The Ministry of Defence says that the Government of Sri Lanka is taking strict and prompt action under the auspices of the ministry to combat human trafficking and that the country’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force intends to initiate many more proactive steps to combat the menace in Sri Lanka in the coming year. Through a policy decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers in July this year, the Chairmanship of the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was shifted from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Defence, with a view to establishing an enhanced institutional mechanism that directly coordinates with the investigation authorities and the intelligence services to combat human trafficking. On being informed of the possibility of the said women being victims of human trafficking, the Task Force had taken action to request the IGP to transfer the relevant investigation to the newly established Human Trafficking Division of the Criminal Investigations Department. Measures are also underway to amend the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act, No. The Task Force intends to initiate many more proactive steps to combat the menace of Human Trafficking in Sri Lanka in the coming year and would welcome the cooperation of the general public and all relevant institutions in being expeditiously informed of possible human trafficking incidents as indicated above, the Defence Ministry said.

Source: The Nation December 26, 2021 07:09 UTC