A collaborative approach to create awareness on Trafficking in Persons and on safe and career Enriching Overseas Employment

15th June 2024

The Department Employment and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment and the Department of Law and Order, Ministry of Home affairs collaboratively conducted a day-long awareness session with the frontline officials of the Paro and Phuentsholing exit points on 12th and 14th June 2024 respectively. 

The awareness session was aimed at equipping the frontline officials on up-to-date information on Overseas Employment Program (OEP) and the risk of opting it through informal channels, advocate on potential red flags of Overseas Employment scams, brief on alternative programs and employment opportunities, foster a collaborative ecosystem to enable a safe and secure OEP, the risks of Trafficking in Persons, identification of TIP, and the means of reporting such cases.

The day-long session was attended by exit points officials from the various agencies including Royal Bhutanese Police, Department of Immigration, Bhutan Airlines, DrukAir, Bhutan Civil Aviation Authority, Regional Office of Industry, Commerce and Employment, and Dessups considering the need to reach such critical information to the the exit points official in order to prevent fraudulent overseas scams from occurring, be able to assist potential victims and establish a strengthened collaborative effort to ensure a safe and enriching career pathway for youths. 

This session is in line with the National Strategy on Overseas Employment, Strategic Objective 2:  Ensure harmonized support and protection for Bhutanese Working Overseas (BOWs), which highlights the need to conduct constant awareness on overseas employment through various target oriented interventions. The Department of Employment and Entrepreneurship will be reaching out to the agencies for bilateral discussions to institutionalize a collaborative mechanism to ensure strengthened collaboration.