Human trafficking: Time to catch the real criminals
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
August 10, 2001
Bangkok - Governments across Asia have agreed to work in tandem to stem the
number of women and children being trafficked over national borders by
international crime syndicates, but using the legal weapons they have at
present is by not easy.
Regional cooperation is needed because of the transnational nature of the
crimes committed by these syndicates, said the representatives of 17 Asian
governments during a three-day regional meeting last week. "Countries that
share a border or the countries of origin, transit and destination of
trafficking should consider establishing bilateral or multilateral agreements
to define the terms and procedures of cooperation," stated the final document
they issued after the meeting. That would help to "prevent and punish the
offense of trafficking and to help victims return to life with dignity".
"Countries need to come together and work on a common agenda for justice," said
Suphanvasa Chotikajan of Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Trafficking
rings often try to exploit laws in individual countries and that needs to end.
A regional response will make it difficult for the traffickers."
One model of cooperation that participants were asked to consider was a
regional initiative under way in the Americas - the Puebla Process. According
to Ricardo Cordero, of the Geneva-based International Organization for
Migration, 11 countries in Central and North America have been working under
the Puebla Process since 1996 to combat trafficking. High on this initiative's
agenda is the quest to identify and combat trafficking networks, Cordero added.
To achieve that, the countries involved, including Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico
and the United States, have agreed to "training initiatives, and coordinated,
simultaneous joint actions and the exchange of information about the entry of
migrants who have been victims of smuggling or trafficking".
In the 1990s, several Asian countries have passed or tightened laws relating to
sexual exploitation and trafficking, including one by Thailand in 1997 that
decriminalizes and gives help to victims of commercial sexual exploitation and
trafficking while clamping down on traffickers and organized networks. These
are in addition to international conventions currently in place, including a
protocol on human trafficking approved last year.
Amparita Santamaria, heads of the migrants' section at the Manila-based Ateneo
Human Rights Center, agreed that Asian governments have to realize that "you
cannot solve this problem without recognizing the significance of a regional
approach". But for a regional solution to really succeed by using the
increasing number of legal mechanisms in the region, she added, there has to be
consensus among the countries to perceive trafficked persons in a similar
light.
"It has to be reflected in their national laws," she explained. For Santamaria,
that means national laws across the region reflecting uniformity about the
status of the women trafficked across national boundaries. They should be
classified as "victims" of human rights abuse, "not criminals" or "violators"
of migration laws - because the classification of the victims as offenders is a
hurdle to getting the information needed to crack down on the real
perpetrators, the traffickers.
Currently, Santamaria admitted, there is a lack of uniformity regarding one
distinction. Labor and migrant-receiving countries such as Malaysia and
Singapore, for instance, classify those trafficked into their territory as
"'criminals". In such situations, this often means the trafficked victims are
either detained or deported like illegal immigrants and authorities are no
closer to stopping trafficking syndicates. S K Ghua of the United Nations' Fund
for Women says that governments need to be "more sensitive" about the plight of
those being trafficked.
"The laws must draw a distinction. Women and children who are trafficked by
crime gangs are victims, whichever way you look at it," he pointed out. Such
legal measures, he added, will make it easier for those trafficked to approach
the local authorities in the foreign counties they are in since they will be
assured protection as victims.
"You must remember that these victims are in alien conditions and have no legal
status," he said, quite unlike the normal legal procedure where aggrieved
complainants come forward with charges. What is more, he said, governments
determined to crack down on trafficking rings have to win the confidence of the
victims for a number of reasons, including the manner in which they are abused
and the pattern of such human smuggling operations. "The evidence of trafficked
women and children are vital to combat this crime. Laws that protect them will
make it easier for the victims to come forward," Ghua added.
International crime syndicates lure women and girls from poor and marginalized
countries within Asia for the sex industry, forced marriages, begging
syndicates, drug trafficking and the adoption of children. In a May report, the
United Nations Children's Fund said that the largest number of children are
trafficked for sexual purposes and that "they are being trafficked into the sex
industry at younger and younger ages".
Japan draws thousands of women from countries like Thailand and the Philippines
each year, including those trafficked into its huge entertainment industry.
Some 150,000 non-Japanese women work in this industry. Other countries where
human trafficking have been reported include the Philippines, China, Indonesia,
Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Australia. Some countries, like Thailand,
are both receivers of trafficked women and girls from neighboring Indochinese
countries and a source of trafficked persons. Between 5,000 to 7,000 Nepali
women are taken to brothels in India every year. Some 400 women from Bangladesh
are trafficked to Pakistan each month, says the Coalition Against the
Trafficking of Women
Women from Asia are also trafficked to Western countries. There are between
200,000 and 500,000 illegal sex workers in the European Union, some two-thirds
of whom come from Eastern Europe and the other third from developing countries
including Asia, says the UN Global Report on Crime and Justice issued in
December. Many women are lured by "advertisements for domestic work abroad and
then find themselves bought and sold via catalogs, advertisements or by close
family members", it said. Others are promised work as waitresses or guest
relations officers, but are forced into sex work.
Women are often beaten and raped and moved from brothel to brothel, working up
to 18 hours a day, said the report. "It is tantamount to slavery," the authors
of the report argued. In most cases, there is hardly an escape route for the
women. They are at the mercy of the brothel owner, especially if they are
without documents in a foreign country and forced to repay debts owed to the
middleman who arranged for their travel, the report said.
To stem such abuse in Asia will require a shift from the normal criminal
justice process, says Ghua, and not just better, stronger laws. "The victim is
a non-person in the foreign country and governments have to look at the problem
from a different perspective. You cannot charge the women smuggled in by gangs
for illegal entry." Added Santamaria: "They [governments] must stop
criminalizing the women and children trapped in the net of trafficking gangs,"
she said.
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