UN Expert Praises Chad’s Anti-Trafficking Reforms, Warns of Gaps

In rural areas, boys are frequently sold to cattle-herders or abducted during communal conflicts and trafficked for forced labour, especially in the Moyen-Chari province.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally, has welcomed significant steps by Chad to strengthen its legal and institutional response to human trafficking, while warning that deep structural challenges continue to leave vulnerable populations at risk.

Concluding a 10-day official visit to N’Djamena, Koumra and Adré, Mullally praised Chad’s legislative progress but called for urgent international support and comprehensive justice reform to tackle persistent impunity.

New Laws and National Action Plan

Mullally highlighted major reforms adopted by the Chadian authorities, including:

• Enactment of dedicated anti-trafficking legislation

• Launch of a National Action Plan to combat trafficking

• Establishment of a National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons

These measures, she said, signal growing political recognition of trafficking as a serious human rights violation requiring coordinated state action.

Hosting 1.5 Million Refugees Amid Regional Crisis

The Special Rapporteur also commended Chad’s humanitarian commitment, noting that the country is hosting more than 1.5 million refugees fleeing conflict and persecution across the Sahel and neighbouring regions.

“I particularly commend the Government of Chad for its reception and hosting of more than 1.5 million refugees,” Mullally said. “This generosity is all the more remarkable given Chad’s position at the heart of one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian crises in the Sahel region.”

However, she warned that limited international funding for Chad’s humanitarian response is increasing the vulnerability of refugees and Chadian returnees to trafficking and exploitation.

Trafficking networks targeting refugee communities require “immediate global attention,” she said, along with significantly increased support for humanitarian organisations, UN agencies and host communities.

Child Trafficking and Forced Labour

Despite legal reforms, trafficking of children for forced labour remains widespread, particularly in high-risk sectors such as:

• Agriculture

• Mining

• Domestic work

In rural areas, boys are frequently sold to cattle-herders or abducted during communal conflicts and trafficked for forced labour, especially in the Moyen-Chari province.

Child marriage also remains prevalent despite constitutional prohibitions and legislative efforts to curb the practice. Girls and young women are being trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced domestic labour, often facing sexual abuse and physical violence within households.

Ongoing insecurity in the Lake Chad basin region continues to heighten trafficking risks, particularly for children and young people displaced by violence.

Under-Reported Sexual Exploitation

Trafficking for sexual exploitation remains significantly under-reported due to stigma, fear of retaliation, impunity and limited access to justice mechanisms.

Migrant and rural women are especially vulnerable, facing:

• Debt bondage

• Restrictions on movement

• Third-party control and coercion

Mullally noted that weak rule-of-law institutions are undermining enforcement of existing laws.

Call for Justice and Security Sector Reform

“Corruption, weakness in the rule of law and a lack of independence of the judiciary are at the heart of a continuing climate of impunity for all forms of trafficking in persons,” Mullally said.

She stressed that without urgent and comprehensive reform of the justice and security sectors, prevention efforts will remain ineffective.

The Special Rapporteur’s findings underscore the dual reality facing Chad: meaningful legislative and policy progress on one hand, and entrenched structural barriers to accountability and protection on the other.

Her call for sustained international support and systemic reform highlights the scale of the challenge in addressing trafficking in one of the Sahel’s most fragile contexts.