THAILAND is in the process of preparing the country’s first official guidelines for police to handle human-trafficking cases.
The draft guidelines, which are based on information gathered from experts during a workshop early this year, are now ready as the government is treating the anti-human trafficking mission as an urgent national agenda.
Yesterday, a forum was held for police to receive feedback on the draft.
“We have convened the meeting as we wish to listen to the opinions of people familiar with legal proceedings for human-trafficking cases,” Pol General Tamasak Wicharaya said yesterday in his capacity as the head of the police force’s Children, Women, and Family Protection Centre.
At the forum senior police officers were joined by Martin Reeve from the Australia-Asia Programme to Combat Trafficking in Persons (AAPTIP) project, which is supported by the Australian government.
AAPTIP has helped Thailand with preparing the draft guidelines.
“We aim to provide solid guidelines so that police can work smoothly with public prosecutors in bringing culprits to justice,” Reeve said. “The guidelines aim to ensure efficient legal enforcement and transparency in legal proceedings where human-trafficking cases are concerned.”
The draft guidelines have already taken into account common obstacles that police often run into when solving human-trafficking cases.
Drafters have also identified key success factors.
“The guidelines would become an ultimate manual and standard for police to efficiently deal with human-trafficking cases. With the guidelines, proceedings by the National Police Office will be in line with international standards,” Tamasak said.
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