YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Justice for victims of human trafficking in Cameroon has been impeded by social stigma, inadequate financial resources, as well as lack of clarity in the laws.

During a workshop on human trafficking organized by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Kumbo Diocese Christopher Bello said Cameroon is a source, transit and destination for human trafficking, noting this modern slavery has spiked as a result of the separatist conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

With support from Misereor – the German Catholic Bishops’ Organization for Development Cooperation – the workshop brought together judges, lawyers, journalists, civil society and strategic partners together to hear testimonies from some survivors of human trafficking in the country.

Francisca Awah, a survivor of both human trafficking and organ trafficking, shared a harrowing story of her servitude in the Middle Eastern country of Kuwait.

“I did my master’s degree in Norway in human rights and multiculturalism,” Awah began. After completing her studies, she came back to Cameroon to face the harsh realities of unemployment in a country where approximately 3.7 percent of people looking for a job cannot find one.

“I was seen as a failure in my society for going to a prestigious country like Norway and returning without money and without a job. It was truly shameful,” she said.

The stigma of failure was overwhelming, so when Awah stumbled on an agent helping people to go to Kuwait, she jumped on the opportunity.

The agent had told her there was an opportunity for a teacher of the English Language in Kuwait. The pay would be $1000, with the additional advantage that the school would provide her transportation from her residence to the school and back.

“It took me less than two minutes to decide—this was a great opportunity to regain my family’s pride and give them the prestige of having someone who has lived abroad,” she told Crux.

Upon landing in Kuwait, after a transit from Addis Ababa, Francisca quickly realized that the journey ahead would be far from smooth. Alongside her on the plane were women from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cameroon, each headed to Kuwait with a variety of dreams — some to work as nurses, others in supermarkets, or as English teachers.

Awah recalled the seven-hour ordeal at the airport, where immigration officers seized their passports and denied them basic comfort.

“No food, no water, no sitting, and no leaning against the walls,” she said, painting a picture of exhaustion and despair. Despite this treatment, Francisca and the others persevered, eventually completing the immigration procedures.

She was then picked up by a man, seemingly a soldier, to his home. Awah finds it hard revealing the fine details of her horrifying experience in that home, but she suffered not just physical torture, she also suffered sexual abuse and the resulting psychological trauma.

She requested to leave that home and be returned to the agency that coordinated her departure from Cameroon. Her request was granted. The agency in question operated exactly as a market.

“As I sat there, I noticed people standing by the door and calling out things like ‘English’ or ‘Ghana.’ When they said ‘English,’ it meant they were looking for a maid who could speak English,” she said.

That is how Awah ended up in yet another home, only to face a similar life of rape, torture and abuse.

However, she managed to escape to the Central African Embassy, and established contact with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bamenda archdiocese in Cameroon. The Church charity then linked her up with the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which is operated by Polaris, in the United States. Eventually, another U.S.-based NGO – Freedom for All, based in New York – got in touch with her.

“I was waiting for my flight from the Peace and Justice Commission, but fortunately, Freedom for All, based in New York, covered the cost of my ticket. I didn’t even spend a full week at the Central African Republic Embassy before I was back home,” she told Crux.

Sadly, Awah’s experience is not unique. Cameroon serves as a source, transit, and destination for human trafficking, often involving powerful actors. Ongoing conflicts in the country’s English-speaking regions have further exacerbated the crisis.

At the March 11, 2025, workshop on human trafficking in Yaoundé, experts underscored the alarming scope of this issue. The global human trafficking trade has surged from an estimated $32 billion in 2011 to over $150 billion today.

Lukong Isidore Njodzeven, the deputy Diocesan coordinator for the Justice and Peace Commission of the Kumbo Diocese, told Crux the diocese has always been the weak point when it comes to human trafficking, but that has been worsened with the separatist crisis rocking Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

“The scale of human trafficking in these two divisions [Kumo Diocese covers Bui and Donga Mantung divisions or administrative areas] is alarmingly high,” he said.

He described the two divisions as “catchment areas where many girls and women are trafficked to other towns within Cameroon and beyond.”

“This issue has been exacerbated by the ongoing socio-political crisis,” he said.

“The crisis has led to widespread displacement, the burning of homes, and the separation of countless families. According to UNICEF reports, approximately 800,000 children are out of school. This makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Moreover, the crisis has intensified poverty, further weakening resistance to trafficking and exploitation,” Njodzeven said.

Yet victims are rarely afforded justice, hampered by societal stigma, financial barriers, and a legal framework that requires clarity.

Njodzeven said the Church has been offering survivors a lifeline: Providing them with psychological care and giving them economic empowerment.

“It is necessary to tackle the problem from the roots,” he told Crux.