A/HRC/14/32 similar area or travelling route, it may deem it necessary to develop a joint effort in partnership with a third country, region or organization.1 For this purpose, Swift Action Teams (SATs) may be established, composed of experts from Europol and Frontex.2 A SAT can be deployed to support a specific third country, region or international organization, for example to assist third countries in identifying victims of trafficking at airports before they board and providing training on the identification of victims and forged identity papers. 49. Another notable approach is the development of bilateral relations between regional mechanisms. A good example in this regard is the decision taken by ECOWAS and ECCAS in 2006 to adopt a joint resolution, multilateral cooperation agreement and biregional plan of action in order to combine their efforts in this area. Establishment of specialist counter-trafficking units 50. In addition to establishing national coordination bodies, some regional mechanisms have promoted the establishment of specialist counter-trafficking units within law enforcement structures. In this regard, the ASEAN Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking (ARCPPT) criminal justice project achieved significant outcomes, including the establishment of Specialist Counter-Trafficking Response Units in almost all 10 ASEAN countries and biannual meetings between the Heads of these Units, comprising three senior police officers from each country. These measures have enhanced expertise and cooperation between the police services of each country. 51. COMMIT has also established specialist units or focal points in key provinces or hotspots in several countries, in order to bring a specialist response to the areas where it is most needed. 52. The Ouagadougou Action Plan also invites its member States to consider creating special anti-trafficking units within law enforcement structures and establishing special national focal points. Direct channels of communication between special units and focal points in different countries should be established, with joint training for border patrols. Assistance in drafting legislation 53. Regional organizations have also successfully provided assistance to countries in drafting national anti-trafficking legislation. For example, COMMIT in the Mekong region has been particularly active in promoting the establishment of national legal frameworks to criminalize trafficking, provide for appropriate penalties, protect victims and support witnesses. 54. In addition, regional mechanisms have developed tools such as model laws and handbooks, and convened workshops at the regional level to operationalize these tools. For example, LAS adopted an “Arab guiding law on fighting human trafficking” in 2005, and organized a workshop on “The mechanisms to combat human trafficking in Arab legislation” in Cairo in 2007. The conference provided first-hand information on how far countries have progressed through legal action in combating trafficking in persons. Similarly, the Bali Process cooperates with countries on anti-trafficking legislation, using a model law developed by China and Australia. 1 2 GE.10-13211 The fight against trafficking constitutes one of the priorities of several bilateral European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans of the EU, for example with Egypt, Ukraine and Moldova. The EU also supports regional initiatives such as COMMIT or the Ouagadougou Action Plan. EU agency that coordinates operational cooperation between member States in the field of management of external borders. 11

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents