By Ndey Sowe
Isatou Dabo, the Executive Director of the National Agency against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP), has emphasized the role of partnership in combating human trafficking, as she called on members of the Gambia Hotel Association (GHA) to remain steadfast in the fight against human trafficking.
Ms. Dabo made this disclosure on Monday, October 7, 2024, during a training session designed for different hotel associations held at the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA), saying they play a crucial role in combating this heinous crime.
The training is aimed at ensuring the identification of victims of TIP and understanding the indicators of human trafficking and the National Referral Mechanisms (NRM). The training among others allows participants to know how to identify the difference between TIP and smuggling of migrants and to know what administrative procedures to take when referring cases to the Agency. She expressed gratitude to members of the GHA for allowing their personnel to be part of the important training.
“Partnership among government, civil society, the private sector, and other multilateral organizations, continues to be crucial. Quite clearly, the government cannot do it alone. So civil society and other actors complement its efforts in ensuring that the much-desired results are achieved,” she emphasized, adding that trafficking in persons is a multi-faceted approach that needs support from all and sundry to combat this inhuman act.
She said research has shown that partnerships have long been essential in the success of global anti-trafficking efforts. However, Dabo said the sustained work of government and civil society stakeholders helps to accurately portray the state of human trafficking every year. This, she said, supports governments in measuring progress and identifying new areas of focus.
Trafficking in persons is a serious human rights violation and a complex crime that brings large profits to the traffickers.
“The partnership of the key stakeholders in preventing human trafficking, protecting victims, and prosecuting traffickers is key to an effective and adequate anti-trafficking response,” she noted. “To support cooperation and encourage partnership in the fight against human trafficking, NAATIP has trained security officers from various security Units within the country over the years and the latest is the training of members of the GHA.”
Ms Dabo said that when sexual exploitation is being discussed or talked about, one key area that is always mentioned is the Tourism Development Areas (TDA) where human trafficking and its consequences manifest in various ways, adding that even staff or personnel in hotels might not realize that this is a matter that has to do with human trafficking.
“This is heartwarming for me in the sense that NAATIP has been in existence for a while and many a time when we identify issues of human trafficking, we all know and understand that sexual exploitation stands at the heart of the matter,” she explained. “We as an agency under the government of the Gambia have been engaging in so much law enforcement training. One fundamental partner that has not been given the attention it deserves is the tourism sector and everyone who works as a front-line officer within the TDA or the hospitality industry.”
She expressed optimism that the landmark training will help participants to understand what human trafficking is, distinguish between trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, understand what obtains in The Gambia in respect of human trafficking, understand their role as hoteliers, and know what measures to adopt from the NRM when referring cases of human trafficking to the Agency.
