NAATIP trains tourism security unit on human trafficking – Foroyaa newspaper

Under its mandate to combat trafficking in persons (TiP) in The Gambia and as part of its strategy to raise awareness, the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Agency (NAATIP) on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, trained members of the Tourism Security Unit on Tip .

The training is aimed at ensuring the identification of victims of TiP and understanding the indicators of human trafficking and the National Referral Mechanisms (NRM).

The training will enable participants to identify the difference between TiP and smuggling and also know what administrative procedures to follow when referring cases to the agency.

In her address to participants, Isatou Dabo, the Executive Director of NAATIP, recognized the critical need to prevent human trafficking, protect vulnerable individuals and prosecute those who commit such serious violations of basic human rights. She outlined that her office remains committed to preventing human trafficking, protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators in The Gambia. She announced that the fight against human trafficking is a top priority for the Government of The Gambia, having committed resources to the cause and determined to continue these efforts.

“The government and NAATIP are committed to prosecuting offenders and creating a safe, traffic-free environment for people,” she said; adding that in recent years, her Agency has trained security officers from the Immigration, GPF, State Intelligence Service, Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the PIU, etc.

She added that sexual exploitation is a major problem within the Tourism Development Area (TDAs), where young girls and in most cases men are seen as sex workers, while not everyone engages in sex work but is instead victims of Tip. .

She underlined the importance of training such a badge to ensure they can identify victims of TiP, understand the indicators of human trafficking and also understand the NRMs associated with it.

She urged participants to be open-minded during the training and have a better understanding of TiP at the end of the day.

According to the International Labor Organization, human trafficking is the fastest growing organized crime with annual profits of approximately $150 billion, trapping 40.3 million people in slavery-like conditions. Although it is not mandatory to use transportation for human trafficking, the transportation sector plays a critical role in the fight against human trafficking because traffickers rely on transportation to recruit, move, or transfer trafficking victims for sex or forced labor.

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