Following the economic crisis Sri Lanka faced over the last few years, many Sri Lankans who were desperately seeking foreign employment have been victimised by human traffickers and the trend is continuing. This is a clear indication for the need of more awareness building and the need for more robust action by the Government in addressing the issue. 

Human trafficking is a global and widespread crime that uses men, women and children for profit. Criminal networks involved in these activities operate across different jurisdictions, taking advantage of gaps and differences in legal frameworks, and vulnerabilities of its victims. International cooperation and awareness building is therefore an imperative to strengthen law enforcement responses and to reduce the impact of such trafficking efforts. This is a task that any one government can do by themselves. By joining forces, countries can pool resources, share vital intelligence, and coordinate their efforts more effectively. However, awareness building is one of the most cost effective ways a State can reduce the risk of human trafficking.  

Yesterday, the National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (NAHTTF) issued a warning regarding a spike in cases of Sri Lankans being referred to ‘cybercrime camps’ in Myanmar. This is not a new phenomenon, as the matter was well known since last year.

According to the NAHTTF, recent reports have revealed that Sri Lankan citizens, particularly those living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are being targeted by human traffickers who falsely promise high-paying jobs, particularly in the Information Technology (IT) sector. According to the Task Force, traffickers lure skilled IT professionals under the pretence of lucrative foreign job opportunities. Victims are taken to places like Dubai for supposed interviews, only to be illegally transported and forced into cybercrime operations in Myanmar. Investigations into these cybercrime camps have uncovered severe human rights abuses, with detainees facing both mental and brutal physical torture, including electrocution, the NAHTTF said. The Task Force yesterday called on the public to be cautious. They urged the use of only legal channels – ensure that migration for employment is handled through licensed agencies and stay alert – report any suspicious activities to the authorities and protect at-risk individuals, inform the relevant authorities if you know Sri Lankan workers who may be in danger or those abroad in similar situations. Further, the NAHTTF urged the public to be cautious, avoid travelling abroad on tourist visas for employment, and to use only authorised agencies for overseas job placements. Violating these guidelines can increase vulnerability to illegal trafficking and is also against the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Act, it added.

But the Government must do more. The United States (US) State Department in its 2024 report on Trafficking in Persons notes that the Government of Sri Lanka does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so. According to the US report, the Sri Lankan authorities, while having demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with last year (2023), Sri Lanka remains in Tier 2 of the report. Tier 2 includes countries whose Governments do not fully meet the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. The report makes a number of recommendations on improving performance of Sri Lankan officials regarding the matter. These include, increasing convictions of labour traffickers, identifying and providing services to more trafficking victims, policy changes to strengthen victim care, reporting that more victims participated in criminal justice proceedings, and cancelling the licences of and blacklisting more recruitment agencies allegedly

“The Government investigated and prosecuted fewer trafficking cases, and sentences for convicted traffickers remained lenient, which undercut efforts to hold traffickers accountable, weakened deterrence, created potential security and safety-related concerns for victims, and was not equal to the seriousness of the crime. The Government appeared unwilling or unable to hold allegedly complicit officials accountable for trafficking, even suspected cases of child sex trafficking. The Government did not cooperate with foreign law enforcement on trafficking cases despite many such cases involving migrant workers abroad. The Government also referred fewer trafficking victims to services, and officials did not report ordering restitution for or providing compensation to the trafficking victims. The Government neither eliminated all recruitment fees charged by labour recruiters from workers nor increased the monitoring of licensed recruitment agencies and sub-agents, and the Government maintained gender-based labour migration policies that pushed Sri Lankan women to travel via unlicensed agents, which increased their vulnerability to trafficking,” the report stated.

Given the change in the political landscape in Colombo, and the need to protect vulnerable Sri Lankans who continue to be exploited by such trafficking networks, Sri Lanka must move quickly to take strict action against those who are involved in such crimes, including state officials and private businesses that have profited from such actions. Further, a robust and multilingual awareness building campaign, and a review of the efforts taken in the past to combat the issue is warranted.