DOHA: The Ministry of Interior (MOI) intervened to transfer sponsorships of 218 foreign workers last year who fell victims to trading in visas, a senior official has said.
The Search and Follow-up Department at the Ministry acted on 57 complaints about visa trading last year, involving 368 people. Sponsorship of 218 people were transferred while the remaining expressed interest to return home, Colonel Nasser Al Sayed (pictured), head of the Search and Follow-up Department said.
He was speaking at a workshop held by the Qatar Foundation for Combating Human Trafficking (QFCHT) which concluded here on Tuesday. Some 38 officials from the Ministry of Interior, Public Prosecution, Supreme Judicial Council , Ministry of Labour, Lawyers Association and the National Human Rights Committee attended the workshop.
In the first session, a paper was presented by QFCHT expert that discussed crimes related to human trafficking in the light of the Qatari anti-trafficking law. Another research presented by the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Interior shed light on the security dimensions of human trafficking from the perspective of Qatari legislation.
A professor from the Police Training Institute also presented a paper about the criminal responsibility in human trafficking cases. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) consultant, Idris Mezabi spoke about the Arab and Qatari anti-trafficking legislation. Issues such as investigation and evidence collection procedures in human trafficking cases in the light of UNODC guidelines were also discussed. Another paper addressed the issue of victim identification and the final paper of the first session discussed judicial international cooperation in human trafficking cases.
The Peninsula
