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UAE will ratify protocol to combat human-trafficking

Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, the protocol requires a comprehensive international approach in the countries of origin, transit and destination that includes measures to prevent such trafficking, to punish the traffickers and to protect the victims of such trafficking, including protecting their internationally recognised human rights.

Addressing an international training workshop on trafficking crimes, the minister said the UAE is well aware of the vitality of implementing the international anti-human trafficking rules at the national level.

The workshop titled ‘Principles of Investigations And Prosecution of Human Trafficking Crimes has been organised by the Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and the US Embassy in the UAE.

The minister underlined that trafficking in persons has emerged as a dangerous phenomenon which threatens the whole international community, and stressed that countries ought to show commitments to the international laws on human trafficking in order to effectively combat this crime.

“The existence of a variety of international instruments containing rules and practical measures to combat the exploitation of persons won’t be effective unless countries were committed to enforcement of these legislations,” said Al Dhahiri.

On the steps undertaken by the government to foster national legislation on human trafficking, he said: “To activate national rules and regulations for combating this crime effectively, the country has drafted the federal law no 39 of 2006 on international judicial cooperation in crimes.”

Adopted by the United Nations in Palermo, Italy in 2000, the protocol is also referred to as the Trafficking Protocol. It came into force on December 25, 2003. By 2006 the protocol had been signed by 117 states, and ratified by 110.

The protocol falls under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Purposes of protocol

• To prevent and combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women and children
• To protect and assist the victims of such trafficking, with full respect for their human rights; and to promote cooperation among States in order to meet those objectives
• Defining the crime of trafficking in human beings. Essentially, trafficking consists of actions in which offenders gain control of victims by coercive or deceptive means or by exploiting relationships
• Facilitating the return and acceptance of children who have been victims of cross-border trafficking, with due regard to their safety
• Ensuring that trafficked persons are not punished for any offences or activities related to their having been trafficked, such as prostitution and immigration violations
• Considering temporary or permanent residence in countries of transit or destination for trafficking victims in exchange for testimony against alleged traffickers, or on humanitarian and compassionate grounds

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