The third meeting of the Consular Working Group on Trafficking in Persons in the Maldives, organized by International Organizations for Migration in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Development, was successfully held on last Thursday (21 July 2016) at the Ministry of Economic Development.  

The meeting was attended by all key stakeholders including members from the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Maldives Police Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office as well as a number of diplomatic consulates including the High Commission of India, High Commission of Sri Lanka, High Commission of Bangladesh, High Commission of Pakistan, the Embassy of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Royal Thai Consulate.

Building on from the discussions of the second meeting of the working group, the participants discussed on the latest Trafficking in Persons 2016 Report findings, on addressing specific cases of TIP identified in the Maldives were discussed as well as the immediate next steps that needed to be taken.

Discussions were held on the prosecutorial aspects of countering trafficking in persons and the role of diplomatic communities in providing support to the efforts. Specific challenges such as obtaining evidence and providing victim protection and services during the investigation and trial period were also discussed.

While the majority of TIP victims are expatriates, close collaboration between government agencies and diplomatic missions is critical.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of State for Economic Development, Mr. Mohamed Anees and IOM Project Manager Shareen Tuladhar.