Career diplomat Lucy Kiruthu has challenged Kenyan authorities to crack down on online recruitment agencies that are luring and trafficking hundreds of unsuspecting Kenyans to Myanmar.
Ambassador Kiruthu, who is the nominee for appointment as Kenya’s Ambassador to Bangkok, Thailand, asked authorities to stop unsuspecting job seekers from leaving the country without confirming whether the job opportunities exist.
Many Kenyans have fallen victim to forced labour scams in Myanmar after being lured to work in Thailand.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations for vetting, Ambassador Kiruthu challenged the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to crack down on human traffickers.
She also urged the Inter-Ministerial Team on Human Trafficking, which comprises the State Departments for Labour and Diaspora Affairs, the DCI, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, to root out rogue recruitment agencies.
President Ruto’s nominee for Ambassador to Bangkok, Thailand, Lucy Kiruthu, appears before the National Assembly’s Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech, during her vetting hearing at County Hall, Nairobi, on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation
Ambassador Kiruthu wants the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and mobile telecommunications companies like Safaricom to help track the money the recruitment agencies receive to send Kenyans to Myanmar.
This, she said, will help choke the system and help in the arrest of the human traffickers.
“We need to arrest the situation here in Kenya before our people are lured. Let security agencies do the right thing and crack down on human traffickers before they take our people to Myanmar shelters for use as scammers,” Ambassador Kiruthu said.
“The DCI and NIS should monitor fake recruitment websites that offer jobs to help save many unsuspecting job seekers from human trafficking.”
The government recently negotiated the release of 64 Kenyans who were trapped in Myanmar scamming shelters. The Kenyans were among over 30 nationalities who come from as far as South America.
They were in a group of over 7,000 foreigners rescued by two armed groups, namely the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Border Guard Force (BDF).
The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs had earlier negotiated the release of 23 Kenyans who were handed over to the Royal Thai Army by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army on February 12, 2025.
Ambassador Kiruthu also wants Kenya to invoke the UN Convention on Human Rights on Human Trafficking to get international agencies to help in the fight against the vice.
“The issue of human trafficking is a moral, legal as well as humanitarian imperative. I will employ different strategies to protect Kenyans trapped in Myanmar or other Asian countries,” Ambassador Kiruthu said.
“The best way out is to prevent Kenyans from the source here in Kenya. The Labour Ministry, DCI and NIS must prevent Kenyans from travelling without papers or confirmed jobs,” she said.
She also asked the government to create awareness for youth and their families before they travel to Thailand and Myanmar.
