A meeting with the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak and Development Partners was held on November 15th, 2021, at the Prime Minister’s official residence, with the aim of bringing together all the necessary efforts to fulfil the Government’s commitment of to prevent and fight human trafficking.
The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Magalhães, and the Vice Minister of Interior, António Armindo, accompanied the Prime Minister in the meeting with the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Timor-Leste, Roy Trivedy, with the Head of the Mission of International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Timor-Leste, Ihma Shareef, with the Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Peter Roberts and the team from the Australian Timor-Leste Police Development Program (TLPDP).
During the meeting, Government members and Development Partners shared their thoughts to define concrete and immediate actions to prevent and fight human trafficking.
Some ongoing activities were also presented and the Ministry of the Interior, together with IOM, presented a work plan with a set of activities to be implemented over the next five months, to strengthen the management of national borders and to strengthen law enforcement capacity to fight trafficking in persons and protect victims.
Next December, with the support of the Government of Australia, an Integrated Information Management Centre to fight organized crime and transnational crime, including trafficking in persons, will also be launched. This integrated centre will foster cooperation and information sharing between the various law enforcement and security agencies.
Last June, the Law on the creation of the Committee for Fighting Trafficking in Persons was enacted. This committee ensures the existence of a coordinated action between the various stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking, so that the necessary policies and strategies are defined for an effective prevention and fight against trafficking in persons. Various public services and entities are represented in this structure, particularly in the areas of justice and security, but also representatives of civil society.