By: Nyima Sillah
The Executive Director of the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP), IsatouDarboe, has said the Gambia’s airport and land borders serve as entry and exit points for victims of Trafficking In Persons (TIPS).
“As much as border officers at border control points such as Giboro and Amdallai have been trained, the training continues. The attention needs to be on airline handlers because they can be in a position to identify these victims at the point of entry or exit and refer to the right authorities,” Mrs. Darboe explained on Thursday as NAATIP rolled out training for 25 airline handlers from different airlines in the country. The training, held at the Senegambia Beach Hotel, was centered around TIPS.
She pointed out that NAATIP has come to the realization that many a time when officers come into contact with TIPS at the airport, they(officers) may or may not understand the distinction between smuggling and trafficking of migrants, adding that even if they do, there is a lack of understanding or there is lack of knowledge about their role, the identification of victims and key indicators.
Mrs. Darboe told the participants that The Gambia has a national referral mechanism that clearly sets out the procedures that are supposed to be adopted in the event that a particular official, either law enforcement or not,comes across victims of trafficking.
She explained that the training was aimed at imparting relevant information to the participants as regards TIPS, adding that NAATIP will spread its tentacles to other key stakeholders.
“We would be training more. The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority(GCCA) would be included in this regard and we will get to as many personnel as possible to ensure that they understand trafficking, know what to do when they encounter the situation, and be able to strike a balance between their obligation as per a contract of facilitating traveling of someone and where they can say immigration hold on, you need to keep an open eye in respect of this group of people,” she underlined.
