Majority of global human trafficking gangs target women

Dubai: Seventy five per cent of human trafficking cases internationally involve women being forced into prostitution, an expert has said.

John Dillon, a British law enforcement expert, said of all human trafficking cases those involving women being forced into prostitution have the highest percentage internationally.

Dubai Police investigated six cases which could have involved human trafficking. The matter was referred to the court, which ruled there was no human trafficking involved.

Training

According to a senior official from a Dubai court, over the past few years some cases were referred to by police as human trafficking, but judges ruled they were not.

The first training course on human trafficking in the region was held last week for UAE officials on the new law and new methods of investigating human trafficking cases.

Hamed Attiyah, lecturer at the Dubai Police Academy and the coordinator of the training course, said the idea toof conducting the training emerged after the adoption of a new law to combat human trafficking last year.

"We wanted investigation officers to recognise human trafficking cases and avail themselves of the latest methods used in investigating these crimes," he said.

Human trafficking is a global problem at present, giving urgency to the five-day course.

"The law was introduced in 2006 and we found that it is a good opportunity to start training officials from the CID, investigating officers and Interior Ministry officers," said Adil Abdul Hadi, Managing Director of Shield Security Services Company, the UK-based company which organised the course. "What we are trying to do is to pass the knowledge and experiences we have on human trafficking since we have been dealing with the issue for over 20 years," said Abdul Hadi. "With globalisation, crime crosses boundaries. Organised crime is everywhere and their aim is to make money through illegal activities," he added.

"The UAE is investing a lot of effort to combat this crime as well as organised crime," Dillon said.