11 Jul 2014

Marshall Islands efforts to stop human trafficking defended

2:27 pm on 11 July 2014

The International Organization for Migration, the IOM, says the Marshall Islands government is committed to stop human trafficking.

This comes as the US State Department has placed the Marshalls on a watch list in its latest report.

The report claims the government has not increased efforts to protect victims and suggests its staff are complicit in human trafficking.

The Marshalls government has completely dismissed the report and IOM spokesperson, Ashley Carl, says government officials had already sought their help.

"It's not a concern about their willingness to address the issue, I think it's more about developing the appropriate systems to identify the problems in the first place. They've already got a lot of the appropriate legislation in place, so it's just a matter of operationalising the appropriate legislation."

Ashley Carl.

The IOM is building a Migrant Resource Centre in the Marshalls for the victims of human trafficking.