RIYADH — Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC) President Dr. Hala Al-Tuwaijri has confirmed that the Kingdom, since its founding, has followed an approach that preserves human dignity and rights, while eliminating human trafficking. Dr. Al-Tuwaijri, who is also the president of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, has confirmed this in a press statement she made on the occasion of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2023. She also highlighted the efforts made by Saudi Arabia in combating crimes of trafficking in persons, and taking all measures that would eliminate this transnational crime in all its forms, while praising the great progress that the Kingdom's achieved in this framework. Saudi Arabia has also taken the necessary measures to deter traffickers and perpetrators of these crimes, in addition to taking care and protecting the victims, which resulted in the Kingdom achieving improvement and progress at the international level in the classification of Saudi Arabia in international reports concerned with this field. Dr. Al-Tuwaijri has praised the great interest and care given by Saudi Arabia's government, led by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman to the field of combating human trafficking crimes, including the launch of a number of national initiatives and mechanisms aimed at combating this crime, protecting and supporting the victims, and achieving the prosecution of traffickers. The world day against trafficking in persons 2023's theme "Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind," is considered as one of the strategic goals for the National Action Plan (NAP) to Combat Human Trafficking of 2021-2023, which was approved by the Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons at the HRC, Dr. Al-Tuwaijri confirmed. The National Action Plan is centered on the basic pillars of crime prevention, as well as increasing societal awareness about the concept of trafficking in persons and building national capacities to combat it. Additionally, NAP is centered in protecting and assisting victims of human trafficking through an integrated national system that complies with the best international standards and practices, and strengthening the prosecution of criminals. HRC's president indicated that Saudi Arabia has launched the National Referral Mechanism for victims of trafficking in persons, which is a national reference document that defines the bases for dealing with cases of trafficking in persons. Saudi Arabia has supported preventive measures to address the causes of the crime of trafficking in persons, Dr. Al-Tuwaijri said, noting that the Kingdom has strengthened prosecution efforts by developing an integrated criminal justice system by allocating specialized departments, units and sections to collect evidence, investigation and prosecution.
