If there is one intervention that can help curb trafficking in persons, it is creating gainful employment in the job market. And this is what the National Prevention and Response Strategy on Trafficking in Persons intends to achieve. The Department of Law and Order launched the National Strategy today.
As per the department, most of the past cases relating to trafficking in persons in the country are a result of unsafe labour migration with many Bhutanese traveling abroad in hope of better employment opportunities.
The National Strategic Plan recognizes fulfilling the social and economic development needs as important elements in preventing trafficking in persons. It is found that factors such as poverty, unemployment, gender inequality, and family problems make a person more vulnerable to trafficking.
And easy access to the internet and consumerism is making it easier for traffickers to identify and target vulnerable people.
The strategic plan prioritizes conducting research, raising awareness, building institutional capacity, and formulating policies and programs for high-risk individuals. It also focuses on enhancing bilateral, regional, and multilateral collaboration to make it easier to repatriate Bhutanese if they are trafficked abroad.
The Department of Law and Order will implement the National Strategy with nine other relevant agencies. They are the Office of the Attorney General, foreign affairs ministry, Ministry of Labour and Human Resources, National Commission for Women and Children, Police, immigration department, Department of Adult and Higher Education, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, and RENEW.
Home Minister Ugyen Dorji said trafficking in persons is a matter of great concern with more Bhutanese aspiring to work abroad.
“It is of utmost importance to prepare mechanisms towards combating this threat. As we know, legal interventions alone will not be able to deal with the issues. Therefore, it is important to approach the matter more holistically.”
“This strategic paper is basically to guide all the relevant stakeholders as to what their responsibilities are in terms of dealing with issues of trafficking in person. It also includes the national action plan. So basically, we will have a lot of identified activities for three years according to what all the sectors and relevant stakeholders involved are supposed to do,” said Karma Dorji, officiating director of the department of law and order.
As per the Department of Law and Order, currently, there are 30 suspects involved in trafficking in persons. And cases against 11 suspects have been forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
Kinley Dem
Edited by Phub Gyem
