United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) team leader, Fabrizio Sarrica

Forced labour is the most common case of human trafficking in Fiji, compared to other forms of trafficking.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) team leader, Fabrizio Sarrica says forced labour comes in many forms and people need to be aware of it to ensure their basic human rights are not breached.

“In this region, we see trafficking for forced labour for the purpose of the fishing industry, but we also see forced labour of minors in agriculture, in domestic servitude and so forth.”

Sarrica was among the keynote speakers at the three-day Pacific Regional Forum on Trafficking in Persons & Smuggling of Migrants, which began in Suva today.

Sarrica says the deteriorating socio-economic conditions are also found to be closely linked with increasing trends of human trafficking.