Combating human trafficking under one roof

Güneş said new criteria have been determined in an attempt to safeguard public morality and health and to increase Turkey’s success on international platforms vis-à-vis human trafficking and prostitution. The first task addressed was combining the departments for a more effective fight against human trafficking. The original structure comprised the Anti-Organized Crime Department and Smuggling Department, the Foreigners Department and the Public Security Department separately; they will now be coordinated under the Public Security Department. Güneş noted that human trafficking may increase during the tourism season and that investigations into this type of crime should be conducted with regard to headquarters for such activity, its ringleaders and established gangs.

He ordered that technical surveillance facilities should be used in the investigations and operations into human trafficking. Güneş also sent a mandate to governors to develop a functional national database for the crime of human trafficking. For this purpose, the data will be collected and recorded in the Crime Analysis Center (SAM) of the Public Security Department and will be used during investigations.