ISLAMABAD, MAY 17 /DNA/ – The Country Officer Pakistan (COPAK) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) today launched an awareness campaign on the risks and challenges of trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM) in Pakistan. It targets relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement, media, academia, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and relevant government departments and the general public, to enhance the trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM). ) capacity for prevention and reaction.
The campaign is implemented with the financial support of the Government of Canada through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It will include the publication and distribution of brochures and leaflets to raise awareness, banners, banners, dissemination of public service messages on radio and social media accounts as well as the mobile short message service (SMS) to increase raising awareness of the risks, issues and challenges related to TIP and SOM.
In his interview with the participants, Dr Jeremy Milsom, UNODC Representative in Pakistan, said: “According to the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2020, criminals who traffic children target victims from extremely poor households, dysfunctional families or those who are abandoned without parental care In low-income countries, children represent half of the victims detected and are mainly victims of trafficking for the purpose of forced labor (46%) In high-income countries, child trafficking crimes can also be for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced criminality or begging.
Mr. Ashraf Zubair Siddiqui, Additional Managing Director, Immigration FIA, welcomed the dignitaries and said: “The Government of Pakistan is fully aware and fully committed to upholding its international obligations to combat these inhuman and terrible crimes. The FIA, as the lead agency against these crimes, has developed and maintained excellent relations with its international partners in general and UNODC in particular, which is an abundant demonstration of our commitment. FIA is grateful to have received UNODC’s support in building the agency’s capacity on serious organized crime such as human trafficking and migrant smuggling, in policy and legislative reforms, training, equipment, research and development and international cooperation.
He added: “FIA and UNODC have a strong and long history of cooperation in the fight against TIP and SOM. In 2018, with UNODC, two laws on TIP and SOM were passed by Parliament, followed by the approval of implementing rules in early 2021. The National Action Plan against TIP and the SOM (2021-2025) was also drafted with the support of UNODC. , which provides clear direction on the actions we need to take over the next five years.
“The awareness campaign launched today will help protect the most vulnerable from falling prey to human traffickers and migrant smugglers. This campaign will help ensure that information reaches those who need it most and enable civil society, policy makers and government officials to work together to help prevent and respond to these crimes. Canada will continue to work alongside its partners, such as the Government of Pakistan and UNODC, in the fight against trafficking and smuggling operations. These efforts will also support safe migration, and awareness raising is an essential part of this. », Mr. Matthew Ciavaglia, representative of the High Commission of Canada in Pakistan.
The campaign will be implemented nationwide in close partnership with the FIA and other relevant stakeholders. Civil society will be a key partner in this process as UNODC understands that government and civil society must work closely together to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling. The way to succeed in this fight is through a joint effort to raise awareness of these crimes among a much wider mass of concerned stakeholders. This campaign is important because it combines both prevention and protection strategies, which will support civil society organizations in their efforts to help potential victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants.
Comments are closed.