[afro-nets] Trafficking in human beings

[Ahmed Saleem <asaleem@pcpak.org>]

Trafficking in human beings
---------------------------
 
Dear Colleagues, 
 
Please find enclosed my latest article published in daily 
The News:
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/may2004-daily/18-05-2004/oped/opinion.htm
on the issue of human trafficking with regard to Pakistan.
 
Ahmed Saleem
mailto:asaleem@pcpak.org
 
--
Trafficking in human beings
 
by Ahmed Saleem
 
Human trafficking and smuggling has become a global business 
generating huge profits for traffickers and organised crime syn-
dicates. A study done by International Organisation for Migra-
tion (IOM) revealed that at any one time there are an estimated 
15 to 30 million irregular migrants worldwide. Of this total, 
Geneva-based IOM estimates that 900,000 women and children are 
trafficked yearly across borders. Because of their clandestine 
nature, irregular migration and trafficking are likely to remain 
significantly underreported crimes. Reliable statistics are kept 
on apprehensions of unauthorised migrants at borders and on ar-
rests of traffickers, amongst other things, but these figures 
account for a small fraction of the overall problem.
 
Human trafficking means the recruitment, transportation, trans-
fer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or 
use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, 
of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulner-
ability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to 
achieve the consent of a person having control over another per-
son, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall in-
clude, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of 
others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or 
services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, and servitude 
or the removal of organs.
 
In the context of Pakistan, the problem of human trade and traf-
ficking is very much there. The Federal Investigation Agency 
(FIA) registered 204 cases of human trafficking during the first 
quarter of this year. In 2003, 1836 cases were registered under 
the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002. 
In 2002, another 540 cases were registered, 480 of nominated 
culprits were arrested, 352 were under investigation, 185 were 
awaiting legal action, 17 were convicted and the files of the 
three cases had been closed.
 
Though Pakistani authorities are collaborating with interna-
tional organisations like the International Organisation of Mi-
gration (IOM) with reference to assistance in personal identifi-
cation and security alleviation systems to strengthen the system 
to catch human traffickers, still there is dire need to take 
concrete measures. The government is also working towards main-
taining computerised records of passports at all five interna-
tional airports, records of missing passports, visas and pro-
claimed human traffickers. But the fact of the matter is that 
governments usually fail to achieve the required results until 
civil society, NGOs, and individuals do not put in their contri-
butions in a more synthesised way.
 
Over the past decade, trafficking in human beings has reached 
epidemic proportions. No country is immune. The search for work 
abroad has been fuelled by economic disparity, high unemployment 
and disruption of traditional livelihoods. Traffickers face few 
risks and can earn huge profits by taking advantage of large 
numbers of potential immigrants. In many cases, drug traffickers 
have switched to trafficking human beings because it is more lu-
crative and relatively risk-free. Even when trafficking rings 
are busted and exposed, it is very difficult to persuade victims 
to testify against their captors. They are often frightened of 
retribution towards family members, ashamed to go home and lack 
witness protection programmes.
 
Trafficking in human beings is fast growing in Central and East-
ern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Russian trafficking vic-
tims working in the sex industry in Germany reportedly earn 
$7500 monthly, of which the exploiter takes at least $7,000.
In Asia, girls from villages in Nepal and Bangladesh are sold to 
brothels in India for $1000. An estimated 200,000 Nepali women, 
the majority of whom are girls under 18, are being exploited to 
work in Indian cities. Trafficked women from Thailand and the 
Philippines are increasingly being joined by women from other 
countries in Southeast Asia.
 
Trafficking in human beings is not confined to the sex industry. 
Children are trafficked to work in sweatshops as bonded labour 
and men work illegally in the "three D-jobs" - dirty, difficult 
and dangerous. A recent CIA report estimated that between 45,000 
to 50,000 women and children are brought to the United States 
every year under false pretences and are forced to work as pros-
titutes, abused labourers or servants. UNICEF estimates that 
more than 200,000 children are enslaved by cross-border smug-
gling in West and Central Africa. The children are often "sold" 
by unsuspecting parents who believe their children are going to 
be looked after, learn a trade or be educated.
 
>From Himalayan villages to Eastern European cities, people - es-
pecially women and girls - are attracted by the prospect of a 
well-paid job as a domestic servant, waitress or factory worker. 
Traffickers recruit victims through fake advertisements, mail-
order bride catalogues and casual acquaintances.
 
Upon arrival at their destination, victims are placed in condi-
tions controlled by traffickers while they are exploited to earn 
illicit revenues. Many are physically confined, their travel or 
identity documents are taken away and they or their families are 
threatened if they do not cooperate. Women and girls forced to 
work as prostitutes are blackmailed by the threat that traffick-
ers will tell their families. Trafficked children are dependent 
on their traffickers for food, shelter and other basic necessi-
ties. Traffickers also play on victims' fears that authorities 
in a strange country will prosecute or deport them if they ask 
for help.
 
Trafficking exposes migrants to exploitation and violation of 
their fundamental human rights. Trafficked migrants are often 
dependent on their agents and employers, and are therefore ex-
tremely vulnerable. Because they have to pay back a debt to 
traffickers, migrants frequently find themselves confined to 
sweatshops, factories, or are forced into prostitution or beg-
ging, often controlled by criminal networks. In addition, mi-
grants who lack valid travel documents are primarily regarded as 
irregular migrants, and are therefore subject to deportation in 
many countries. Because of their irregular status, they do not 
have access to legal assistance and medical care.
 
In many parts of the world possibilities for legal migration 
have decreased whilst demand for foreign labour has remained 
constant. This, together with poverty, lack of opportunities, 
political and social violence in the countries of origin, may 
force potential migrants to turn to criminal networks. As a con-
sequence, new trafficking routes are regularly established and 
the market for fraudulent travel documents, clandestine trans-
portation and border crossing has developed worldwide.
 
Pakistan is also facing the menace of human trafficking and il-
legal migration had transnational dimensions and therefore, re-
quires coordinated international responses. One way out is to 
enhance opportunities for productive employment and comprehen-
sive economic development within Pakistan so that unregulated 
outflows of migrants could be stemmed. The main hindrances in 
the elimination of the problem are lack of sufficient informa-
tion on the issue, lack of awareness at community level, lack of 
adequate legal protection, absence of shelter and rehabilitation 
programmes, and lack of political commitment and sometimes the 
lack of proper law enforcement due to which the crime itself of-
ten remains invisible.
 
For Pakistan trafficking is a regional concern that needs to be 
faced on a priority basis. In order to resolve this problem at 
the regional level, there is a need to appoint a special media 
body for trafficking at the SAARC level. Recovery procedures 
also need to be institutionalised. A study needs to be carried 
out on the current ground situation, identifying catchment ar-
eas, midway stops as well as destination points. A process of 
social and economic reconstruction should also be encouraged in 
marginalized areas through ongoing programmes such as literacy, 
child-care, poverty alleviation, health, reproductive health, 
watershed management, improved agriculture technology, forestry 
etc. All marriages should be registered to prevent child mar-
riages. Governments must ensure the convergence of most develop-
ment programmes, which generate employment opportunities lo-
cally. This will reduce migration to urban areas and out of 
Pakistan.
 
The government also needs to make effective legislation and em-
power the police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) to control hu-
man-trafficking and smuggling on Pakistan borders. Though our 
government is determined to control the menace as it is earning 
a bad name for the country in the international world. However, 
there is dire need to channelise the international community to 
avoid linking minor immigration offences of Pakistanis with any 
sort of terrorism.
 
The number of passport cells should be increased and victims of 
human trafficking be given protection instead of treating them 
as a partner of a human trafficker. Pakistan missions in foreign 
countries should have regular allocation of funds to provide re-
lief to the victims of human smuggling who were sent to jail by 
foreign governments. In this connection bilateral agreements 
should be made.
 
The government should encourage legal migration so that the men-
ace of illegal migration and offences of migration laws could be 
reduced. It is also suggested that a national plan should be 
formulated to eradicate root cause of human trafficking. Simi-
larly, poverty alleviation programmes should be launched to root 
out poverty, which is one of the causes of illegal migration.
 
The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist with devel-
opment and communication background
 
--
Ahmed Saleem
Senior Communication Manager
Population Council (Pakistan Office)
House No. 7, Street 62
F-6/3, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-227-7439 Ext: 114
Fax: +92-51-282-1401
mailto:asaleem@pcpak.org