He said this last week during a meeting held by the Committee at the headquarters of the Ministry of State for FNC Affairs in Abu Dhabi to discuss the final preparations for establishing a fund for supporting victims of human trafficking ?as well as revising a draft decision on the establishment of the fund.?

He added, ?This meeting has been held to develop plans for the future, which will be submitted to the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking about regulations of the Victim Support Fund.?
In attendance were officials from the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children, the Department of Human Rights in the Ministry of Interior, Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution and Eewa?a Centres.

The country?s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website states, ?The most severe test for the country?s human rights record? in recent years ?has come from problems associated with labour issues, specifically human trafficking.?
The website cites ?temporary contractual workers who are deceived by labour recruiters and become victims of human trafficking.?

The committee?s report gave startling findings. ?More than half the women interviewed for the report believed they were coming to the UAE to work as housemaids, while 11 per cent thought they would work in sales and eight per cent believed they were being invited as tourists. However, six per cent admitted they knew they were entering the UAE for prostitution.?

According to the MoFA, ?The deceit begins before the workers leave their home countries, hence the importance of partnering with source and transit countries. In order to institutionalise the fight against human trafficking the government has devised a four-pillar strategy ? legislation, enforcement, victim support, and bilateral agreements and international cooperation.?