Due to lack of awareness among the stakeholders, Trafficking in Persons (TIP) cases in the country remains low. However, with the recent launch of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Multi-Sectoral Response to combat TIP, it is likely to change.
The SOP was launched in Haa on November 25.
Bhutan has recorded 11 cases of Trafficking in Persons since 2013 including one case of internal trafficking.
A few of the alleged human trafficking cases have either been dropped or altered due to issue of consent, lack of evidence and domestic violence. This is mainly due to a lack of awareness amongst the relevant agencies involved.
The Programme Coordinator of the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Tandin Wangmo said, “The processes and the dynamics of control make trafficking in persons a heinous crime and human rights violation. So what is important for Bhutan at the moment is to create a lot of awareness among all sections of the society so that there is a common understanding of what could be trafficking in persons.”
And without proper Standard Operating Procedures on TIP, authorities are vague on their roles and responsibilities in reporting and dealing with TIP related cases in line with right based and victim-centric approach.
“Police gets a report, then the police carry out assessment and investigation and then shares it with the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) and if a woman or a child is involved. NCWC then compiles the report and gives it to the Dept. of Law and Order (DLO) and DLO eventually hand it over to the Police. So the reports just go round and round. And in the meantime, we fail in our efforts to provide timely and efficient responses to people who were in need of help. To specify the roles of each agency when trafficking in person victim is identified, to streamline all those, SOP was felt necessary,” Tandin Wangmo said.
The SOP also highlights the stages of intervention by the stakeholders from rescuing to investigating and repatriation of the victims.
Bhutan’s rank in Trafficking in Persons watch list, according to the Global Trafficking in Persons Report 2019, has dropped to tier 3 from tier 2. The report states that the government did not report convicted traffickers or identified any victims for the last three years.
“Our report still said that we are still working on SOP for the last three years. And another reason was that our laws did not criminalise all forms of trafficking.”
The agencies involved are the Royal Bhutan Police, the Department of Immigration and five ministries: Home and Cultural Affairs, Labour and Human Resources, Foreign Affairs, Health and Education. The health care service providers, the Office of Attorney General, the National Commission for Women and Children and Civil Society Organizations are also agencies involved in combating TIP.
The cabinet endorsed the SOP in October this year.
Sangay Chezom
