News24
09 Nov 2019, 04:11 GMT+10
Malian police rescued more than 60 victims of human trafficking, mostly women and girls, who were subjected to sexual exploitation, forced labour and begging, Interpol said Friday.
Four suspected traffickers were detained in the joint operation launched in early October between Malian authorities and the international police organisation.
The 64 victims, from Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Mali, had been "exploited in different countries before their arrival in Bamako", where they were found working in bars, homes and mining sites, Interpol said in a statement.
Due to its geographical position in West Africa, Mali is a transit country for thousands of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa who try to reach Europe and North Africa.
Trucks carrying migrants north frequently breakdown in the desert or become lost, with smugglers sometimes abandoning their human cargo, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in June.
More than 160,000 migrants made their way to Mali between July 2016 and 31 January 2019, according to data collected by the IOM.
"Mali serves as major transit country for human traffickers who target the most vulnerable members of society," Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock said on Friday.
"This operation showed that human trafficking and people smuggling is a truly transnational problem," he added.
Interpol said during the operation the Malian government passed a decree to create a police unit dedicated to tackling human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Get a daily dose of Asia Pacific Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Asia Pacific Star.
More InformationWashington [US], January 16 (ANI): A new research has revealed that COVID-19 transmission can be substantially reduced by reducing infected ...
New Delhi [India], January 16 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that a change has come in thinking ...
New Delhi [India], January 16 (ANI): Asserting that India is one of the biggest startup ecosystems in the world, Prime ...
Washington [US], January 16 (ANI): Ahead of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in February, the United States has ...
CALOOCAN CITY, Jan. 16 (PIA) -- Senator Imee Marcos urged the government to give weight to COVID-19 vaccines that included ...
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 16 (ANI/NewsVoir): Asian Paints being a socially responsible company has always acted in the best interest ...
BANGALORE, India - Following an earlier report of 36 units of the Nissan Magnite being delivered on a single day ...
NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street ended the week on a negative note Friday with all the major indices ...
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday (local time) announced a USD 1.9 trillion plan to revive the ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks were mixed on Friday despite U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announcing a $1.9 trillion stimulus package ...
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China continued to see a generally stable housing market in December, with home prices in ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday following data showing a larger-than-expected increase in weekly unemployment claims, ...