The Gambia government has called for efforts to ending trafficking in persons as dozens of security officers including police, army, immigration, state intelligent services and custom officials started a two-day training workshop aims to proffer measures to end the practice.
It comes after the country’s ranking on tier 3 by United States in a 2019 report on trafficking in persons saying the country does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.
Trafficking in persons, a globally characterised a gross human rights offense, which minimum penalty is life in jail.
Speaking today’s event spearheaded by National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons through the support of UN Agency for migration, vice president Dr Isatou Touray assured government’s commitment to giving zero tolerance to trafficking in persons crimes in the country, saying “the trafficking in persons will be giving greater attention by the government and relevant institution to take it further and address the gross violation of human rights.”
“All trafficking in persons cases before the courts and have been documented BSPD is working with NAATIP to get update on all these cases. Once this is completed, the office of the president will help facilitate of fast tracking of prosecution of the cases…so that everybody will see themselves as actors in taking their response to ensure that we end sort of this hyenas or dangerous practices that takin place,” she added
She called on everyone to participate in fighting trafficking in persons describing it doers’ hyenas who had to be hunted for their heinous actions and penalised.
NAATIP’s executive director Tulle Jawara-Ceesay described the crime as a global phenomenon and “trafficking in persons components in the form of force labour, worst form of child labour, domestic persecute, removal of human organs, early marriage, child sex tourism and smuggling of migrants.”
Trafficking person is a criminal offense it is prohibited by law and the offenders must be punished, she said.