The government’s action plan to fight human trafficking will give a clearer picture of whether the situation is serious or whether it is a question of not having the appropriate mechanisms to tackle it, the political officer at the US Embassy, Thomas Yeager, has said.

The government said last week it was in the process of publishing a comprehensive action plan ensuring that the fight against human trafficking and victim identification and support would be more efficient. It followed a US report that said Malta did not meet the minimum standards set for the elimination of human trafficking.

Mr Yeager said the government was treating trafficking in persons very seriously and the action plan was a significant step forward. The US government report placed Malta on the Tier 2 Watch List, which incorporates countries that either have a large number of victims or else evidence of the anti-trafficking work they carried out was lacking.

The Justice Ministry said that, earlier this year, the Prime Minister appointed Malta’s first anti-human trafficking coordinator and a high-level monitoring committee. A training programme for stakeholders, including two NGOs, was also held last month.

Mr Yeager said that once a national strategy was in place, when a tip case was identified, better communication across the ministries would yield better results and human trafficking victims could be protected until the case was investigated.

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