New road map to fight human trafficking

SINGAPORE - Less offence-centric, more victim-centred - this is the principle underlying the new national plan to combat human trafficking in Singapore, which was rolled out yesterday.

The four-year National Plan of Action will see government officers trained to spot and manage victims, among other initiatives.

This signals the Government's commitment towards fighting human trafficking in a more holistic, strategic and effective way, said Minister of State for National Development and Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin, who was guest of honour at the launch.

He pointed out that "Singapore, with its high people flows, is an attractive platform for human traffickers".

Although trafficking in people is not a severe problem here, he said "sex trafficking and signs of labour trafficking-related exploitation do exist".

As traffickers are becoming "more organised and increasingly transnational", a more well-coordinated response is vital, he added.

The Inter-Agency Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons was set up in November 2010 to address this.

The plan comes in the wake of foreign criticism of the country's handling of human trafficking.

Since 2004, Singapore has been included in the United States' annual Trafficking In Persons report, though the Government has disputed the accuracy of the report findings.

Statistics from the Ministry of Manpower showed that police received 43 reports of alleged sex trafficking last year, down from 50 in 2010.

The plan - which comes after a year-long series of consultations with stakeholders including non-governmental organisations and foreign governments - comprises 31 initiatives under a four-pronged approach, namely prevention, prosecution, protection and partnership.

Under the preventive approach, the plan aims to reduce human trafficking by detecting potential cases early. This will include educating the public to recognise and report suspected cases. A toll-free hotline to report cases has been mooted.

Under prosecution, the task force is considering either new legislation on human trafficking or changing existing laws.

While some laws are currently applicable to human trafficking, there are gaps.

For instance, the Penal Code and Women's Charter criminalise aspects of sex trafficking, while the Children and Young Persons Act prohibits trafficking in children.