|
29 January 2001 Text: International Organization for Migration on Trafficking in SE Asia (Region accounts for one-third of world's trafficking victims) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) finds that Southeast Asia accounts for one-third of the world's trafficking victims. The finding is included in a new study assessing the human trafficking problem in the region. "Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia" estimates that 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are victims of trafficking each year, according to a January 26 press briefing by an IOM spokesman at the Geneva-based agency. The majority of them are taken against their will to other locations in Southeast Asia, not transported outside the region. However, the study estimates that 30,000 Southeast Asian women are trafficked to the United States each year. The study's analysis of the history, extent and response to the trafficking problem indicates that "incomplete laws or weak laws, the lack of law enforcement, corruption and lack of awareness of trafficking are just some of the reasons that counter-trafficking efforts are hindered," according to the briefing by IOM spokesman Niurka Pineiro. Founded through a joint initiative of the United States and Belgium in 1951, the IOM is an intergovernmental organization "committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society," according to its mission statement. The new trafficking study on Southeast Asia and further information on this global criminal problem are available at the following URLs: http://www.iom.int/PDF_Files/mrs/mrs002_2001.pdf http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/traffic/ Following is the text of the IOM press briefing. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION Niurka Pineiro, IOM Spokesperson Combating Trafficking in South-East Asia This new IOM report notes that trafficking has become an issue of growing concern in South-East Asia over the last decade. It has been estimated that at least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children from South-East Asia are trafficked annually, nearly one-third of the global trafficking trade. Of the 45,000 to 50,000 women and children who are said to be trafficked into the US each year, 30,000 are believed to come from South-East Asia. However, most trafficking of South-East Asian women occurs within South-East Asia; only a minority of women from the region are trafficked to other parts of the world. Extra-regional trafficking is primarily directed towards the US, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Japan. Both within South-East Asia and outside of the region, new forms of trafficking, new trafficking routes and new sources continuously arise. The study is divided into four parts. The first part describes the historical development of the trafficking debate and gives an analysis of the various approaches to trafficking, including the analysis of trafficking in a migration context, as a labor issue, as a criminal problem and as a human rights issue. The second part focuses on trafficking patterns and responses in the South-East Asian region at the regional, sub-regional and bilateral levels. Part three, the bulk of the study, describes the responses that have been developed within the different South-East Asian countries focusing upon the different actors and their policies, including governments, NGOs, international organizations and international networks. The final part reviews some of the problems most often mentioned in the fight against trafficking and discusses priority areas for the development and strengthening of counter-trafficking programs and initiatives. Incomplete laws or weak laws, the lack of law enforcement, corruption and lack of awareness of trafficking are just some of the reasons that counter-trafficking efforts are hindered. The lack of capacities among law enforcers, courts and other authorities to address trafficking cases adequately is another significant problem. Although there is a clear consensus that laws to address trafficking should focus on the traffickers and not treat the victims as perpetrators, few countries have adopted legislation or measures for protection of and assistance to victims of trafficking. This omission is often related to the victims' status as undocumented migrants and, in some cases, to their status as workers in the informal sector, such as in prostitution. Trafficking's most important underlying causes are poverty, including lack of employment opportunities and lack of education and a lack of awareness among the general population about trafficking and abuse in migration. It is nonetheless important to note that trafficking cannot be attributed to any one cause, but is due to a complex mixture of processes. Initiatives for the prevention of trafficking therefore usually focus on awareness-raising campaigns, skills training and education programs and income-raising activities. However, information campaigns must also reach people in rural areas where there is little access to the mass media and where the risk of trafficking is especially high. There are also several countries in South-East Asia, as this report has shown, which have not yet implemented anti-trafficking information campaigns. Thus, the report states more remains to be done. In conclusion, the study calls for the use of a single definition of trafficking and a coordinated response among the various counter-trafficking players. Priority areas for the development and strengthening of counter-trafficking programs and initiatives are needed, in particular, the development of regional and cross-regional efforts, which include NGOs and international organizations in addition to governments. This latter point has already been addressed in the so-called Bangkok Declaration on Irregular Migration of April 1999, which emphasized the elimination of trafficking through better migration management and the protection of migrants' rights. (end text)
|