Kigali – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) have joined forces to implement a national awareness campaign against cybercrimes and human trafficking.

The country-wide initiative is expected to combat these fast-growing crimes by creating awareness amongst citizens, public institutions, religious organizations, civil society and private companies across the country.

The overall message of the campaign is “Sobanukirwa ibyaha ubyirinde; ubirdine nabandi, Irinde ibyaha bikoresheje ikorana buhanga harinmo nicuruzwa rya’bantu,” which means “Be aware of crimes, avoid committing them and prevent others from getting involved in crimes, especially cyber-related crimes and human trafficking.”

The campaign began on 28 May 2019 in the capital, Kigali with thousands of people from different districts in Kigali participating in the closing ceremony.

The campaign began with an awareness walk in the city of Kigali, and ended at the Nyamirambo stadium, with a call to citizens to be aware of human trafficking and cybercrimes. The event was attended by senior government officials including Johnstone Busingye, the Minister for Justice.

“These crimes negatively impact the economy, people’s lives and the flow of investments to our country,” Busingye said. He added: "The prevention of crime is a joint action; I therefore thank IOM Rwanda for working on this with us.”

Messages were also advertised by the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) two times a day during the national news for 10 days prior to the event.

These types of messages and events will continuously be part of IOM’s ongoing awareness raising campaign on combating human trafficking in Rwanda.

For further information please contact Alia Hirji at IOM Rwanda, Email: ahirji@iom.int.