New four-year plan in Bahrain to tackle human trafficking

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Bahrain - A four-year action plan to combat human trafficking will be launched in Bahrain later this year, it has emerged.

The kingdom will partner with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on outreach programmes that will include assistance to, and rehabilitation of, victims of the crime.

According to chief of mission (Bahrain) Mohamed El Zarkani, Bahrain can benefit from the UN migration agency’s global experience in tackling the issue.

The expert was speaking exclusively to the GDN on the eve of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons which will be marked globally tomorrow.

“IOM is a largely non-normative organisation dedicated to serving governments in the areas of migration governance and management,” he said.

“In Bahrain, where the government’s priority is to combat human trafficking, the IOM has global experience in dealing with the issue.

“Our unique access to migrants and victims of human trafficking worldwide has allowed us to develop significant expertise in identifying, protecting, assisting, referring and managing the cases of trafficked persons.”

Since the 1990s, the Switzerland-based agency has helped more than 10,000 victims from at least 138 countries.

Mr Zarkani said the IOM, with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) and the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons plan to work on campaigns and training programmes with embassies, civil societies and government entities.

“IOM has recently been commissioned by the committee to develop a national trafficking in persons strategy and a four-year action plan to further cement Bahrain’s efforts in combating the crime.”

He welcomed Bahrain’s measures to counter human trafficking such as amended legislations, a government shelter for victims (men and women) and setting up a Victims Assistance Fund.

The fund provides a monthly allowance to victims whose cases are in court, as part of a financial protection scheme in-between court proceedings.

In addition, the LMRA will soon open an anti-human trafficking centre in co-operation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

The state-of-the-art facility will have access to a digital database containing details of victims, trafficking routes, court verdicts and other information to identify trends globally.

“Bahrain has been recognised as a regional model in combating trafficking as it has introduced new innovative tools that have raised the bar of victim protection,” said Mr El Zarkani.

“For example, the Victims Assistance Fund has been used to help trafficking victims through the provision of cash reintegration assistance to help them upon return to their country of origin.

“In addition, a victims is allowed to reintegrate into Bahrain’s labour market should he wish to do so.

“Here I am referring to people who have been legally identified, under Bahraini law, by a Public Prosecutor and a judge as victims of trafficking.”

Meanwhile, in its latest report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP), the US State Department pointed out that Bahrain had disbursed financial aid to 10 human trafficking victims.

Status

Bahrain became the first country in the region to achieve Tier 1 status two years in a row and is now fully compliant with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.

The US report also documented that the Interior Ministry had probed 19 potential trafficking cases between April last year until March this year, of which 16 were for sex trafficking and three for forced labour.

It involved females from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Morocco, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

This compared with 31 potential sex trafficking cases investigated during the previous year.

Convicted

In the period under TIP review, Bahrain convicted 23 people for sex trafficking crimes in seven cases and sentenced them to between five and 10 years’ imprisonment plus a fine of BD2,000.

“Bahrain has pin-pointed its challenges and dealt with them holistically,” said Mr El Zarkani.

“Bahrain does what is good for Bahrain, and if somebody in the region benefits from it, they are most welcome.

“(Human) trafficking exists on a large scale in every country; what differentiates governments are the mechanisms and institutions to identify and combat this crime.

Praising Bahrain’s efforts over the years, he said: “I know Bahrain is categorically committed to continue raising the bar for efforts to combat this crime with specific focus on trafficking cases involving forced labour.”

sandy@gdn.com.bh

(Image: gdnimages/20190729\20190729002405hu.JPG)

A FOUR-YEAR action plan to combat human trafficking will be launched in Bahrain later this year, it has emerged.