Maldives holds regional conference on human trafficking

A regional conference on prevention of human trafficking titled “Consultation to promote sub-regional collaboration on combating trafficking in persons” has been concluded in the Maldives.

The conference was inaugurated by the Maldives Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed at a function in Nasandhura Palace Hotel on Sunday.

Speaking at the event, Minister Saeed assured that the Maldives government is serious about combating human trafficking and that it is fully prepared to address the issue.

The two-day conference saw presentations and situation summaries by a number of participants, including the UAE representative, Dr. Ahmed Al Hashemi, Director of Middle East Centre for Training and Development (MECTD).

In his presentation, Dr Hashemi highlighted the different anti-trafficking mechanism employed by the UAE government, especially the successes of the Wage Protection System (WPS), an electronic salary transfer system developed by the UAE Ministry of Labour.

Dr Hashemi also noted other mechanism placed in UAE, including the proactive establishment of departments within government institutions, specialized in human trafficking and the establishment of a special committee to ensure international best practices are maintained.

Classified as a destination region for human trafficking, men and women who travel to the Gulf as domestic servants are often trafficked for the purposes of labor and commercial sexual exploitation.

Organized by the Maldives Ministry of Youth and Sports, in collaboration with Solidarity Center in Sri Lanka, the human trafficking conference is attended by representatives from Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Jordan and United Arab Emirates.