Launch of the 12th Session of the Human Trafficking Specialists Program with 61 Participants from 9 Countries

The twelfth edition of the Human Trafficking Specialist Programme has opened in Dubai, organised by the Dubai Police General Command in cooperation with the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, the Dubai Judicial Institute and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for the Gulf Cooperation Council States, with the participation of 61 male and female attendees representing nine Gulf and Arab countries.

The opening was attended by His Excellency Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al Balooshi, Deputy Chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice; His Excellency Major General Saif bin Abid, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Excellence and Pioneering Affairs at Dubai Police; Her Excellency Judge Dr. Ebtisam Al Bedwawi, Director General of the Dubai Judicial Institute; Dr. Mohannad Fayez Dweikat, Regional Coordinator of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; Brigadier Faisal Al Khumairi, Director of the General Department of Human Rights, and his deputy Brigadier Saeed Al Helli, along with a number of officers and programme participants.

Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al Balooshi affirmed that the continuation of the programme for more than 10 years embodies the UAE’s commitment to developing specialised national and international capabilities and expertise, and to strengthening cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and experience between countries, in step with the developments and challenges associated with this crime.

He added: “We are facing a transnational crime whose perpetrators never cease to ensnare innocent people in every corner of the world, at a time when its criminal patterns have undergone rapid change and its perpetrators have exploited modern technology and artificial intelligence techniques to conceal their identities and control victims. This places on all of us the responsibility of continuing to develop sustainable programmes that help build national knowledge, keep pace with new methods of committing this crime and build the capacity of the personnel concerned, so as to strengthen the effectiveness of the response to the crime, the pursuit of its perpetrators and the protection of its victims.”

Al Balooshi affirmed that the Human Trafficking Specialist Programme is an integrated programme dedicated to preparing specialised personnel and experts, enabling them to support their countries’ efforts to confront this crime, noting that the programme forms the nucleus of a network of national specialists who today serve across the various bodies of the UAE’s national system for combating this crime, and who work within the specialised investigation teams at the Public Prosecution and in the judicial circuits competent to hear human trafficking cases.

He pointed to the contribution of the personnel trained under the programme to building a network of national experts who play an effective role in supporting the smart referral system for victims of human trafficking, which has enabled the transfer of expertise and knowledge between the specialised teams working within the system and has contributed tangibly to developing its working mechanisms and strengthening victim protection efforts.

For his part, His Excellency Major General Saif bin Abid affirmed that the continuation of the Human Trafficking Specialist Programme and its arrival at its twelfth edition reflects a firmly established institutional approach to building and qualifying specialised competencies capable of dealing efficiently and professionally with this type of crime and of keeping pace with the changes and challenges associated with it at the regional and international levels.

He said the Dubai Police General Command believes that developing specialised human capabilities is one of the most important pillars for strengthening the efficiency of the system for combating human trafficking crimes, particularly in light of the evolution in the methods used to commit them and the exploitation of modern technologies and cross-border networks, which requires personnel who possess legal, security and human rights knowledge alongside the practical skills needed for the early detection of these crimes and for handling them in line with international best practices and standards.

He added that the participation of attendees from nine Gulf and Arab countries gives the programme an important regional dimension and contributes to strengthening the exchange of expertise, experiences and successful practices, stressing that the partnership between Dubai Police and the national and international bodies taking part in organising the programme embodies the importance of integrating roles and unifying efforts in confronting human trafficking crimes, and of strengthening the system of prevention, protection and prosecution, in support of national, regional and international efforts to address this crime and safeguard human dignity and rights.

For his part, Dr. Mohannad Fayez Dweikat affirmed the importance of building specialised capacities as a fundamental pillar for strengthening national and regional responses to organised crime and for confronting human trafficking in its traditional and newly emerging forms.

He added: “What strengthens our pride in this journey is the sustainable impact of the Human Trafficking Specialist Programme and its outcomes. Many of the programme’s graduates have become leaders, policymakers and executives in their countries, and they play an effective role in developing national and regional policies and practices in the field of combating human trafficking. We are also proud that a large number of the Office’s trainers and those of the participating countries today are among the first graduates of this programme, who continued their professional and specialised path through the training-of-trainers course to become, in turn, transmitters of knowledge and builders of capacity in their institutions, their countries and the region. This clearly reflects the sustainability of the programme’s impact and the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next.”

He noted that the new edition has been keen to add modern topics and themes addressing artificial intelligence and its applications, financial technology, digital transformation, data management and other related developments, giving participants a deeper understanding of the newly emerging patterns of the crime, allowing them to anticipate its risks and introducing them to modern tools for prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and victim protection.

Brigadier Faisal Al Khumairi affirmed that the Human Trafficking Specialist Programme is one of the important specialised programmes for preparing qualified personnel to deal with human trafficking cases from an integrated perspective combining security, legal, human rights and humanitarian aspects, while at the same time taking into account the particular circumstances and needs of victims and ensuring they are dealt with according to the highest professional standards.

He explained that dealing with human trafficking crimes requires an advanced level of qualification and knowledge, given their complex nature and interwoven dimensions, and what they demand in terms of the ability to recognise indicators of suspicion, identify victims and interview them using professional methods that take account of their psychological and social circumstances, alongside familiarity with referral, protection and care mechanisms and coordination with the relevant authorities, so as to preserve the victim’s rights and dignity from the first moment a case is discovered.

He pointed out that the programme’s arrival at its twelfth edition confirms the sustainability of the efforts made to develop the system for combating human trafficking crimes and to pass accumulated expertise on to new generations of specialists, explaining that the participation of 61 male and female attendees from nine Gulf and Arab countries constitutes an important opportunity to exchange practical experience, strengthen coordination among specialists and develop a shared understanding of emerging challenges and the ways to confront them, which is directly reflected in the efficiency of the response to these crimes and in strengthening the protection of victims and the prosecution of perpetrators.

Source: Emirates News Agency (WAM)