It is essential to raise awareness on the trafficking.
On the occasion of the 2019 International Day Against Trafficking in Persons, AIRCOP would like to take the opportunity to communicate on its contribution to #EndHumanTrafficking by detecting passengers travelling through air borders which could be victims of human trafficking.
In line with the theme of this year "Human Trafficking: Call your Government to Action", AIRCOP Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces (JAITFs) are national structures trained to target, profile and intercept all forms of trafficking of goods and persons, including identifying potential victims of human trafficking.
In the framework of AIRCOP, the capacities of law enforcement agencies to detect victims of human trafficking at international airports are strengthened through specialized trainings on behavioural analysis, fraudulent documents, risk analysis and risk-based profiling of potential victims
As an example, in June 2019, AIRCOP delivered a regional training on the detection of fraudulent documents with a focus on both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, in collaboration with UNODC Project PROMIS (Protection of Migrants: Justice, Human Rights and Migrant Smuggling).
Successful detections already took place as the results of efficient profiling and targeting. In 2017, AIRCOP task force in Felix Houphouët Boigny international airport of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, intercepted 7 victims of human trafficking on their way back from Kuwait
The Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP) is a multi-agency project jointly implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL and the World Customs Organisation (WCO). AIRCOP supports the governments of over 30 countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East in strengthening the capacities of their international airports to detect and intercept drugs, other illicit goods and high-risk passengers in origin, transit and destination countries with the overall objective of disrupting the illegal criminal networks. In addition to the EU funding through the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (Cocaine Route Programme), AIRCOP also receives additional contributions from Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan and the United States of America.
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UNODC Regional Strategy for Combating Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants 2015-2020