AKIPRESS.COM - The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, on 24 November 2014, launched a series of training courses on combatting human trafficking for investigators and operative agents in Uzbekistan.

Some 35 participants from the Tashkent, Syrdarya and Jizzak regions participated in the first training course. The training course involves an in-depth review of current practices and the challenges of investigating human trafficking cases with a focus on new techniques and strategies.

There will be a special focus on the protection of victims of human trafficking as well as victim’s assistance and referral. Through role plays, case studies, group work and other interactive activities, participants will learn enhancing identification of victims of human trafficking and the process of interviewing victims.

“Human trafficking is a serious criminal act, which fundamentally endangers international security. It reaches across various policy and security areas and engages such diverse issues as human rights and rule of law, law enforcement and crime control, inequality and discrimination, corruption, economic deprivation and migration,” said Ambassador Gyӧrgy Szabό, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan. “This is why, in efforts to combat human trafficking, the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security plays such a critical role.”

Szabό also commended Uzbekistan’s government for keeping the fight against human trafficking high on its political agenda.

Bernie Gravett, a retired Police Superintendent from the UK’s Metropolitan Police and an accredited expert in combatting transnational crime and trafficking in human beings, said: “We all know that the trafficking in human beings continues to exist. We must not wait until the victims of trafficking come to us. We must think and work proactively and chase down the criminal gangs even if they are in another country. The specialized training has its place but must develop into action to protect people and the community.”

The training is part of long-standing commitment of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan to assist the country in combating trafficking in human beings.