Government of Timor-Leste

The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, met with the Head of the Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ihma Shareef, on October 25^th, 2021, at the Government Palace, in Dili.

During the meeting, the Minister and the IOM Head of Mission discussed cooperation to support the Government in its commitment to make all necessary efforts to prevent and fight trafficking in persons.

Ihma Shareef also referred the official handover to the Ministry of Interior, which took place yesterday, of three machines for checking identification and travel documents. The machines will be installed at the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, in Dili, and at the border posts in Batugadé and Sakato. This equipment will allow the detection of false identification and travel documents and, thus, strengthen the national immigration and border management system to deal with transnational organized crime and irregular migration.

We recall that Timor-Leste, last July, created the Commission for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons to ensure the existence of a coordinated action between the various actors involved in the fight against human trafficking, so that the necessary policies and strategies may be defined, for an effective prevention and fight against trafficking in persons.

Minister Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, during the meeting, stated that “Timor-Leste is committed to make all the necessary efforts to prevent and fight this trafficking in persons”.