Effect of Coordinated Border Management on Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling Based on the Opinions of Selected Border Officers at the Busia and Namanga One Stop Border Post

Abstract

Organized crime continues to a menace across states, regions and the international arena, necessitating the design and application of various models of managing risks and crimes. Consequently, managing organized crimes has become a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder endeavor in which the opinions of all stakeholders account. Moreover, the multiplicity of stakeholders, interests, policies, legislations, systems and procedures for addressing transnational crimes such as human smuggling and trafficking highlight the need for coordinated approach to the challenge of transnational organized crimes. Human smuggling and trafficking are commonplace examples of transnational organized crimes that states and agencies struggle to address. One-stop-border-posts (OSBPs) such as Busia (Kenya-Uganda) and Namanga (Kenya- Tanzania border) are entry points that perpetrators of transnational organized crimes prefer using. This study set to establish the effect of coordinated border management (CBM) on the opinion of personnel on human smuggling and trafficking at Busia and Namanga OSBPs. The study targeted 30 personnel working at the Busia and Namanga OSBPs, sampling 24 personnel working directly on human smuggling and trafficking divisions at the OSBPs. The researcher used structured questionnaire survey to elicit responses from the participants. The data was organized and analyzed using Microsoft Excel, SPSS to generate correlational, and regression statistics. The study established positive and significant relationship between international cooperation, inter-agency cooperation and intra-agency coordination based on the opinions of selected border officers handling transnational organized human trafficking and smuggling cases at the two OSBPs. The application of these tenets of CBM, opined the respondents, results in reduced frequency of smuggling, reduced number of victims of human smuggling and trafficking and lower numbers or severity of human smuggling and trafficking activities at the OSBPs.