The Governmental Forum to Combat Trafficking in Persons in the Middle East held under the theme, "Combating Trafficking in Persons in Tourist Seasons, a Focus on Sports Events", has concluded its activities.
The forum recommended the need to activate the role of the International Center for Training and Research on Combating Trafficking in Persons, which is intended to be established in Qatar in co-operation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in advancing knowledge and capabilities within efforts to combat human trafficking.
The closing session was attended by HE Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Labour, Mohamed Hassan al-Obaidly and the ministers and heads of the competent authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, USA, and the UK and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as the International Labour Organisation.
Over two days, the forum, organised by the Ministry of Labor, represented by the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, in co-ordination with the Permanent General Secretariat of the Governmental Forum to Combat Trafficking in Persons in the Middle East, discussed challenges, developments, and the latest developments on combating human trafficking in Middle Eastern countries, in addition to sharing experiences and best practices, and how to enhance the capabilities of workers in the field of combating human trafficking.
With the final recommendations issued after yesterday's final session, it called for the preparation of a regional vision through a comprehensive study in co-operation with international organisations to discuss the exploitation of tourism in crimes of trafficking in persons and the development of appropriate mechanisms, pointing to the need to enhance the benefit of member states from the training programms provided by the Regional Center for Training and Capacity Building to combat trafficking in persons in Bahrain.
The forum stressed the need to benefit from the experiences and best practices in the countries of the region, especially Qatar, in the field of combating trafficking in persons during the seasons of tourism in the sports field, stressing the promotion of community awareness of the crime of trafficking in persons in the fields of tourism and sports during the period from July 24 to 30, and during the global observance for combatting trafficking in persons.
Furthermore, the forum called for the activation of sports clubs and the tourism sector's role in combating human trafficking. It emphasised the necessity of enhancing the capacity of workers in this field and developing a tailored guideline specific to the Middle East region. This guideline would encompass appropriate control mechanisms and tools to address the unique nature of human trafficking practices in the region.