SL made progress in preventing human trafficking - US report

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SL made progress in preventing human trafficking - US report

The Sri Lankan government made progress in its efforts to prevent human trafficking, according to the 'Country Reports on Trafficking in Persons 2010' published by the Embassy of the United State in Colombo.
Stating that the laws introduced in Sri Lanka are helpful in this regard, it adds, "Sri Lanka prohibits all forms of trafficking through an April 2006 amendment to its penal code, which prescribes punishments of up to 20 years' imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious offenses, such as rape".
The Sri Lankan Parliament passed a new act in September 2009 that expanded the powers of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to prosecute recruitment agents who engage in fraudulent recruitment, the US report further said.
In recent years, the Sri Lanka government claimed that it would finalize a circular which would advise police on identifying potential trafficking victims among women detained for prostitution, as well as a ranking system that would publicly grade all employment agencies, it added.
"The National Child Protective Authority conducted awareness campaigns to educate the general public about the dangers of trafficking. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) conducted public outreach events to warn people of the dangers of going abroad illegally and using unlicensed recruitment agencies to find work, and also required all workers to receive pre-departure training which included a labor rights component", stated the report.
In measures that could prevent Transnational labor trafficking of Sri Lankans, the government conducted 184 raids of fraudulent foreign recruiting agencies and took legal action against 12 of them, resulting in fines ranging from $200 to $1,000, the US report said.
While most Sri Lankans have birth certificates and (after the age of 16) national identity cards, many of the 250,000 to 350,000 internally displaced people - a group very vulnerable to trafficking - did not have these documents. The Government of Sri Lanka forged a partnership with UNDP to conduct 16 mobile documentation clinics for conflict-affected people, reaching over 29,000 people in 2009, the report stated.
The report also added that the Ministry of Defence provided training to all Sri Lankan peacekeepers prior to their deployments for international peacekeeping missions on their obligations, duties, responsibilities, and potential disciplinary action, relating to human rights, including trafficking.
It also said that Sri Lanka sent 39 delegations to 22 different labor-receiving countries for meetings, including discussions on ways to improve the rights and conditions of Sri Lankan migrant workers.
Courtesy - PRIU