WUNRN
Inhuman
Traffic
It is a trade that thrives on deception and preys on the weak, and just like more legitimate businesses, it too has grown fat on the profits accruing from globalization. Human trafficking today has been called a high-return, low-risk crime; annual takings from trafficked forced labour are estimated at some US$ 31 billion. Little wonder, then, that almost as soon as Cyclone Nargis retreated from Myanmar 's Irrawaddy delta, the traffickers moved in.
The victim of trafficking often suffers a double blow: first, sexual exploitation or brutality at the hands of the trafficker, then harsh treatment by law-enforcement officials. Though they have suffered grave infringements of their human rights, the trafficked are rarely given the assistance due to victims; instead, they are criminalized, for example as illegal immigrants or prostitutes. The irony is that in many cases weak law enforcement, or official corruption and complicity, have allowed traffickers to operate with virtual impunity. Efforts to counter these trends will be highlighted on 3 June at the United Nations General Assembly special thematic debate on human trafficking. The message of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is expected to be represented by Deputy High Commissioner Kyung-wha Kang, has consistently been that human rights must be given primacy in all efforts to combat trafficking. Governments bear a particular responsibility in this regard: they must focus on the victims of trafficking by integrating human rights into all their responses to the problem. Human trafficking is so widespread and its networks so complex that no government on its own can deal with it successfully. This prompted the launch in 2007 of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT). Led by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, together with five other multilateral organizations, including OHCHR, the initiative has also attracted non-governmental and private sector partners. As part of this effort, the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking brought together representatives from 116 countries in February this year to raise awareness of trafficking, facilitate cooperation and forge new partnerships. Such partnerships and initiatives can be found in unexpected places. Latin
pop star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Ricky Martin has created a foundation
to support anti-trafficking efforts. Oscar-winning British actress Emma
Thompson has lent her name to the cause in various ways. In India , hugely
popular film star Amitabh Bachchan stars in a short clip on trafficking which
will precede shows of a major movie in more than a thousand theatres, giving
a big boost to anti-trafficking efforts in the country. |
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In
Myanmar , the traffickers targeted orphaned children and young girls with
promises of food, safety and respectable work. But wherever human misery
leaves people vulnerable to deception and exploitation, there the trafficker
will be found. The International Labour Organization estimates that there are
more than 2.4 million trafficked people in forced labour today. The pool of
potential victims is growing because of natural disasters, poverty, the high
food prices that are putting a decent meal beyond the reach of more and more
people, and conflict-induced mass displacement.
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