The girl and the 11 women were allegedly subjected to offer sexual services in a brothel in the Guadalupe – Salcedo neighborhood of the Maní municipality, in the department of Casanare; where agents of Migration Colombia and the Army carried out an operation to rescue them.
The Group of Operational Articulation of the Judicial Police of Migration Colombia had received an alert of the presumed trafficking of women in that night establishment of Maní through the application Libertapp, and began investigations to determine what was happening in the place.
After following up on the complaint, the immigration authorities, the Yopal Migration Services Facilitator Center, the Government Secretariat of the Mayor’s Office of Maní, Casanare; the National Police and the BIRNA 44 Battalion of the National Army carried out an operation in the establishment.
There, a Colombian minor and 11 other foreign women were rescued, who were allegedly victims of sexual exploitation in that place.
According to the authorities, the establishment was registered with the Chamber of Commerce with a description of the economic activity dedicated to the sale of alcoholic beverages and lenocy activities, that is, mediate to facilitate a sexual relationship between two people. That place charged, according to the investigation, he allegedly forced women to have sexual relations and charged between 60,000 and 150,000 pesos.
Migración Colombia reported that the minor was left at the disposal of the Family Police Station of the municipality of Maní, for the restitution of her rights. The foreign women, for their part, were taken to the Migration office in Yopal, where their characterization will be advanced and their rights as a vulnerable population will be guaranteed.
In the establishment of lenocinio the Judicial Police ordered a closure for 10 days, in accordance with the Police Code. However, Migración Colombia initiated an administrative sanctioning process for non-compliance with immigration regulations.
This is the second rescue carried out in the municipality of Maní, Casanare, in less than a year, thanks to the Libertapp application. A few months after entering into operation in the country, In September 2020, the authorities rescued a girl under 16 years of Venezuelan nationality who was a victim of human trafficking, also in the municipality of Maní, Casanare.
The minor alerted through the application and the authorities advanced the operation that allowed her rescue, the capture of two Colombians who ran the brothel at that time, as well as the identification of 15 other women who were in the place.
The Libertapp application was developed with the technical support of the International Organization for Migration, with resources from the US Department of State Office of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and was implemented by Migración Colombia in July 2020.
With the application, victims of human trafficking and citizens in general can report possible cases related to crime anywhere in the world and request help. The panic button allows sending the information of the complainant immediately, as well as their location in real time.
The application also offers information on consulates and their location, as well as allows making reports and complaints by phone or in writing, to avoid crimes against people and migrants.
The crime of trafficking in persons has increased within the population of migrants and refugees in the country according to the IOM. Figures from the Ministry of the Interior and Justice indicate that from 2013 to July 2020, 686 cases of trafficking had been reported in the country, in which women, migrants and girls were the most affected.
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