UAE: UNODC convenes first bilateral meeting between Bangladesh and Malaysia to counter human trafficking

 

Dubai, UAE/14 September 2022: UNODC’s GLO.ACT-Bangladesh and Regional Office for South East Asia and the Pacific, facilitated a bilateral meeting between criminal justice authorities from Bangladesh and Malaysia in Dubai on 12-14 September 2022. The meeting aimed at strengthening channels of communication, information exchange and promoting judicial cooperation in combatting trafficking in persons (TIP) between the two countries.  

The meeting was the first bilateral exchange between the Royal Malaysia Police and the Bangladesh Police’s specialist anti-trafficking units. The focus of discussions was on expertise sharing and knowledge exchange on the latest TIP developments and trends in the two countries, including modus operandi of criminal networks targeting migrants from Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Participants also shared challenges, lessons learnt and good practices in investigation of TIP cases, and ways to facilitate enhanced operational cooperation. 

The meeting was designed to provide a space for delegates of the two countries to explore opportunities for engaging in bilateral/multilateral cooperation in the detection, investigation and prosecution of transnational organized crime.  The meeting also provided participants with the opportunity to engage in concrete and case based operational networking based on the challenges and practical experiences in investigating TIP in both countries.

Most importantly, the practitioners explored options to maintain regular communication channels and enhance cooperation through sharing criminal intelligence, using secure evidence, identifying and rescuing victims and locating and apprehending traffickers.

This activity contributes to SDG 8 and SDG 16: https://sdg-tracker.org/

(Supported by European Union)