Qatar Calls on International Community to Honour its Commitments towards Trafficking in Persons Phenomenon
New York – Information Office – 21 November
The State of Qatar has stressed that the increasing number of victims of the phenomenon of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, is placing greater responsibility on the international community and requires intensifying efforts to meet the commitments that no one is left behind in the implementation of development goals and Sustainable development of 2030.
This came in a statement delivered by Abdulrahman Yacoub Al Hammadi, Charge d'Affaires of the State of Qatar's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, at the open debate of the Security Council on "Trafficking in Persons in Conflict".
The State of Qatar warned that the danger of trafficking in persons was aggravated by the use of terrorist groups to attract and recruit young people to carry out terrorist operations or to benefit from trafficking in persons to carry out such operations, as stated in the Secretary-General's report pursuant to Security Council resolution 2331.
The State of Qatar stressed that, in accordance with its commitment to international law and in its belief in the importance of promoting and protecting human rights and the need to preserve human dignity, Qatar continues to work tirelessly to contribute to international efforts to combat and eliminate this abhorrent phenomenon.
The statement added that Qatar is focusing its efforts on addressing the root causes of trafficking in persons, whether social, economic, cultural, political or ideological, or the absence of the rule of law and others.
The State of Qatar was working hard to promote complementarity and cooperation among those involved in the formulation and implementation of State strategies and plans in the areas of counter-terrorism, corruption and humanitarian action in order to ensure that the objective of combating and eradicating trafficking in persons was achieved at the national, regional and international levels.
In the statement, the State of Qatar stressed that at the national level, many legislative and executive measures have been adopted to criminalize trafficking in persons in all its forms to ensure that perpetrators are punished, to protect victims, to rehabilitate them and to integrate them into society besides unifying efforts of the State's institutions and the civil society in dealing with this abhorrent phenomenon.
At the regional level, Qatar sponsored the Arab Initiative for Building National Capacities in Combating Trafficking in Persons in the Arab States, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the League of Arab States.
At the international level, the State of Qatar actively contributes to the efforts of the United Friends Group against Trafficking in Persons and has been one of the largest donors to the United Nations Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking since its inception and is one of the largest supporters of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime In addition to its hosting in 2015 of the Thirteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which adopted a comprehensive approach to address the crime of trafficking in persons as set out in the Doha Declaration.
As part of the ongoing support for the UN Global Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons since its launch, the State recently took Belgium's lead role in facilitating negotiations on the Political Declaration issued on 27 September during the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Evaluation of the United Nations Plan of Action To combat trafficking in persons.
The State of Qatar reiterated that the inability of the international community to find just and decisive solutions to conflicts is a major factor in the growing phenomenon of trafficking in persons, as crises and conflicts provide a fertile environment for traffickers, and therefore an end to this crime requires concerted international efforts to address their root causes and armed conflicts , and that the State of Qatar would not hesitate to continue its support for the endeavors of the international community and the Security Council aimed at eradicating trafficking in persons and achieving security, peace and well-being for all peoples of the world, the statement underlined.