Isatou Dabo was speaking recently during a day’s training organised for law enforcement officers in North Bank, Central River and Upper River Regions.
The training, which centered on issues relating to National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and general understanding on Trafficking in Persons (TIP), was held at Metz Hotel Residence in Kololi.
Moreover, the advocacy forms part of series of training the agency organised targeting law enforcement officers in the country.
Dabo disclosed that trafficking-in-persons is second only to drug trafficking as the largest and most profitable organized crime ever.
This, she said, gives a clue of how serious trafficking in person is, noting that no single institution can combat this growing organised crime.
“Being a trans-national organized crime, it is practically impossible to have an institution or agency fight this. It therefore, needs the collaboration of law enforcement, non-government organization, civil society organizations and all others that could be considered stakeholders in order for us to make a difference and protect the citizens of this country and all other citizens that may come into the country by way transit or final destination.”
To that end, Dabo took participants through various roles and mandates of the agency, screening methods and national referral mechanism.
She expressed optimism that at the end of the day, participants would be au-fait with issues relating to trafficking in persons and be able to not only identify victims, but also conduct special interviews for possible referral of cases.
Welcoming the participants earlier on, Tijan Faal, an investigator at NAATIP, underscored the importance of the training amid the surge in trans-national crimes including TIP.
Faal described human trafficking as a serious threat that is really affecting ‘our brothers and sisters’, thus the need for take a proactive stance to combat it.
“As well all know people are being trafficked outside The Gambia, and also trafficked into the country like wise trafficked within the country.”
He reminded that The Gambia is classified as a source, destination and transit point and the human being is the commodity in human trafficking.
“Victims of human trafficking are subjected to all forms of abuse both physically and sexually. They abuse you, torture you, which takes one to the lowest degrading standards.”
Participants at the event included The Gambia Police Force, Customs and Excise, The Gambia Immigration Department, Drug Law Enforcement Agency -The Gambia, State Intelligence Services, among a host of others.
