By Lamin Njie
The Gambia government has said it is disappointed that The Gambia has been sorted in Tier 3 in this year’s United States Trafficking in Persons report.
The United States government last month released the 2019 Trafficking in Persons report, saying The Gambia was not making significant efforts to fight the scourge of human trafficking.
The annual publication documents the efforts of the governments of 187 countries and territories to combat human trafficking. The report arranges countries into three tiers based on their efforts to fight trafficking, and a country in Tier 3 is placed under special scrutiny and risks US sanctions.
On Monday, the Gambia government said it “has recently received the 2018/201919 US State Department’s Report which shows that The Gambia has been downgraded from a Tier 2 Watch list to Tier 3.”
“The Government of The Gambia, through the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP) under the Ministry of Justice, wishes to express its disappointment for this recent downgrade, which the Report attributes to several factors across several Government departments,” a statement by the National Agency against Trafficking in Persons, NAATIP, said.
The agency added: “Notwithstanding, the Government takes note of the recommendations contained in the Report and re-assures the Government of the United States of its continued commitment to fight against the increasing menace and dangers of trafficking in persons.
“NAATIP will use these recommendations as a launch pad to re-focus its efforts in order to properly identify problems and find comprehensive solutions .In this regard, NAATIP will continue to work with all stakeholders in Government a concerted and coordinated effort in this fight.”
