Saudi agencies endorse new draft law on trafficking

Riyadh: As many as seven Saudi government agencies have signed a final draft law to combat human trafficking in order to present it to the Council of Ministers for approval.

The move comes at a time when the Saudi Human Rights Commission plans to make a statement in response to the US State Department report, which ranks Saudi Arabia third among other Arab countries where human trafficking is present.

An official source at the Saudi Human Rights Commission told Gulf News that the new draft law was endorsed by the ministry of interior, foreign ministry, ministry of justice, ministry of social affairs and ministry of labour, as well as the Saudi Human Rights Commission and the Authority for Public Prosecution and Investigation.

Permits

This initiative was taken to curb human trafficking, including exploitation of workers for sex and taking possession of their passports and residence permits in order to force them to work under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, the source disclosed that the Saudi Human Rights Commission will soon issue a detailed reply to a US State Department report that accused four Gulf countries of human trafficking. They are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.

"The report was misleading and ignored Saudi efforts to stamp out the practice," the source noted. Saudi Arabia is extending full cooperation to eradicate this phenomenon.