Vienna, (Austria), 01 July 2022
Last week, pursuing its effort to promote south-south operational and judicial cooperation among countries affected by the same migrant smuggling route, UNODC organized two operational bilateral meetings for investigators and prosecutors from Sri Lanka with Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
"Last week we had the opportunity to facilitate in Vienna operational exchanges to overcome the barriers created by distance, language and differences in legislations”, said Carlos Perez, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer.
The meetings were organized at the request of the practitioners, as they had detected instances of migrant smuggling that had linkages to the other countries. The forum for discussion and exchange offered by UNODC allowed the participants to exchange information and explain to each other what elements were needed to pursue their investigations.
The investigators and prosecutors from all countries reiterated the need for enhanced bilateral cooperation throughout the process of detection, investigation, and prosecution of migrant smuggling, and also explored ways to exchange information after the meetings.
"Important results are expected to be achieved in the fight against this crime along the illicit smuggling route crossing these 3 countries", added Perez.
STARSOM is funded by the Government of Canada through its Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program (ACCBP).