Friday
26th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Defense Minister walking into the parliament committee meeting room. Photo: Majilis
Maldives has been promoted to Tier 2 of the TIP Report published by the State Department of the United States of America.
The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is an annual report published by the Depart of State of the USA.
Maldives was placed on the trafficking watchlist in 2017 after the US government examined the country's trafficking records.
The Ministry of Defense in 2020 announced a new action plan against trafficking and strengthened the policies of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Steering Committee. The ministry claimed that the moves prevented Maldives from automatically dropping to Tier 3, as the USA would have cut off all non-humanitarian aid once the country dropped to Tier 3.
The Defense Ministry claimed that the US government stated the promotion was evidence of the Maldivian government's efforts against human trafficking within the past year, despite the difficult circumstances.
In accordance with the action plan, significant progress has been made against human trafficking within the past year, said the ministry.
Progress includes establishing a shelter in Gulhifalhu for trafficking victims, an Anti-Trafficking in Persons (Anti-TIP) office under the ministry, allocating funds from the stage budget to enforce the action plan, and changes to the Anti-Human Trafficking Act according to the United Nations (UN) TIP Protocol.