Kisii Woman Awarded Sh7.3 Million After Myanmar Human Trafficking Ordeal

A Kisii woman who was trafficked to Myanmar after being promised a well-paid job in Thailand has been awarded more than Sh7.3 million in compensation by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Mariera Bosibori, a vegetable vendor at Nyanchwa Market, was promised a two-year contract in Thailand as a food packer with a monthly salary of USD2,000. She paid Sh300,000 to a recruiter who claimed to run a licensed overseas employment agency. Instead of travelling to a legitimate job, she was taken to Myanmar, where she was held captive and forced to work up to 17 hours a day carrying out online cryptocurrency scams.

The court heard that Ms Bosibori's ordeal began in November 2024 when she travelled to Nairobi to meet the recruiter. Although she expected a work visa, she was issued with a visitor's visa and told it would be converted after her arrival. She then travelled to Bangkok with ten other Kenyans before traffickers moved the group across the Moei River into Myanmar. 

Armed guards took them to a secured compound, where their passports and mobile phones were confiscated. At the compound, Ms Bosibori was given a false identity and trained to pose as a wealthy investor online. She was instructed to persuade people to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes. 

The court heard that workers who failed to meet daily targets were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, denied food and refused medical treatment. Justice Nzioki wa Makau said medical reports supported her account of physical abuse and described her experience as among the most traumatic cases presented before the court.

Ms Bosibori was rescued in March 2025 when military forces raided the compound. After returning to Kenya, she discovered that the recruiter had never been licensed to operate an employment agency and had failed to provide the mandatory foreign employment contract required under Kenyan law.

In a judgment delivered in Kisumu on 8 July 2026, Justice Makau ruled that the trafficking began before Ms Bosibori left Kenya. He found that the recruiter's false promises, including the demand for Sh300,000 and assurances that a tourist visa would later be converted into a work permit, formed part of the trafficking scheme.

The judge rejected the recruiter's argument that his role was limited to arranging travel. He ruled that involvement at any stage of the trafficking process was sufficient to establish liability under Kenya's Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Although the National Employment Authority was named in the case, the court found it could not be held liable because the recruiter had never been registered with the authority. Justice Makau nevertheless called for stronger oversight of overseas recruitment, warning that traffickers continue to use increasingly sophisticated methods to target jobseekers.