Combating human trafficking in the Pacific islands was the focus of a three day regional workshop  held from April 23-25 in Nadi, Fiji.

The workshop was organised by the United States Embassy based in Suva who invited the participation of 27 legal officials, prosecutors, customs and immigration officers from Tonga, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

An essential goal of the workshop was to develop regional strategies to combat human trafficking and to tighten regional cooperation.

The US Ambassador Frankie Reed, who is based in Suva, told participants that the United States was committed to fighting human trafficking at home and around the world.

She stated a “3P” approach to combatting human trafficking in the Pacific region.

"During this workshop you’ll hear about the “three Ps,” but you’ll also hear about a fourth 'P' which is essential to realizing all of those goals 'Partnership'. We’re committed to partnering with governments in the Pacific to address this transnational problem.

“We are much more effective when we work as a region to combat human trafficking and this workshop will only help increase our law enforcement coordination and further protect our peoples of becoming victims,”

Law enforcements experts from the U.S Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the New Zealand Police facilitated the workshop, helping participants to identify cases of child sex tourism, and to share best practices on the prevention of human trafficking, the protection of trafficking victims, and the prosecution of perpetrators.