New report on the contemporary slave market

Strange it is indeed that East Asian victims of human trafficking can be found in places such far as South Africa or Central America. This confirms the ease and efficiency with which the traffickers operate today, so describes a report recently released by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. The ‘Global Report on Trafficking in Persons’ is the first comprehensive report on criminal justice statistics related to human trafficking across the world. East Asians represent a significant proportion of the victims detected in South Africa, the United States and in a few European countries, the report states.

Trafficking routes appear to be very diverse, but the majority of the victims are tricked into traveling on airlines. Only upon arrival do they realize that the promised jobs do not exist, but that they end up in a situation of slavery and exploitation, with little hope of escape. A lot seems related to the lack of scrutiny of some of the airlines from poorer Asian and African countries, well known to traffickers. Another loophole is the easy visa regulation in some countries, turning some airports into easy transit places.

Not surprisingly, most of the victims are women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation. But even more surprisingly, a growing number of traffickers are women as well, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but also East Asia.

Airports are now urged to gear up and curb the trend via even more strict control of travel documents and training of the immigration officers.

That the effort is highly needed is shown by the figures released by the ILO. An estimated two million people end up in slavery each year, while the total number is thought to be over 10 million. But only 22.500 cases of human trafficking are detected each year. The slave market today is not the same as a few decades ago and needs further research, so as to put up effective preventive measures. An Asian father selling his under-aged daughter does so for different reasons than a young woman wanting to work illegally in an US sweatshop.

But effective control also requires more commitment from various governments over the world. Only 125 out of 155 countries in the United Nations have ratified the Protocol against Trafficking in Persons, and but less than half of them are actually enforcing the provisions.

Source: IPS, 16 and 17 February 2009