As Fiji strengthens its efforts to combat human trafficking, more attention is needed for people with disabilities who are being exploited and may be falling through the cracks.

During the Anti-Human Trafficking Forum, experts from the Fiji Police Force, Ministry of Immigration, and international partners discussed efforts to improve cross-agency data sharing.

Stakeholders at the discussion affirmed that a lack of reported cases does not necessarily mean no cases exist.

Instead, they believe it may point to a deeper issue of misidentification and underreporting, particularly when victims have limited mobility.

International Organisation for Migration Chief of Mission for the Pacific Solomon Kantha, provided a sobering reminder of how disability can intersect with exploitation.

“In some countries, you find persons with disability forced to beg in the streets or beaten up so that they can beg in order to get money and give it to the person who’s exploiting them.”

Kantha recalls a recent exploitation case that took place in Fiji involving a person with disability.

He informed of a case two years ago, where they received a report about fishermen on a foreign vessel who were en route to Fiji.

Kantha revealed that as a result of being exploited on the vessel, they lost all their fingers, because they were forced to work the freezing temperatures and in that process became disabled.

The International Organisation for Migration is currently helping the Fiji Police Force develop a new case management system to better track human trafficking cases by capturing key data like gender, age, and disability status.

However, this system is still in development, and for now, the primary responsibility for identifying trafficking victims falls on trained frontline police officers.

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