Collaborative effort to combat human trafficking – FBC News

Competing interests and operational challenges prevent some trafficking cases from being prosecuted and brought to court.

This was highlighted by Justice Minister Siromi Turaga when commenting on the United States' 2024 report on human trafficking.

The report says the lack of resources and funding dedicated to combating human trafficking hampers the ability of authorities to investigate trafficking-related crimes.

Turaga says the lack of investigation into trafficking cases is an operational problem and that a collaborative effort is needed to address the issue.

“We want to see greater collaboration between border control agencies so that the intelligence that comes to us – we know that people are coming from foreign countries to work in Fiji and are being paid for sex or promised work in other countries – ends up being exploited. That's what we want the police to investigate.”

The report says that in Fiji, traffickers, including family members, taxi drivers, foreign tourists, businessmen, crew members of foreign fishing boats and other traffickers, exploit foreign victims.

Turaga adds that the illegal activities seen in other countries also occur in Fiji, but on a smaller scale.