RIYADH: A new organization set up by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to tackle human trafficking in the Kingdom held its first meeting in Riyadh recently.

Representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Culture and Information, and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) attended the first meeting of the Permanent Committee for Combating Human Trafficking (PCCHT).

The meeting was held to discuss a national plan to combat human trafficking and go through the PCCHT’s mission statement. The PCCHT was established by King Abdullah in July following a Shoura Council recommendation. The PCCHT defined human trafficking as manipulating, transferring, accommodating, and receiving a person for the purpose of exploitation.

“The PCCHT’s mission is to follow up on the status of victims of human trafficking, ensure there is no recurrence of exploitation, set a policy, to actively search for victims, train people to recognize victims, and coordinate with specialized authorities to return victims to their countries of origin or country of accommodation upon their request,” said Bandar Al-Iban, president of the HRC and head of the PCCHT.

He added that the PCCHT recommends keeping victims in the Kingdom and correcting their legal status to enable them to work should conditions permit. Al-Iban said that the PCCHT would prepare research papers, establish databases, hold public awareness campaigns, and share information with government bodies to prevent human trafficking.

The national plan also proposes human traffickers be handed prison sentences of up to 15 years, fines of SR1 million or both.