Barry L Wells, the United States ambassador to The Gambia, has said that statistics show that approximately 800,000 people are subjected to transnational human trafficking each year. He said this figure is an addition to those who are trafficked within their own countries.

"We estimate that 80% of trafficked victims are girls and women and 50% are minors under the age of 18. Two third of these people are trafficked into sexual exploitation," Ambassador Wells told the Gambian police personnel on Monday, during the opening ceremony of a 10-day workshop for security officers, at the Gambia Police Force (GPF) Headquarters, Banjul.

The US Department of Justice and the GPF-backed training focuses on human trafficking, child sexual abuse and exploitation. The training is being implemented under the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Programme.

According to the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report produced by the State Department, the ambassador went on,  "The Gambia is a source, transit and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation".

However, Ambassador Wells acknowledged that The Gambia government has made a lot of progress in combating trafficking, particularly with the comprehensive new law (Trafficking in Persons Act), which was passed in September 2007. He said that the law provides a legal basis for the prohibition of trafficking.

Apart from the moral and social impact, the US ambassador continued, human trafficking deprives people of their basic human rights and freedoms, and limits their ability to live with dignity. He warned of "serious" consequences for individuals in the trade of human trafficking, including the spreading of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Ambassador Wells urged the participants to make the best use of the training and also expressed hope that they work effectively towards combating slavery in its modern form.

Delivering the opening remarks, Ousman Sonko, the secretary of state for Interior, registered The Gambia government's appreciation and gratitude to the US ambassador, and to the government and people of the United States, for providing the experties and the funding for the training.

He described the workshop as important and timely, amplifying remarks that women and children are the most vulnerable to this menace.

He disclosed that The Gambia government, under President Jammeh, has a great concern in the fight against the menace and that it has been actively collaborating and working hand-in-hand with all stakeholders to address the situation.

SoS Sonko expressed hope that trafficking in persons, child abuse and sexual exploitation will be tackled and he urged participants to put into practice the knowledge gained from the workshop.

Speaking earlier, Benedict Jammeh, the former Inspector General of Police, thanked the US Embassy in The Gambia, for the initiative. He assured the embassy of his institution's support and collaboration in all areas geared towards protecting children and children's rights, as well as the fight against human trafficking.

He assured the gathering that the training will go a long way to supplement "our human resource capacity" in understanding the concepts and efforts required to combat the problems.