Dubai: Twenty-two graduates have completed a diploma in combating human trafficking, the first of its kind in the region. The graduation ceremony was attended by Lt. Gen Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police Chief on Thursday.
The four-month diploma course was announced last year by Dubai Police’s Human Rights Department and was implemented by the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) and the Dubai Judicial Institute (DJI) and the Human Trafficking Monitoring Centre at Dubai Police.
The 22 graduates who finished the course work in the field of combating human trafficking crimes, either with the police forces or with support organisations such as Ewa’a shelter for women and children.
Lt. Gen Al Mazeina said the diploma aimed at providing people working in this field with necessary qualifications so they are better prepared to handle and identify all that falls under the term “human trafficking”.
Adding that since the inception of the Human Trafficking Monitoring Centre at Dubai Police, they have conducted 40 workshops that benefited 1,635 people working in this field. In addition to carrying out 56 awareness sessions under the slogan “know your rights” that benefited 16,647 people.
“These efforts, in addition to the existing laws on human-trafficking, have resulted in a drop in human trafficking crimes. In 2010, Dubai police had recorded 35 cases of human trafficking, and we have only had six incidents this year, which is an achievement that motivates us to keep working on fight this crime,” he said.
The graduates, he said had undergone 100 hours of training, and they should apply the knowledge they gained in the real world to combat this crime.
Adding that they are planning on adding e-learning, virtual reality and 3D technology aspects to the curriculum so students can learn through real-life like scenarios.
Dr Abdul Rahim Yusuf Al Awadi, Assistant Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs, also spoke at the graduation.
He thanked Dubai Police and the Judicial Institute on behalf of Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Adding that in 2015, the UAE recorded 17 cases of human trafficking across all the emirates.
One of the graduates, Sara Ebrahim Shuhail, Executive Director of Ewa’a Shelter for Women and Children, said the diploma enriched her information about the subject and complimented her existing experience in this field.
Noting that the international and local experts that participated in the lectures gave a lot of important information for those working in the field of combating human trafficking crimes.
Major Ahmad Al Kitbi, from Abu Dhabi Police’s Anti-Human Trafficking Department, another graduate, said the lectures were very helpful and touched on many aspects, including legal and judicial ones.
