AMMi: competency based training on investigation methodologies for trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling
From 29 May to 2 June 2018, Expertise France, in close cooperation with the federal anti-human trafficking and smuggling of human beings task force secretariat office of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, organised a four-day training in Bishoftu dedicated to Ethiopian law enforcement agencies and representatives of the Ministry of Justice. European and Somalian public experts brought their support to this training in the framework of the creation of a peer-to-peer regional trainers network initiated by Expertise France. The East African experts who are part of this pool of trainers are actively participating in training activities in the region through the AMMi project.
The training organised in Bishoftu brought together a total of 28 participants (including 7 women) from various public institutions in Ethiopia who work directly on issues of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. Representatives from the federal and regional police investigation departments, federal and regional prosecutors and members of the National Coordination Mechanism were attending this training. Regional representatives were selected from the main Ethiopian regions affected by massive population movements. Civil society organizations providing protection services to victims of trafficking also participated to the first part of the training in order to share their experience with the participants and expand their network with key stakeholders.
A regional process
Since February 2018, Expertise France has been organizing national trainings in East Africa dedicated to public institutions in charge of migration issues. The trainings aim at reinforcing the capacity of law enforcement agencies to lead evidence-based investigations of human trafficking cases. A substantial part of these trainings is dedicated to improve the protection of the victims of trafficking during the investigation and the judicial proceedings. The content of these trainings is elaborated in close collaboration with the public authorities of each country in order to identify the training needs in a collaborative way. The Directorate of International Cooperation of the French Ministry of Interior and the Arma dei Carabinieri of the Italian Ministry of Defence are providing support in the development of the training modules and in conducting trainings in Eastern Africa.
Among the partner countries, Ethiopia has been one of the most committed countries in this regional process of capacity building for institutions fighting human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. Ethiopian trainers participated in the organisation of trainings in Somaliland and South Sudan in 2018 as part of the AMMi project.
"Addressing Mixed Migration Flows in East Africa" (AMMi) is a three-year project supported by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France since January 2016.