Interpol-backed Operation Horenya Rescues 64 Victims of Trafficking from Mali

Women pass in front of exhibits from the gender violence awareness program, “From Shadows Into Light” in Bamako, Mali in 2012. (Flickr)

Malian police forces and Interpol rescued 64 trafficking victims in a joint operation on November 1. Interpol announced that most of the people rescued were West African women who were sexually exploited and forced to beg and work in mines. During the same operation, three boys were rescued from an illegal Islamic school where they were allegedly forced to beg for money.

Passengers’ passports at the international airport in Bamako were screened against a range of INTERPOL’s databases via I-24/7, its secure global police communications network, allowing for the detection of fraudulent documents. The women are mostly from Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, and were found working in bars, homes, and mining camps. In January, Interpol released a statement saying that many of the women and girls rescued were promised jobs in Europe only to be forced to work as sex slaves in mining camps in Mali. 

“Mali serves as [a] major transit country for human traffickers who target the most vulnerable members of society,” said Interpol’s secretary-general Jürgen Stock. Operation Horenya— meaning “freedom” in Bambara—has called attention to the regional ties between human trafficking circles and organized crime networks. This awareness has led to renewed statements espousing Interpol’s commitment to working with local law enforcement in Mali to break up these trafficking circles. 

“Interpol’s role to connect police agencies across the world is essential in fighting these terrible crimes, and we will continue to work with our member countries to make sure they get the support they need,” said Stock.

Four suspected traffickers were detained as a result of Operation Horenya, and more arrests are likely to follow. Many of the rescued victims had been exploited in different countries before arriving in Bamako, Mali. The International Organization for Migration and the local NGO War Against Human Trafficking are offering support to the victims. 

As a result of the operation, the Malian government passed a decree which dedicated a branch of their police forces to fighting human trafficking and migrant smuggling.