Ministry, FWCC aware of suspected human trafficking victims

The Ministry of Women is working with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and Fiji Police Force on the case of three young women who are victims of suspected human and sex trafficking in the Western Division.

Line minister Sashi Kiran confirmed the ministry was aware of the case.

Responding to popular query of where does the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) stand on the matter, coordinator Shamima Ali said: “The military did not reach out to us to help.”

However, FWCC was alerted of the matter before the military stepped in to provide shelter to the women, who feared the involvement of police officers in Nadi and businesspeople in the alleged incident.

The women, aged 18, 19, and 20, respectively are currently at the RFMF’s Joint Taskforce Command headquarters at Blackrock in Nadi.

“We were alerted about it,” Ms Ali said.

“We will ask the question what to do and things like that. And we had said that it’s a police case and that it should be reported to the police, but we were told that the girls were afraid to report to police from further victimisation and were not comfortable.”

Ms Ali said the military should refer the women to FWCC, and other appropriate centres to provide shelter.

“It is a grave matter, and it should be treated very seriously,” she said.

“This has been happening for a long time, and one of the things is that when we have encountered this kind of thing where in the guise of salons and things like that, you know, the other things are going on there where young women are forced to provide other services and often these are reported.

“But what happens is a lot of big men, important men are also using these services. So, there is again cover up.”

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed that the file on the matter is now with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The investigation is conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department’s human trafficking unit, who are communicating with the three victims with the assistance of military personnel at the Blackrock facility.