Abu Dhabi: One hundred and six people accused of human trafficking were arrested in the UAE last year in connection with 25 criminal cases involving 34 victims, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
“The UAE has made significant progress in combating human trafficking in a short period, but realises that much more needs to be done, and is ready to move ahead constructively and systematically,” Dr Gargash, who is also chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, said as he launched the 2016 anti-human trafficking report.
Dr Gargash stressed the UAE will continue to prove its determination and acknowledge where it needs to improve.
Arrests show the number of traffickers arrested almost doubled compared to the previous year, as fifty-four people accused of human trafficking were arrested in the UAE in 2015 in connection with 17 cases involving 24 victims.
Dr Gargash added the UAE will continue to cooperate with all appropriate regional and international law enforcement officials to apprehend, prosecute and punish those violating the UAE’s human trafficking law and those attempting to use the country as a channel to violate antitrafficking laws of other countries.
“The UAE will strive to focus its energies and potential on training its officials in the field of combatting human trafficking, as well as improving partnership between the public and private sectors. It will also enhance cooperation with other international partners to improve coordination and learn from their best practices,” Dr Gargash said.
Dr Gargash added the UAE emphasises its commitment to combatting all activities of human trafficking, given that it is a crime against humanity and because it represents a threat to the values of our and other societies. Fighting against such crime must be a common goal for all the governments of the world.
“The UAE is approaching the human trafficking problem not only as a domestic challenge that violates Islamic values and opposes Arab culture and social values, but also as an international challenge that requires concerted efforts to address,” Dr Gargash said.
He added based on the government belief that this is a despicable crime, the UAE emphasizes that it is committed combatting this practice in all its forms.
Dr Gargash reiterated the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking is working hard on every element in its ‘5 Ps’ strategy — Prevention, Prosecution, Punishment, Protection and Promotion (of international cooperation).
“Since the government first officially acknowledged this problem, it has consistently and continuously improved its efforts to limit the crime, and has adhered to international standards. In particular, the UAE seeks cooperation to overcome some of the challenges that it faces. This includes: Continuing proactive awareness programs for countries that send large numbers of workers to the UAE, especially for vulnerable groups; and enhancing public-private partnership, especially from recruitment agencies and business enterprises,” Dr Gargash said.
According to the report’s author, National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT), convictions have been made in nine of the 25cases, resulting in jail sentences of one year to life imprisonment.
The remaining cases are before the courts. Ten human trafficking cases were registered in Sharjah, eight cases in Dubai, three in Abu Dhabi and two each in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah.
The cases involved 34 victims, all women. The majority of these cases were related to sexual exploitation, excluding three cases wer connected to sale of children.
By comparison, 19 and 15 cases were registered in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
The committee said, “The UAE has made great inroads in containing the crime during the last decade… the government will intensify its campaign with each passing year, with zero tolerance as its moto and in line with international standards.”
The full report can be viewed or downloaded from nccht.gov.ae.
