Strengthening partnerships for combatting Human Trafficking in Sri Lanka
The ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives commemorate the World Day against human trafficking on 30th of July 2019 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Colombo (ILO News)- To commemorate the World Day against human trafficking, which falls on 30th of July, a group of development partners including International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration, Save the Children, The Asia Foundation, Helvetas Swiss Inter-cooperation, and United Nations office on Drugs and Crime, who are currently implementing counter trafficking projects, came together to coordinate the counter trafficking efforts in Sri Lanka with a view to maximizing the impact of activities being implemented.
Left to right: Inspector of Police Sugath Amarasinghe, Officer in Charge Anti Human Trafficking and Smuggling Investigation Unit, Criminal Investigation Department, Sri Lanka Police, Ms. Lakmali Karunanayake, Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Department, Ms. Hiranya Perera, Assistant Secretary Legal Division, Ministry of Justice, Ramani Jayasundere (Moderator), Mr. Keerthi Muthukumarana, Deputy General Manager (Human Trafficking, Licensing, Legal, Investigation & Business Disputes settlement), Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, Ms. Kumudu Perera, Legal Officer, Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and Dry Zone Development, Ms. Nirmali Perera, Senior Probation Officer, Department of Probation and Child Care Services, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and Dry Zone Development.
Human Trafficking is an organized crime committed both within the country and across borders. It is an offence affecting men, women and children and is a punishable crime under the penal code of Sri Lanka. Trafficking can take different forms including, but not limited to, labour exploitation and commercial sexual exploitation. Despite sustained measures taken at the international and national levels, human trafficking remains an issue in Sri Lanka. The complexity of the crime, difficulty in identifying victims, challenges in prosecuting perpetrators and the ever-changing nature of the crime itself, requires a more collective and comprehensive response from the government, civil society and other stakeholders.
Section of the participants
Supported through contributions made by the United States Department of State and the UK Immigration Enforcement, the event brought together key members of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (comprising of representatives from Government institutions), the Civil society Organizations (CSOs) and the development partners on a common platform to create a dialogue on prevention , protection and prosecution aspects related to human trafficking and to strengthen partnerships to counter the scourge of human trafficking. While it provided an opportunity to share information about the multitude of interventions being implemented to counter human trafficking in Sri Lanka it will pave way for strengthened collaboration between government stakeholders, development partners and the civil society to combat human trafficking in the country.
For more information please contact: Mr. Asitha Seneviratne, ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives: asitha@ilo.org , Tel: + 94112592525
