Singapore takes a serious view of human trafficking. Learn about more about what Singapore is doing.
Singapore’s strategy against human trafficking comprises the 4Ps – Prevention, Prosecution, Protection, and Partnerships, where we:
- “Prevent” such crimes from occurring
- “Protect” those who are vulnerable to trafficking
- “Prosecute” human traffickers for their heinous serious crimes
- Form “Partnerships” with domestic and international stakeholders to combat human trafficking
Our efforts and initiatives
National initiatives against human trafficking
With the initiatives under the NPA completed, the Taskforce launched the National Approach Against Trafficking in Persons in March 2016. Building on the success of the National Plan of Action, the National Approach sets out key strategies and outcomes to guide the Taskforce and its stakeholders as they develop work plans to combat TIP.
These are the four desired outcomes of the National Approach Against TIP:
- Prevention: A public that is aware of TIP crimes and actively takes steps to prevent, combat and suppress TIP. Government officials and stakeholders who are well-trained, competent and professional in identifying and dealing with TIP cases.
- Prosecution: An effective end-to-end criminal justice response to TIP crimes, involving comprehensive investigations and prosecution of all offenders who may be involved in trafficking or the exploitation of victims.
- Protection: An appropriate victim care and support framework that looks after the needs of all victims of trafficking.
- Partnership: A strong ecosystem comprising domestic and international stakeholders to put forth a whole-of-Singapore response against TIP.
Launched in 2012, the NPA was the roadmap for Singapore’s Whole-of-Government approach to dealing with TIP from 2012 to 2015.
Key NPA initiatives included:
- The training of officers to raise competencies to detect human trafficking
- Partnerships with regional and international bodies to better combat transnational crime
- The introduction of the TIP Public Awareness Grant
The TIP Public Awareness Grant seeks to encourage public education initiatives that help raise awareness of TIP crimes.
Another significant outcome of the NPA was the passing of the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act, which was introduced in Parliament in November 2014 and took effect in March 2015.
Partnerships against human trafficking
Singapore is a party to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (UN TIP Protocol), which commits ratifying states to prevent and combat TIP, protecting and assisting victims of trafficking and promoting cooperation among states in order to meet those objectives.
Regionally and globally, Singapore actively participates at anti-TIP platforms to generate awareness amongst the global and regional communities on Singapore’s efforts in combatting TIP. These platforms include:
- INTERPOL, UNODC and Group of Friends against TIP, to tackle TIP at the global level
- ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC)
- ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC)
- ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration & Heads of Consular Affairs Meeting (DGICM)
- Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Migratory Flows
- Pacific Rim Immigration Intelligence Conference
- Bali Process
Read the details of our recent conferences below:
Local partnerships with civil society organisations, embassies and businesses are crucial in areas such as public awareness, referral of potential TIP victims and victim support arrangements.
Examples of our local partnerships include:
- Regular stakeholder engagement meetings and case conferences with NGOs to discuss TIP issues
- Direct channels for NGOs to raise migrant worker-related enquiries to MOM
- Project Dawn, a task force comprising representatives from MOM, IMH, Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) and HealthServe, and government psychologists, was set up in 2020 to boost mental health care and support for migrant workers in Singapore
- Partnering an NGO to provide Supporting Persons After Trafficking (SPARK) package to support alleged TIP victims
Regional and international partnerships
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Singapore is a party to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (UN TIP Protocol), as well as the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP).
The UN TIP Protocol lays out international standards for the elimination of TIP, and seeks to prevent, suppress and punish TIP perpetrators while protecting victims and promoting cooperation among state parties to meet these objectives. The ACTIP seeks to fulfil the same objectives among ASEAN Member States.
Singapore actively participates in anti-TIP platforms to contribute to the regional and global dialogue on combatting TIP.