NEWS FROM THE UAE
Source : The National
Police to make extra push to catch human trafficking
DUBAI - MAR 04:The first clues may come when an immigration officer checks the passport of a woman, perhaps from eastern Europe and in her early twenties, who has been picked up for overstaying her visa.
She may seem afraid, or unwilling to impart information and her responses may be inconsistent with what appears to be a straightforward visa violation.
It is instances such as this that law officers, including members of the police, public prosecution and immigration, are being urged to scrutinise for possible cases of sex trafficking.
A training programme run by the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) over the past four days focused on identifying, helping and protecting victims.
Twenty-two participants from the Ministry of Interior, public prosecution and immigration, as well as representatives from women’s shelters, took part in the workshop at the Dubai Police Academy.
It was led by Paul Holmes on behalf of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Mr Holmes focused on indicators that could help in the detection of trafficking victims, such the nationalities and ages of those who are commonly trafficked to the UAE.
“The objective is to empower and to give practical skills to, for example, improve victim identification,” he said.
Mr Holmes stressed the complex nature of pursuing investigations into trafficking. “The problem above all else is that the commodity in this crime are very valuable human beings,” he said.
Among the participants was Ahmed al Jarah, who has spent more than three years in the investigation section of Sharjah’s immigration department.
“This training enlarged my knowledge,” he said. “Before, I only considered cases as simply illegal. Now I will try to find out if they are victims of human trafficking.”
According to Dr Saeed al Ghufli, the co-ordinator of the NCCHT, one aim of the programme is to ensure that those on the front line of the fight against trafficking work to “international standards”.
“Identification of victims is at the beginning of any case, which normally takes place at police stations and borders,” he said.
“We want to give our officers the skills to deal with victims in a humane way. They need to know how to distinguish between prostitution and trafficking victims.”
This was the second IOM training session conducted in the UAE.
According to Fiona el Assiuty, the project manager of the IOM’s regional multi-action programme, more awareness about trafficking for sexual exploitation is needed.
“Trafficking is not a new crime, but the awareness is still not very refined,” she said.
“There is just a fine line between someone who is a victim of trafficking and someone who is doing this voluntarily. It is experience that will be able to detect victims.”
Ms el Assiuty said the UAE had taken “huge steps” in efforts to combat trafficking over the past five years, including the introduction of federal anti-trafficking legislation, as well as the establishment of the NCCHT and shelters for victims.
“It is clear that the UAE is sincere in its efforts to combat the phenomenon,” she said.
In January, the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court sentenced seven men to life in prison for operating the capital’s largest known human trafficking ring.
Mr Holmes said the legislation was one of the strongest he had come across in terms of prescribed punishments.
“The law could be hugely powerful as a deterrent,” he said.
Smoking kills … now pack will say so with gruesome new images
One of the new visual health warnings that will appear on cigarette packets in the UAE. Jaime Puebla / The National
ABU DHABI - MAR 04:Graphic health warnings, including images of an unborn child inhaling smoke from its mother, will soon be printed on all cigarette packets.
The stark visuals, which also include a snake coiled around a shisha pipe, are designed to encourage smokers to quit, or at least cut back, as the UAE takes steps to implement its anti-smoking legislation.
The warnings are expected to be introduced alongside other tough measures, from mandatory licences for cigarette vendors to the banning of cigarette sales near schools.
It is believed officials are also considering restrictions on cigarette sales near mosques and hospitals.
Dr Wedad al Maidoor, the head of the National Tobacco Control Committee, said once implemented the law should have a huge impact on the availability of cigarettes.
She said getting the images on the packets was being worked out by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, and would be discussed at a meeting next month.
“We are very pleased to be at this stage,” she said. “The final implementation will be discussed next month, so we hope it will be done soon. It will involve many authorities to ensure it is done properly and people comply.”
The committee will discuss how to ensure all packets imported to the UAE carry the right pictures, which have been provided by Canadian health authorities. The warnings will be introduced throughout the GCC. Packets sold in Egypt, Jordan and Iran already carry warnings. Other measures, such as banning the sale of single cigarettes, are also on the agenda, Dr al Maidoor said.
“Of course we should not sell cigarettes near schools, or sell single cigarettes as this makes them too available,” Dr. al Maidoor said.
Al Nahda National School for Boys in Abu Dhabi, for example, has at least two stores selling cigarettes within a few hundred metres.
Dr Mohammed Bakour, the vice principal of the school, said banning the sale of cigarettes close to school was a big step. Families in the UAE were often on friendly terms with people working in their local grocers, and this acted as a deterrent for children, he added. “Supermarkets here make deliveries of groceries to the home” he said. “Parents can easily find out if their children are buying cigarettes from shops near to home and children know that.”
Surrounding Al Nahda, said Dr Bakour, there are at least two or three supermarkets within a one or two-minute walk, which cater to several schools in the area.
“Students hang out at these shops, buy snacks and drinks, and of course, buy cigarettes. So if this law is implemented, it will really help in curbing smoking among youth,” he said.
Peter Lugg, principal at Cambridge High School in Abu Dhabi, also welcomed the idea of stopping cigarette sales in supermarkets near schools. He said it should have been introduced “a long time ago”.
What is essential, Mr Lugg added, is for the section of the law that stipulates cigarettes are not sold to those under the age of 18 to be implemented and upheld.
“This is really a question of the integrity of grocers. They have to demand identification and refrain from selling cigarettes illegally,” he said.
Another solution is for schools to keep a tab on students once the school day is over, said Mr Lugg.
Another proposal would require cigarette vendors to purchase licences from the Ministry of Economy.
“They will be expensive. If they break the law, the licence will be taken away from them,” said Dr al Maidoor.
When GCC health ministers met last month in Kuwait. they reviewed a legislation model produced by the World Health Organisation to guide countries in introducing strict laws to curb tobacco use.
The document includes banning smoking in public places, improving smoking cessation services, using picture warnings on packets, banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship and raising taxes. It also places heavy emphasis on monitoring and limiting tobacco use, particularly among vulnerable groups.
“It is a basic document for us to use as a reference. We will use this when we are implementing our own law,” said Dr al Maidoor.
The basics of the new smoking law were revealed in January but officials are now working on completing the full agenda which details how the law will be implemented, exactly what areas are covered, and who will ensure it is enforced.
Dr al Maidoor said the full announcement would be accompanied by mass awareness campaigns informing everyone of their rights.
Sting nets fake goods bribery suspect
DUBAI - MAR 04:A salesman offered a government employee Dh65,000 (US$17,700) to return a huge cache of fake watches, hand bags, wallets and sunglasses confiscated in a raid, a court was told yesterday.
The defendant, a 38-year-old Indian identified as SW, was arrested during a sting operation. He appeared in Dubai Criminal Courts yesterday on charges of bribery.
The sting was co-ordinated by the State Security Agency, because the defendant was suspected of being a foreign agent. He allegedly offered the bribe to a worker for the Economic Department, which held 2,600 fake goods confiscated during a raid.
In the case of the fake goods, First Lt Nasser Abdullah, of the State Security Agency, told prosecutors the defendant had offered to pay Dh25 per item to the Economic Department employee.
The defendant also asked the employee to return work permits confiscated during the raid.
The defendant was arrested after he presented two cheques to the employee.
SW is alleged to have said that he and a group of 15 others has purchased the items for Dh80,000 with the intent of re-selling them.
The case was adjourned to March 14.
Baby-selling woman a ‘slave trader’, court told
DUBAI - MAR 04: A woman accused of trying to sell a baby boy who was born out of wedlock was described by the prosecution in court yesterday as “a modern-day slave trader”.
Ali Humaid bin Khatem. the chief prosecutor, told the Dubai Criminal Courts of First Instance that the 24-year-old Indonesian defendant deceived the child’s mother when she told her she would hand him over to an Emirati family to care for it but secretly tried to turn a profit.
“Sources informed us about a woman shopping for an Emirati buyer to sell a baby for Dh10,000,” said Cpl Oshba Farhan of Dubai Police.
According to her statement to prosecutors, the officer contacted HN by phone on October 30 last year and discussed the purchase.
“I got her to reduce the price to Dh8,500 and set a time the same day to make the purchase,” Cpl Oshba Farhan.
The acccused then appeared with the baby’s mother, who has also denied a charge of human trafficking, who handed the child over to officers, police said.
“She asked us not to speak about the money in front of the woman carrying the baby. She said that she will return to collect the money,” said Cpl Farhan.
The case continues.