Praneeta Prakash 
Fiji’s national security will be beefed up through training programs for border marshals and village headmen to address human trafficking.
In 2018 and 2019 alone, a total of 23 cases were brought to the attention of law enforcement authorities.
However, only two of these cases resulted in successful prosecutions.
Ministry of Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Mason Smith says enhanced efforts are needed to combat human trafficking cases.
“I guess the issue on the number of cases reported has a correlation with the lack of awareness that is currently being disseminated to the public at large, and we have taken steps now to start training the border marshals (turaga ni koros, turaga ni tikinas) to be aware of some of the signs of human trafficking.”
Smith says they are also working on a national action plan to respond to human trafficking cases effectively.
“We are starting to draft with our stakeholders what is called a national referral mechanism. The idea is to share data amongst the stakeholders and the SOPs on what to do when cases are detected right through to prosecution.”
Smith says they currently have 16 government agencies and a number of civil society organizations involved in the National Action Plan.
He says the primary areas of focus for the National Action Plan are awareness, capacity building, and improving the prosecution rate.
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