At a press conference, the Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms, Rebecca Buttigieg, launched the first national strategy against human trafficking.
This strategy was developed in close collaboration with experts from the Council of Europe and the European Union, within a program co-financed by European funds.
Parliamentary Secretary Rebecca Buttigieg stated that the strategy, along with the action plan, is based on five pillars. These pillars aim to strengthen the fight against human trafficking, prevent human trafficking, and support victims of this organized crime by criminal rings.
She explained that over the past three years, the Directorate of Human Rights within the Parliamentary Secretariat has undertaken several capacity-building initiatives, including training programs for public officials and public awareness campaigns, which can also help combat this crime.
She also mentioned that in the past five years, around 50 victims of human trafficking have been identified, including three Maltese nationals. The most common cases in Malta are associated with trafficking for the purposes of prostitution and labor market exploitation.
The Parliamentary Secretary emphasized that the government has demonstrated its determination to combat this crime by amending the law in 2018 to increase the penalties from a minimum of four years to six years imprisonment for those found guilty of trafficking. There have already been court sentences reflecting this change.
The Parliamentary Secretary reiterated that the government’s commitment to this fight against human traffickers will continue to grow with this strategy, through legislative and administrative actions to be implemented over the next seven years. For this purpose, an inter-ministerial committee has been established to carry out the necessary actions, monitor the implementation of the strategy, and ensure that the country adopts the best practices in this field, both to ensure justice for traffickers and to provide the necessary support to victims of trafficking.
#MaltaDaily
