ISLAMABAD, June 28: A consultation of national stakeholders on Tuesday stressed the need for giving additional training to personnel of law-enforcement agencies to curb human trafficking and to strengthen the rehabilitation measures throughout the country, says a press release.

Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and International Labour Organization (ILO) jointly organized the one-day consultation of national stakeholders to review the existing legislation related to human trafficking and the international conventions.

Dr Radhika Coomaraswamy, the regional consultant for ILO’s regional project of Trafficking in Children in South Asia (TICSA), ILO-IPEC Chief Technical Advisor, Ahmet Ozirmak, Senior Programme Officer ILO-IPEC Saifullah Chaudhry, Hasan Mangi and Zia Awan were among the key speakers in the consultation.

The consultation was attended by representatives of ministries of interior, law, labour and manpower, Policy Academy, Federal Investigation Bureau, National Agency for Registration of Aliens (Nara), Child Protection and Rehabilitation Bureau, Punjab Home Department, Department of Anthropology and Economics from Quad-i- Azam University, Sahil, Rozan, LHRLA, Sharp and IOM and Save the Children UK.

The participants felt that human trafficking had both external as well as internal dimensions. It was stressed that the police must be involved in the enforcement of Human Trafficking Ordinance (HTO). Participants suggested the urgent need to cover the internal trafficking also.

They also suggested ensuring availability of strengthened rehabilitation measures for victim of trafficking. Moreover, it was mentioned that the personnel of law-enforcement agencies require additional training on human trafficking issue.

Renowned for her legal expertise to raise international commitments to realize women’s human rights, Dr Radhika Coomaraswamy, apprised the participants about various legal frameworks and approaches governing the issue of the human trafficking, and stressed the need to promote the human right as opposed to law and order approach. She also appreciated the Human Trafficking Ordinance (HTO) 2002 as best available legal instrument within South Asia to deal with the issue.

Director for National Commission on Child Welfare and Development (NCCWD) Hassan Mangi welcomed Dr Coomaraswamy and stressed the need to effectively review and make the ordinance more appropriate and relevant from the victims point.

The president of LHRLA and moderator for the consultation, Zia Awan, stated that national legislation had few gaps that needed attention. He suggested that the over-all judicial process needed to be strengthened to handle the cases of human trafficking. He also suggested that the government needed to provide human and financial resources for the implementation and enforcement of the legislation.

The stakeholders agreed that a review report on human trafficking issues would be finalized during August 2005.