THE PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE IN THE INVESTIGATION AND
PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND SMUGGLING OF
MIGRANTS, WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON PUNISHING THE TRAFFICKERS
Hon. Severino H. Gaña, Jr.*I. INTRODUCTION
Today, there are over eight million overseas Filipinos in 197 countries and territories, representing 10%of the total Philippine population. These are either regular migrants or temporary residents abroad whose
stay overseas is employment-related and who are expected to return at the end of their work contracts. The
majority of Filipinos living abroad are those who are temporary residents.
Filipino temporary residents abroad are either legal workers or irregular workers. At present, there areabout 1.8 million Filipinos who are considered irregular workers. These are people who are not properly
documented, people who do not have valid work permits, or people who are overstaying workers.
The increasing trend in Filipino migration is the result of surplus labour which cannot be absorbed bylabour infrastructures in the country and the constant overseas demand for skilled Filipino labour. The
advent of globalization, rapid advancement in technology and financial instruments, and the desire ofFilipinos to go abroad opened up an opportunity for human trafficking syndicates to develop cross-border
networks for exploitation.
This presentation highlights the extent of the problem of human trafficking in the Philippines, thegovernment initiatives taken to address the problem, and the projections for this transnational crime.

II. THE PHILIPPINE SITUATIONThe Philippines is considered both as a source and destination country. It also serves as one of the majortrans-shipment points for trafficked/smuggled persons to be sent to other countries.

A. The Philippines as a Source Country
Since the 1970s, the Philippines has been providing other countries with labour in various fields. As aresult, there has been a consistent annual growth in the trend of Filipino migration. Consolidated reports
coming from different government agencies reveal a 2% growth rate in overseas Filipinos from 7,412,086 in
2001 to 7,582,504 in 2002 to 7,763,178 in 2003. In 2004, the number of Filipino migrants jumped to
8,083,815.

8,200,000

8,083,815

8,000,000
7,800,000
7,600,000
7,400,000
7,200,000

7,763,178
7,582,504
7,412,086

7,000,000
2001 2002 2003 2004

* Assistant Chief State Prosecutor, Department of Justice, Philippines.

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1. Top Countries of Destination
The Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) has identified the top ten destinations ofOverseas Filipino Workers (OFWs):
COUNTRYTOTAL OVERSEAS
FILIPINOS DEPLOYED

1

United States of America (USA)2,589,223

2

Saudi Arabia

966,572

3

Malaysia

422,910

4

Canada392,1205

Japan

353,253

6

Australia

212,656

7

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

193,1448

Hong Kong

188,404

9

Taiwan158,116

10

Singapore

130,263

2. Overseas Filipino Workers in Asia
Stock Estima te ooff O verseas FiliFilip
pin os(A SI A )Pererm
ma n en t

Temp or a r y

I r r egu lar

Total

Brun
une
ei

26

21,762

1,700

23,488H on g K on g404

194,241

2,700

197,345

Jap
Ja
p an

83,303

238,522

31,428353,253

S. K or ea

4,850

33,285

9,015

47,150M a c au

56

17,3911,000

18,447M a lays
aysiia313

52,337300,000

352,650

Sin gagap
p or e152

64,33772,000136,489

Ta i w a n

2,037

154,135

4,500

160,672

O th er
erss

760

229,599

21,000251,359

A sia (S& E)
Subb - Total
Su91,901

1,005,609

443,343

1,540,853

W o r ld Total

3,187,586

3,599,257

1,296,972

8,083,815

Reports show that 20% of the total overseas Filipino workers around the world are deployed in Asia.
Records also indicate that a majority of Filipinos are deployed in Malaysia and Japan.

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400,000
350,000
300,000
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000BruneiHong KongJapan

S Korea

Macau

Malaysia

Singapore

Taiwan0

Meanwhile, the following are the top regions/continents of destination of undocumented Filipino workers:
REGIONS OF DESTINATION
1. Americas and Trust Territories
2. Asia (East and West)
3. Asia (North)
4. Europe
5. Oceania
6. Africa

NUMBER OF UNDOCUMENTED
FILIPINOS
709,676
503,173
108,150
143,81031,001
16,955The preferred countries of destination of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are thefollowing:

600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000
100,000
0
USA Malaysia Singapore Italy Japan France Israel

UAE Saudi Kuwait
ArabiaWithin Asia, the top five countries with the highest numbers of irregular workers are the following: (1)Malaysia (2) Singapore (3) Japan (4) South Korea and (5) Taiwan. Malaysia recorded the most number ofirregular workers with some 300,000 followed by Singapore with about 72,000. Malaysia is most attractive tohuman traffickers because of its proximity to the Philippines through Mindanao Island.

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3. The Philippines as a Destination Country
Although the Philippines is largely considered a source country, it also attracts some foreigners to its
shores. To date, there are 36,150 foreign nationals working and residing in the Philippines.
Because of its porous borders, human traffickers find it easy to bring their victims into the country. For
years, the country has been identified as a destination for victims from the People’s Republic of China(PRC), India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and some central and eastern European countries.
As a related matter, confirmed intelligence reports show that undocumented foreign nationals areworking in the country as illegal traders, entertainers and commercial sex workers. The Philippines is
emerging as a favoured haven for foreign fugitives. There have been numerous arrests of fugitives within
the Philippine jurisdiction.
4. The Philippines as a Trans-shipment Country
With the perception that border controls in the Philippines allow easier entry, trafficking syndicates use
the country as a trans-shipment point. They usually utilize tourist visas or tampered documents to facilitate
entry into the Philippines. After staying for some time in the country, victims are transported to morelucrative destination markets. Aside from using airports, syndicates also travel to the southern part of thecountry such as Zamboanga City, Tawi-Tawi, Davao City and Palawan to take advantage of the backdoor routeto other countries.

III. MODUS OPERANDI
As observed in the last five years, human traffickers employ various dynamic modes in furtherance of
their illicit trade. Identified modes of trafficking in persons are as follows:

A. Illegal Recruitment
This mode of trafficking is used by individuals posing as recruiters and projecting themselves asrepresentatives or sales agents of a bogus recruitment agency authorized to recruit and deploy foreign
workers to other countries.
A case in point is the trafficking of women to Malaysia. Victims are promised an expense-freerecruitment process that includes air tickets, passport processing, placement fee and miscellaneous feeswith the assurance that work permits will be issued at the country of destination. Once the victims are
already transported, most are sold to prostitution dens and they begin to incur sky-rocketing debts leaving
them no choice but to go out and render sexual services to customers (another way of forced prostitution) to
pay said debts.

B. Illegal Migration
This is usually committed by organized crime groups victimizing Filipino nationals who desire topermanently live or work abroad. The syndicate is presumed to receive large sums of money fromprospective recruits ranging from PHP60,000 to PHP300,000 (Philippine Pesos).
C. Mail Order Brides
This mode involves foreigners who are either married to Filipinos or those who have contacts here in thePhilippines as prime recruiters. The recruiters target young, single and good-looking women who are thenpaired off with foreigners. Pictures of said women are published through travel and tour agencies and theInternet.
D. Foreign Training or InternshipThis is a legitimate means of going out of the country but most people who avail of this programme
refuse to return home and instead prolong their stay in a particular country to work with the hope of
legitimizing their stay therein.
E. Religious Pilgrimage
This scheme victimizes mostly women who join groups for religious tours or pilgrimages and arepromised employment by the traffickers upon arrival in the destination country. Some end up in bonded

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labour while others are forced into prostitution.

F. Cultural Exchange/Promotion
This scheme projects a group posing as artists or singers who would enter a country of destination on acultural exchange arrangement. After the performances, the group disbands and erstwhile members are
deployed in unstable or insecure jobs. This arrangement is a form of exploitation, especially of women.
Usually, the majority of these women end up in prostitution dens.
IV. ROUTES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Airports are still the preferred exit point of OFWs using tourist visas or tampered visas with the aid oforganized crime groups. This is the reason why the Philippine government has strengthened screening
processes at airports to detect fake and tampered travel documents.
Records indicate that organized criminal groups utilize several seaports as exit points for their illegally
recruited or trafficked victims. Their victims are being brought to the southern Philippine City of Zamboanga
as these organized crime groups prefer said city as their staging area. The victims are then made to exit
through the ‘back door’ using the port of Zamboanga or via the Zamboanga-Bongao-Sandakan route using
commercial passenger vessels. This is primarily because of the proximity of Mindanao to destinations in thesouth such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
A high number of victims are also transported using the Tawi-Tawi exit point to Sandakan, Malaysia via
temper-type sea crafts. Government authorities have also monitored the Palawan area to be an emerging
trans-shipment point for Filipinos trafficked towards the South. Moreover, Davao City is also used as an exit
point for persons trafficked to Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia.

V. THE ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ACT OF 2003
(REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9208)
Republic Act 9208 is a comprehensive law which seeks to institute policies to eliminate trafficking inpersons, especially women and children, establish the necessary institutional mechanism for the protection
and support of trafficked persons, and provide penalties for its violations. Salient features of the law are
outlined below.

A. Defines Trafficking in Persons
Using the definition of trafficking in the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, as framework, the law defines trafficking in persons as “therecruitment, transportation, transfer or harbouring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s
consent or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of
coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability ofthe person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person for the purpose of exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms ofsexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery, servitude or the removal or sale of organs. The
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall also
be considered as “trafficking in persons” even if it does not involve any of the means set forth in thepreceding paragraph.”
B. Three Categories of Trafficking
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 punishes three categories of trafficking acts, enumerated
below.
1. Acts of Trafficking in Persons(i)Recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, providing or receiving a person by any means
for the purposes of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery,
involuntary servitude or debt bondage;(ii)
Introducing for money or other consideration, any Filipina to a foreigner as a possible spouse or tooffer any Filipina to a foreigner as a prostitute;42

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(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(viii)

Offering or contracting marriage for purposes of acquiring, buying, offering, selling or trading aperson to engage in prostitution, or other acts of exploitation;
Undertaking or organizing tour and travel plans consisting of tourism packages for purposes ofutilizing or offering persons for prostitution, pornography or sexual exploitation;
Maintaining or hiring a person to engage in prostitution or pornography;
Adopting or facilitating the adoption of persons for the purpose of prostitution, pornography,
sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;
Recruiting, hiring, adopting, transporting or abducting a person, by means of threat or use of force,
fraud, deceit, violence, coercion or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of organs; orRecruiting, transporting or adopting a child to engage in armed activities in the Philippines orabroad.

2. Acts that Promote Trafficking in Persons(i)
Knowingly leasing or subleasing property for trafficking purposes;(ii)
Producing, printing, issuing or distributing unissued, tampered or fake counselling certificates,
registration stickers and other certificates of government used for regulatory and pre-departure
requirements for the purpose of promoting trafficking;(iii)
Advertising, publishing, printing, broadcasting or distributing, by any means, any brochure, flyer,
or any propaganda material that promotes trafficking;(iv)
Facilitating, assisting or helping in the exit and entry of persons from/to the country atinternational or domestic airports, territorial boundaries and seaports who are in possession ofunissued, tampered or fraudulent travel documents for the purpose of promoting trafficking; or(v)
Confiscating, concealing, or destroying the passport, travel documents or belongings of traffickedpersons, or preventing them from leaving the country or seeking redress from the government
and appropriate agencies; or(vi)
Knowingly benefiting, financially or otherwise, or making use of, the labour or services of aperson held to a condition of involuntary servitude, forced labour or slavery.
3. Qualified Trafficking in Persons
Qualified trafficking is committed when:(i)
The trafficked person is below 18 years of age;(ii)
An adoption is effected through the Inter Country Adoption Law and the adoption is forprostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage;(iii)
The act is committed by a syndicate or on a large scale;(iv)
The offender is an ascendant, parent, sibling, guardian or a person who exercises authority over
the trafficked person, or when the offence is committed by a public officer or employee;(v)
The trafficked person is recruited to engage in prostitution for any member of the military or law
enforcement agencies;(vi)
The offender is a member of the military or law enforcement agencies; or(vii) By reason or on occasion of the act of trafficking, the offended party dies, becomes insane, suffers
mutilation or is afflicted with HIV or AIDS.
4. Penalties
ACT
Qualified Trafficking in Persons
Trafficking in Persons
Promoting Trafficking in Persons
Use of Trafficked Persons for Prostitution

PENALTY
Life imprisonment and a ﬁne
ne of PHP 2 million to 5 million
20 years imprisonment and a ﬁne
ne of PHP 1 million to 2 million
15 years imprisonment and a ﬁne
ne of PHP 500 thousand to 1 million
First offence : 6 months community service and a ﬁne
ne of PPHP
HP 50,000.00
Subsequent offence: 1 year imprisonment and a ﬁne
ne of PHP 100,000.00

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5. Trafficking in Persons must be distinguished from Human Smuggling

VI. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES MANDATED TO IMPLEMENT
THE ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ACTThe Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), together with other relevant government
agencies, are mandated to implement RA 9208. The IACAT is composed of the Secretary of the Departmentof Justice as Chairperson and the Secretary of the Social Welfare and Development as Co-Chairperson withthe following as members: a) Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs; b) Secretary of Department ofLabour and Employment; c) Administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration; d)Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration; e) Director-General of the Philippine National Police; f)
Chairperson of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women; g) three representatives from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) who shall be composed of one representative each from among thesectors representing women, overseas Filipino workers and children.

A. Initiatives and Accomplishments
1. Policy Formulation• Developed the National Strategic Plan of Action Against Trafficking.
• Formulated the guidelines for the establishment of the Inter-Agency Law Enforcement Task Force
Against Trafficking. (Set-up task forces at airports, seaports and land-transportation terminals at
NAIA, Zamboanga, Cebu, Davao, Leyte.)• Developed a manual for prosecutors and law enforcers in investigating and prosecuting trafficking
cases.
2. Co-ordination and Monitoring• Established lines of co-ordination with various agencies and bodies dealing with the issue oftrafficking in persons.
• Institutionalized consultative and co-ordinative mechanisms with NGOs.
• Continuously monitored trafficking cases and facilitated referral of cases to concerned agencies.
3. Information, Education and Communication• Developed Standard Orientation Module on Trafficking in Persons.
• Printed and disseminated RA 9208 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
• Popularized the law and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
• Conducted training for various stakeholders like law enforcers, public prosecutors, immigration
officials and employees.
• Conducted roadshow campaign against trafficking in Zamboanga City, Tacloban City and Davao City.

B. Law Enforcement and Investigation
1. Philippine National Police (PNP)• The PNP mainstreamed trafficking in persons in their Women and Children’s Concerns Desks(WCCDs) nationwide. There are 1,782 desks nationwide with 2,182 police personnel.
• The Women and Children Complaint Division, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)
reported that it conducted four rescue operations that led to the arrest of 13 persons and the rescueof 12 minors. Cases were filed before the prosecutor’s office.

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2. National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)The NBI created a specialized unit called Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTRAD), whichinvestigated 55 cases from January 2004 to May 2005. Of the 55 cases, six were recommended forprosecution. These cases involve 63 persons. A further 22 cases are under investigation. AHTRAD
investigated 57 cases of trafficking from January 2005 to October 2005. Of those, 32 cases are underinvestigation, six cases were recommended for prosecution, eight cases are subject to inquest proceedings
and 11 cases were recommended for closure.

C. Prosecution (Department of Justice)
Department (DOJ) Circular No. 18 dated April 22 2005 provides guidelines on the investigation andprosecution of trafficking cases and recommends giving preferential attention to trafficking cases, notdismissing trafficking cases on the mere account of an Affidavit of Desistance, and on the amount of bail for
violations of the trafficking law (PHP10,000 per year of imprisonment except for Qualified Trafficking). It
also recommends the designation of 95 trained Special Prosecutors to handle trafficking cases nationwide.
The Department has also implemented training of 156 public prosecutors nationwide on RA 9208. (Thenumber includes those prosecutors trained by NGOs and other entities nationwide). The DOJ Task Force on
Trafficking in Persons received 14 cases for preliminary investigation and 13 cases for inquest proceedings:• Of the 14 cases for preliminary investigation, four cases have been filed in court, five are pending
investigation, four were dismissed;• Of the 13 cases for inquest, three cases have been filed in court, five have been filed for further
investigation, four cases were dismissed.
Of other trafficking-related cases, 71 cases for violation of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 (RA 8239)
resulted in conviction.
D. National Strategic Action Plan Against Trafficking in Persons (2004 – 2010)
The National Strategic Action Plan is a six-year plan of action that will serve as the blueprint forgovernment, non-government organizations and other stake holders’ action against trafficking in persons. Its
vision is “a just, humane, gender-fair and empowered society that protects its people, especially women andchildren, from all forms of exploitation, thus enabling them to fully exercise their rights, realize theirpotentials in the development of the country, and experience a happy and peaceful family life.”
1. Goal and Objectives
Towards this vision, the Council shall undertake measures to prevent and suppress trafficking in persons,especially women and children, and to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into
mainstream society. The council has likewise identified the following objectives: promote public awarenessof trafficking in persons and sustain collective and co-ordinated advocacy efforts; co-ordinate the maximum
effective and efficient implementation of the law; mobilize and forge partnerships and co-operation among
different agencies involved in the areas of prevention, protection, prosecution, rehabilitation andreintegration of victims of trafficking; establish and institutionalize an effective and efficient referral andtracking system of incidents of trafficking through all the stages of intervention; and institutionalize a central
database and a shared information system on trafficking.
2. Strategies
The National Strategic Action Plan will drive the work programme and associated prioritizing andbudgetary processes of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking in Persons (IACAT) into 2010. In order
to attain its objectives, the Council shall pursue the following strategies:• Advocacy and Social Mobilization• Capability Building• Data Collection and Management• Alliance Building and Networking• Research, Policy Studies and Documentation• Institutional Mechanisms.

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3. Components
This strategic plan of Action has three major components: prevention, protection, rehabilitation andreintegration, with objectives and a set of strategic activities under each component. Each component adopts
all of the strategies mentioned.

VII. US STATE DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONSOn June 3 2005, the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons released
its 2005 TIP’s Report placing the Philippines in the Tier 2 Watch List Category. Countries included under
the said category are those whose governments do not fully comply with the standards of the US Victims ofTrafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into
compliance with those standards.
Based on the said report, the Philippines remained on the Tier 2 Watch List primarily due to thecountry’s failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to convict traffickers. The report says that while thegovernment made increasing efforts to implement the Anti-Trafficking Act, the number of trafficking related
prosecutions remained low and that no convictions were reported for Anti-Trafficking Act violations. While
we do not deny the problem of trafficking in persons in the country, the US Report failed to consider andappreciate the significant efforts made by the country through the number of member agencies of the InterAgency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and its partner agencies and organizations, especially in theareas of law enforcement and prosecution.
This year, the US removed the Philippines from its trafficking in persons Watch List because of thePhilippines’ progress in fighting modern slavery, including forced prostitution, sex trafficking and childlabour. The US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report moves the Philippines up a tierfrom its Watch List of problem nations, to one that is making significant efforts to combat trafficking.
The report congratulated the Philippines for last year’s improvements, saying the government has
stepped up its effort to implement its anti-trafficking law and made initial progress in implementing
strategies to combat trafficking in persons, particularly in prosecuting human traffickers.
The 2006 report noted that the Department of Justice tripled the number of prosecutors, resulting in a
fourfold increase in cases presented for prosecution.

VIII. ACTUAL CASES
A. Case 1: People of the Philippines vs. Hadja Jarma Lalli, et.al.
Facts:
Sometime on June 3 2005, the accused recruited a certain Lolita Plando, a 23 year old, single woman from
Zamboanga City, as restaurant entertainer. On June 6 2006 she left the port of Zamboanga City for Sandakan,
Malaysia. She was brought to a restaurant in Labuan, Malaysia which turned out to be a prostitution den.
Prostitutes were paid MYR300 (Malaysian Ringgits) for short time service of which MYR50 went to theentertainer, and MYR500 for over night service of which MYR100 went to the entertainer.
Lolita worked at Piper Club from June 14 to July 8, 2005. She had at least one customer a night and at
most she had around five customers a night. On July 9 2005 she was lucky to contact her brother-in-law, anIndonesian national, who helped her escape and brought her back to Zamboanga City.
After filing the complaint, the police apprehended the accused this case. After a full-blown trial whichlasted only for four months the court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment and a fine of PHP2,000,000
for the crime of trafficking in persons and the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of PHP500,000 for thecrime of illegal recruitment and to pay the offended party Lolita Plando jointly and severally the sum of
PHP50,000 as moral damages and PHP50,000 as exemplary damages.

B. Case 2: People of the Philippines vs. Alice Tongco, et.al.
Facts:
From October 2003 – January 2004, four women, two of whom were minors, were recruited from Cebu
City by the accused, a couple, and brought to Manila with promised employment as movie actresses and46

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singers but instead they were peddled to men on several occasions for sexual pleasure in consideration of an
average amount of PHP10,000 or engaged in prostitution. They were given half of the amount paid by malecustomers. The accused were arrested by National Bureau of Investigation agents assigned at the Violence
Against Women and Children Division after conducting a surveillance and entrapment operation.
After a full-blown trial, judgments were rendered against the accused and the court sentenced each to life
imprisonment and to pay a fine of PHP2,000,000 (on four counts) and the accused were ordered to pay
jointly and severally each of the four complainants moral damages in the amount of PHP50,000.

C. Case 3: PP vs. Rosalyn Dumot
Facts:
Sometime in the early part of the year 2005, women from Davao Del Norte, mostly under eighteen years
old, were recruited to work as sales girls in Brunei. But instead they were exploited. They were confined ina closed and guarded room and forced into prostitution by their employers in Labuan, Malaysia. Two recruits
luckily escaped through the help of their customers who felt pity for their ordeal. They successfully returned
to Davao Del Norte in the Philippines and filed a formal complaint against their recruiters. After preliminary
investigation, warrants of arrest were issued by the court against the accused. Assistance was being soughtfor those left in Labuan, Malaysia. When this matter came to my attention, I immediately contacted a
Malaysian friend to see if he could be of help. He immediately flew to Malaysia and through his connections
there, he was able to bring the women back to Manila.
IX. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Because of the consistent demand for skilled Filipino labour, we foresee that cases of human trafficking
and smuggling will persist. Many Filipinos believe that working abroad will provide them with better
opportunities. Their vulnerability and ambitions of going abroad will continue to open up chances fororganized crime syndicates to operate.
Nevertheless, the Philippines will continue to intensify co-operation among nations to combat humantrafficking. This does not only mean strengthening law enforcement and prosecution efforts but involves
implementation of appropriate political, economic and social measures as well. The Philippine Government
will also continue to give high priority to intensifying relations with other nations as it continually seeks topromote co-operation, strengthening its ties to tighten security measures at ports and improving
enforcement and intelligence exchange.
It is only in intensifying regional co-operation in the area of law enforcement and prosecution that we will
be successfully liberated from this international scourge. No country or region in the world is exempt fromthe scourge of trafficking. Thus, there is a need to harmonize legislation in the region to criminalize allforms of human trafficking in order to eliminate havens for the illegal activities of human traffickers.
There in also a need to further develop regional capacity-building programmes to enhance existing
capabilities of all countries in the region to monitor, detect and investigate transnational crime activities.
The challenge of addressing and managing the threats of human trafficking certainly requires determinedactions and solutions. Extensive and intensive forging of agreements to strengthen regional andinternational co-operation and linkages should include but not be limited to mutual legal assistance,
extradition, mutual assistance in criminal matters, sharing of information, law enforcement and prosecutorial
co-operation.
The evils of human trafficking can only be eradicated through our joint and sustained efforts on all fronts.
Whether on the national, regional or global level, we should put our resources together and engage eachother constructively in effecting long-term solutions to this global menace.

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