Formalización de procedimiento de los servicios actuales

A strong law does not always result in the desired outcome. For a law to act as an effective and efficient tool in combating a crime, it must be properly enforceable through the depth of its scope and adequately trained enforcement officers. The UAE has taken steps to increase the capacity and awareness about the Federal Law 51 by conducting workshops and providing training to police officers and public prosecutors451. In the first annual report on human trafficking released in May 2008, the UAE for the first time publicly acknowledged the occurrence of trafficking on its land and dedicated substantial funds to combat trafficking and related crimes452. Efforts of combating human trafficking also included devising new methods to monitor and track human rights violations. These new methods include strict monitoring of children coming into the kingdom and verifying the credentials of the persons accompanying them.

The National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, formed in 2007, gave teeth to the Anti-Trafficking Law. The committee, which includes members from Ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Labour, Health and Social Welfare along with members from state security and the UAE Red Crescent Society, coordinates the efforts and initiatives of all the seven Emirates in enforcing anti-trafficking measures453. There has been a notable increase in the number of cases registered under the Federal Law 51 from only 10 cases in 2007 to 43 in 2009454. The annual report for 2010-11 showed a further increase in the

450 _Ibid.

451_{“Initiatives to Combat Human Trafficking”, Op cit.}

452_{UAE Country Summary (2009), Human Rights Watch, Op Cit.}

453_{“Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE: Annual Report 2009-10”, Op cit.} 454 _Ibid

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number of cases to 58455 which declined in 2011 to 37 only. However, the number of cases again increased in 2012 to 47. These 47 cases involved 75 victims and resulted in the arrest of 149 individuals as traffickers456.

The total number of prosecutions in 2012 were 31 cases involving 91 traffickers. The convictions of these traffickers saw imposition of stiff penalties ranging from one year to life imprisonment and fines. Another important feature of human trafficking in the UAE is that the crime is also changing its form. Earlier all the cases of human trafficking involved sexual exploitation of victims but in 2011 some cases pertaining to labour exploitation, forced labour and even in a few instances sale of children were also recorded457. These new trends require more vigilance from the authorities and law enforcement officers. Two cases involving the use of information technology were also detected. In the first, three Latin American women were lured for jobs in the UAE through some website but were later pushed into prostitution. In the second case,a Filipino women befriended a fellow country woman on Facebook, brought her to Dubai after promising a decent job and then forced her into prostitution.

Table 5.1: Cases/ Traffickers/ Victims (Emirate-wise) 2012458

Cases/ Traffickers/ Victims (2012)

Source Cases Traffickers Victims

Abu Dhabi 5 8 10 Dubai 22 81 34 Sharjah 13 34 16 Ajman 3 8 3 Ras Al-Khaimah 3 17 11 Fujairah 1 1 1 Total 47 149 75

455_{“Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE: Annual Report 2010-11”,}

http://www.nccht.gov.ae/en/Publications/PDF/6720111425174190000.pdf, National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, Abu Dhabi, UAE, (accessed April 28, 2013).

456 _{“Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE: Annual Report 2012-13”, National Committee to Combat Human}

Trafficking, Abu Dhabi, UAE, http://www.nccht.gov.ae/en/Publications/PDF/42920131040491272500.pdf, (accessed April 28, 2013).

457 _Ibid. 458 _Ibid.

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Also in 2012, the majority of cases were reported from Dubai (22) involving highest number of traffickers (81). As a result the numbers of victims (34) were also highest in Dubai. Dubai was followed by Sharjah, which reported 13 new cases involving 34 traffickers and 16 victims.

Figure 5.2: Human Trafficking Cases, the UAE 2007 - 2012459

There was a surge in the number of cases in 2012 which increased to 47 from 37 in 2011. This increase can be attributed to the changing nature of human trafficking in the

UAE.Apart for cases of sexual exploitation, other forms of exploitation involving forced labour and child trafficking were also reported.

459 _Ibid. 10 20 43 58 37 47 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

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Figure 5.3: Number of Convicted Cases 2007 - 2012460

The conviction rate improved in 2012 with 31 convictions out of 47 cases. The conviction rate for 2012 stood at nearly 66%, much better than 51% for 2011,but this conviction rate was still much lower than that achieved in 2009 (nearly 81%).

In order to ensure better enforcement, profiling of companies likely to be involved in trafficking is undertakenandstrictsurveillance is kept on them. In 2007 two night clubs were shut as they were found to be involved in the exploitation of women461. Through better efforts on the part of the police and anti-trafficking agencies, more and more incidents of human trafficking and children being used as camel jockeys were detected. As per the records of the Bangladesh mission, by 2008 such incidents dropped to low levels462.

There were reports of continued forced labour in the construction sector and domestic service. The government’s efforts failedtoprovide relief to victims of forced labour and prosecute the offenders during 2012463. The government did not take proactive steps to

460 _Ibid.

461_{Dr. Anwar Mohammad Gargash, (2008), Speech at United Nations General Assembly, New York,}

http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/ThematicDebates/humantrafficking/uae.pdf(accessed January 30, 2012).

462_{Human Trafficking from Bangladesh Drops Drastically.} 463_{Trafficking in Persons report 2013.}

5 6 35 5 19 31 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

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implement the prohibition of the widespread practice of withholding passports, which is a major contributor of forced labour.Although the government is still running the Wages Protection System to address the complaints of workers about unpaid wages, this system is largely limited to administrative remedies that include fines and mediation to recover the wages. There were hardly any cases in which the government had initiated criminal proceedings or punished the offenders for labour abuses. Some stringent measures would have acted as a serious deterrent against labour abuses in the UAE464.

Training programmes on human trafficking for judicial, law enforcement and labour officials were also continued in 2012. The Ministry of Interior conducted 31 suchprogrammesinvolving the participation of more than 1000 police officers in 2012. 68 police officials also participated in international anti-trafficking training programmes during the same year. The focus of these programmes was on increasing the awareness about labour restrictions and UAE labour laws. The government now requires steps to be taken to investigate cases in which its own officers are found to be either complicit in trafficking related offences or are bribed whilst investigating such cases465. The Government’s cooperation with other countries in anti-trafficking efforts has increased in recent years. At the beginning of 2013, a suspected trafficker was extradited by the UAE to his home country for prosecution.