffickers are increasingly using social media as one of the main channels to lure victims with false promises of lucrative jobs both within Tanzania and abroad.

An officer from the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Secretariat, Daniel Joseph, revealed this in Dodoma yesterday during a two-day training for law enforcement officers organised by Tanzania Relief Initiatives (TRI) and funded by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The training aimed to strengthen the officers’ capacity to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases.

According to Joseph, the growing use of social media and other digital platforms has become one of the major challenges in the fight against human trafficking, given that the crime is both cross-border and cross-cutting in nature.

He explained that traffickers lure victims by promising well-paying jobs within Tanzania and in foreign countries such as Oman, Malaysia and Egypt.

“Previously, traffickers recruited victims through face-to-face interactions. Today, however, they have shifted to social media platforms. Although social media was created for positive purposes, traffickers are exploiting these platforms to deceive people with false promises of lucrative employment opportunities both inside and outside Tanzania,” he said.

He added that victims who accept such job offers often end up being exploited after arriving at their intended destinations.

“Social media platforms, which were designed to connect people and provide opportunities, are increasingly being misused by traffickers to recruit victims through deceptive job advertisements and other false promises,” he said.

Meanwhile, Thastone George Kombe, Resident Magistrate in Charge of the Dodoma District Court, said the number of human trafficking cases in the region has declined significantly because public awareness has increased and more people now understand that human trafficking is a criminal offence.

“People now understand their rights, and as a result, the number of human trafficking cases in Dodoma has declined considerably,” he said.

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For his part, Edson Martin Mandia, an officer with the Immigration Office in Dodoma Region under the Border Management and Control (BMC) Unit, said the department is responsible for securing the country’s borders by screening people entering, leaving and residing in Tanzania.

“In our efforts to strengthen border security, the Immigration Department has several specialised units, including officers who have received advanced training in identifying victims and other individuals associated with human trafficking,” he said.

Mandia noted that the department plays a critical role in detecting and preventing human trafficking at border entry and exit points before victims can be exploited.

Joseph said human trafficking remains a serious challenge. Recent figures show that between July 2025 and February 2026, authorities rescued 160 victims of human trafficking.

Of these, 126 victims were rescued within Tanzania, demonstrating that human trafficking also occurs inside the country’s borders, while 34 victims were rescued from outside the country, including Oman, Malaysia and Egypt.

During the rescue operations, authorities also arrested 57 suspects. Of these, 45 cases are currently before the courts, while investigations into the remaining 12 cases are ongoing.