Today (July 30), the international community will mark World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
This year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has chosen ‘act to protect and assist trafficked persons’ as the focus of the World Day. This topic highlights one of the most pressing issues of our time -- the large mixed migration movements of refugees and migrants. The theme puts the spotlight on the significant impact of conflict and natural disasters, as well as the resultant, multiple risks of human trafficking that many people face. It addresses the key issue concerning trafficking responses: that most people are never identified as trafficking victims and therefore, cannot access most of the assistance or protection provided.
Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes, including forced labour and sex. Human trafficking, in which people are forced into labour or sex, is a form of modern-day slavery as well as a multinational, multibillion-dollar industry. The widely-held perception is that slavery is no more, but nothing could be further from the truth. It may not be so explicit as in the earlier days, but the practice still lingers.
The International Labour Organization estimates that 21 million, mostly young people are victims of forced labour globally. This estimate also includes victims of human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation. While it is not known how many of these victims were trafficked, the estimate implies that currently, there are millions of victims of trafficking of persons in the world.
Children
Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. Children make up almost a third of all human trafficking victims worldwide, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report. Additionally, women and girls comprise 71 per cent of human trafficking victims, the report states.
In 2010, the General Assembly adopted the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, urging Governments worldwide to take coordinated and consistent measures to defeat this scourge. The Plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programs in order to boost development and strengthen security worldwide, including the creation of a Trust Fund.
The Trust Fund facilitates effective, on-the-ground assistance and protection to victims of trafficking, through grants to specialized NGOs. In the coming years, it aims to prioritize victims coming from a context of armed conflict and those identified among large refugee and migration flows. It will also focus its assistance to victims trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, organ removal, forced begging, forced criminality and emerging exploitative purposes, such as, online pornography. This is slavery at its worst. In September 2015, the world adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and embraced goals and targets on trafficking in persons. These goals call for an end to trafficking and violence against children; as well as the need for measures against human trafficking, and they strive for the elimination of all forms of violence against and exploitation of women and girls.
There is also a difference between human trafficking and human smuggling, though the same organised crime rings are often involved in both activities. In human smuggling, the persons being smuggled across borders actually pay money to the traffickers to take them to greener pastures. This does not always go according to plan and whole boatloads of illegal migrants perish on the high seas. These smuggled individuals could be fleeing war or persecution in their home countries. Nevertheless, they are not considered as trafficked persons because they go on their own accord. Trafficked persons are taken against their will. However, there are occasions when smuggled persons are held against their will and turned over for slave labour or sexual exploitation.
The latest trafficking tragedy occurred over the weekend when authorities in Texas found a tractor-trailer at a Wal-Mart parking lot packed with more than two-dozen immigrants. Ten of the passengers have died in what San Antonio Police Chief William McManus called, a “horrific” human-trafficking crime. Eight bodies were found in the truck. The passengers took turns breathing through a hole in the truck, according to media reports. This proves the horrific conditions in which both illegal migrants and trafficked persons are often transported across boundaries and within individual countries.
What can we do to help ? If you observe things keenly, you might be able to identify instances of human trafficking. Even one person’s information, whether or not that person knows it to be a definite case, could potentially save one life or multiple lives. There are no repercussions. It is a hidden crime and unless you are looking for it, you are not going to find it. Hence, the importance of reporting to the authorities if you notice any suspicious activity. Trafficked victims tend to appear disconnected from family, friends and community groups. They also tend to look scared or submissive. Other key indicators are bruises or other signs of abuse and signs of being denied food, water, sleep or medical care. A victim could also be accompanied by someone who seems to be in control. Experts say, one must look for signs that the victim appears to have been coached on what to say if confronted by someone.
Arrested
Such tips will help the authorities in their search for traffickers. The European Union’s law enforcement agency last week said, 107 people have been arrested as part of a Europe-wide investigation into human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In an operation led by Austrian police and law enforcement agencies from 22 EU states and third parties, investigators targeted “organized crime groups trafficking vulnerable individuals for the purpose of sexual exploitation,” Europol said in a statement. Sri Lanka has stopped boats carrying illegal migrants on several occasions. More than 60 people were sentenced to jail by a Bangkok court on Wednesday in the largest human trafficking trial in Thailand’s history. Among those convicted is former army general Manas Kongpan, who was sentenced to 27 years for trafficking and organized transnational crime.
There are two ways in which human trafficking can be curbed. One is taking action at country or regional level, as the US and Thailand have done. The other method is international cooperation on busting trafficking rings. Trafficking and slavery are black marks on modern civilization. Human trafficking is facilitated by lax border controls (mainly in the home countries which lack the necessary manpower and resources to constantly check their ports), corrupt officials, weak legislation and the influence of organized criminal gangs. These shortcomings must be rectified on a global level to see a swift end to the scourge of human trafficking.