VICTIMS MUST BE AT THE CENTRE OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING ACTION SAYS UNITED NATIONS DEPUTY HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

14 May 2009

Victims of human trafficking must be at the centre of any effective and credible anti-trafficking action, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, said Wednesday in New York. Calling human trafficking “our modern-day slavery”, Ms Kang called for agreement on urgent collective action, not just statements “of good intent”.

Speaking to a United Nations General Assembly special meeting to discuss a global plan of action to end human trafficking, Ms Kang underlined the importance of a human rights-based approach, explaining that this “ensures that trafficking is not reduced to a problem of population movements, a problem of public order, or a problem of organized crime.”

“States and the international community have come to recognize the strong connections between trafficking and violations of human rights, in particular those of vulnerable groups such as women, children and migrant workers,” said the Deputy High Commissioner. “Bought and sold as commodities, terrorized by violence and intimidation,” victims of trafficking are denied their most basic human rights, Ms. Kang said. “They must be actively assisted in reclaiming them”.

States must meet their obligations under international law “to redress discriminatory practices and unequal power relations that fuel trafficking, perpetuate impunity for traffickers and deny justice to victims,” she pointed out. In particular, States that have not yet ratified the Protocol on Trafficking (known as the Palermo Protocol) to the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, and other human rights treaties, should do so promptly.

The rights-based approach to combating trafficking, as outlined in the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2002, makes operational sense, Ms. Kang said. For example, trafficking victims who are protected and supported are in a better position to cooperate in the prosecution of their exploiters.

Reinforcing her views, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, who also spoke at the meeting, said that the national plans she has seen were weak in adopting a human rights approach. They usually build on the model of “three P’s” she explained, “Protection, Prevention and Prosecution (with great emphasis on prosecution) without adequate consideration for the three R’s – Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Redress for victims.” Moreover, “most address mainly trafficking for sexual exploitation and few address other forms such as trafficking for labour exploitation.”

Outlining some of the measures that Governments should take to support victims, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said that “trafficking victims should not be subjected to summary deportations, nor should they be held in detention. Nor should they be prosecuted for activities that are a direct outcome of being trafficked.”

“Special care is needed for the protection of children who fall victim,” she said, adding that “age-sensitive measures must be taken to address their needs and protect their interests.”

Ms. Kang said that there is already a growing consensus on how human trafficking should be addressed. A global plan of action should seek to capture this and push it forward. But to be more than a statement of good intent, it must “openly acknowledge the link between trafficking and inequality; between trafficking and entrenched gender and racial discrimination; and between trafficking and inefficient migration regimes”. Then it could provide an important boost to national, regional and international efforts to protect the rights of victims.
In addition, Ms. Kang said the plan must “honestly address two aspects of trafficking that have been particularly susceptible to bland and empty rhetoric”. The first is “the root causes of trafficking: those factors that increase the vulnerability of individuals and groups to trafficking and related exploitation. The second is the demand aspect: the social, political and economic forces that develop and sustain a market for the so-called ‘products’ of trafficking.”

“For such a plan to be successful, it needs to reflect the primacy of human rights in responding to trafficking. In other words, human rights should form the foundation for any global plan of action against trafficking,” she underscored.

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