Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, April 22, 2024. Strengthening the capacities of labor inspectors in the Dominican Republic to identify, monitor, and improve the response to human trafficking and forced labor with emphasis on migrant and vulnerable populations is the goal set by the Ministry of Labor, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office against Illicit Trafficking in Migrants and Human Trafficking (P.E.T.T.), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX) in their coordination role of the Interinstitutional Commission against Human Trafficking and Illicit Trafficking in Migrants (CITIM).
These institutions, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) - through its Track4Tip Initiative - and the International Labor Organization (ILO), organized the workshop "Human trafficking, forced labor, and services. Know, act, protect." Through interinstitutional coordination and cooperation, the sessions included the participation of more than 60 labor inspectors and specialized prosecutors on human trafficking, divided into two training and coordination sessions.
In the workshop, inspectors have been able to learn about the international and national legal framework on human trafficking and forced labor; specific vulnerability factors faced by the migrant population in the Dominican labor context; tools and effective techniques to recognize indicators of human trafficking; appropriate procedures to address cases, including evidence collection, victim protection, and interinstitutional coordination, among other topics.
“The workshop seeks to promote the comprehensive protection of human and labor rights of individuals and their dignity, through more effective and coordinated institutional action,” said Lissette Reyes, Human Trafficking Project Officer for UNODC.
At the workshop's inauguration, Julián Mateo, Deputy Minister of Inspection, Minister of Labor; Jadhel Herrera, Director of the Consular and Migration Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX); Yohanna Bejarán, Head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office against Illicit Trafficking in Migrants and Human Trafficking (P.E.T.T.); and Ted Bryan, Political and Economic Counselor, Embassy of the United States were present.
About the TRACK4TIP program
TRACK4TIP is an initiative implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) until 2024 with the support of the United States Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons / JTIP. The project, which began in 2019, benefits eight countries in South America and the Caribbean with national and regional actions in Aruba, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The overall objective of the project is to improve the regional criminal justice response to human trafficking in the migratory flows of beneficiary countries through a multidisciplinary and victim-centered approach, with regional and national actions to identify, prevent, and prosecute cases.
This press release was made possible thanks to the support of the United States Department of State, under the terms of Agreement No. SSJTIP19CA0027. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of State.
