Human trafficking

“ Trafficking of women and children is a violation of basic human rights and labour rights. It is an offense punishable by international law as well as by Sri Lankan law. Penal Code (Amendment) Act no.16 of 2006 makes human trafficking, an offence punishable by a minimum imprisonment of two years and a maximum of twenty years and a fine. The minimum term is three years if the victim is a child, i.e. below 18 years of age.”
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by Kanchanee Vithanage

(May 16, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Padma lives with her mother in a remote village in the Monaragala District. One day their neighbour comes by with an interesting proposal to find employment for Padma in Colombo. Padma leaves for Colombo with her neighbour dreaming of her new job. The neighbour hands Padma over to a lady who then hands her to a brothel owner. As a prostitute, each day Padma has to satisfy several clients. She dreams of going back home but she earns very little and is trapped. Back in the village, Padma’s mother thinks her daughter is happy working in Colombo.

What Padma underwent is the plight of many women and children who are taken to the city by a neighbour or a distant relative with promises of finding a good job and a better life. "Human trafficking", both at domestic and international level, is one of the worst social hazards Asia is experiencing at present. Trafficking of women and children has become one of the most serious social problems in Sri Lanka as well.

What is human trafficking?

The protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children defines trafficking as "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and 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 vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation". Here "exploitation" includes "at a minimum the exploitation of the prostitution and of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." Victims do not agree to be trafficked but are trafficked, lured by false promises, deception, intimidation, isolation, debt bondage, physical force etc.

Trafficking of women and children is a violation of basic human rights and labour rights. It is an offense punishable by international law as well as by Sri Lankan law. Penal Code (Amendment) Act no.16 of 2006 makes human trafficking, an offence punishable by a minimum imprisonment of two years and a maximum of twenty years and a fine. The minimum term is three years if the victim is a child, i.e. below 18 years of age.

Transnational trafficking

Trafficking is no more an internal problem. Transnational human trafficking has gained serious dimensions during this decade. According to a 2003 US government report, 800,000-900,000 people worldwide are trafficked across borders each year. This figure does not include those who are trafficked internally. However, due to the illicit nature of trafficking, the true figures always remain unknown.

Trafficking, which is one of the major social and economic problems in third world countries, is affecting the South Asian region in particular. Women and children are trafficked across the borders mainly among India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. India and Pakistan also act as transit countries to other regions such as Gulf States, South East Asia and Europe. According to Global Citizen Trust, approximately 5000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into India annually and 4,500 Bangladeshi girls and children are trafficked into Pakistan via India. According to Bangladesh government figures, 10,000 are trafficked annually, internally and across borders. Sri Lankans are mainly trafficked inland and to middle-eastern countries. It is believed that every year, approximately one million people are trafficked from Asia for purposes such as sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced marriage and bonded labour. Boys are trafficked to the UAE and Qatar as camel jockeys and beggars as well. Since trafficking in Asia is carried out in a systematic regional network, it is believed that eradicating the same should also be done at a regional level.

Trafficking and migrant workers

A clear nexus can be drawn between trafficking and unsafe migration. Trafficking in Asia has mainly evoked with the current trend among Asians to seek foreign employment in the Middle-East. The international migration of women from South Asia for employment in the formal sector has considerably increased during the past three decades. Migration, while financially empowering women, increases their vulnerability. Women’s decisions to migrate are often taken under conditions of disparity thus heightening their vulnerability to various forms of exploitation including trafficking. Lack of information and scarcity of opportunities for safe migration also contribute in ending up being trafficked. Therefore, ensuring safe labour migration and upgrading standards relating to migration can be considered as one of the main steps towards eradicating trafficking at the international level.

Towards eradication

Many steps have been taken around the world in order to eliminate the problem of human trafficking. Enforcing laws and ratifying international human rights instruments related to trafficking is the basic step. As for an example, Pakistan has promulgated the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002. Moreover, countries like Nepal have come up with novel features such as making private foreign employment agencies accountable through a deposit system. The agencies have to pay a high deposit to the government to obtain the agency and would lose the same whereupon an incident of trafficking of a migrant worker is proved.

Memorandums of understanding and bilateral agreements are signed between some countries for the purpose of eliminating human trafficking. The MoU signed between Cambodia and Thailand in 2003 to eliminate trafficking in children and women and to assist victims of trafficking is an example for such bilateral agreement. By MoUs of this sort, countries agree to ensure that the local legal frameworks conform to the international human rights instruments, to raise awareness among women and children, to work in cooperation for the suppression of trafficking etc. However, due to the unequal bargaining power sustained by third world countries like Sri Lanka, entering into a bilateral agreement or an MoU with a wealthy Middle-Eastern country has proven to be easier said than done.

Support services

Strengthening the care of victims of trafficking is another positive step. Many countries have taken steps to develop support services such as medical care, treatment, rehabilitation, repatriation, shelter, safety, psychological support, legal aid, reintegration to society, repatriation of human remains, etc. Moreover, developing preparatory services such as imparting of information, language training, and awareness programmes vis-`E0-vis the potential migrant workers is one successful method towards preventing human trafficking. Community based sensitisation and education need to be ensured. Attracting the potential migrant workers to these services already rendered especially by government institutions such as the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau is one of the responsibilities of the media as well. Effective legislation and bringing the perpetrators of trafficking before the law and protecting victims are other steps that should be taken.

The existing emigration policy in India not to allow women below 30 years to migrate for any unskilled labour gets easily hoodwinked from the step of the passport application itself. Then even a protector of emigrants can hardly stop the migration of girls below 30 years of age. This is just one example to explain the gravity of the problem of internal as well as transnational human trafficking. Therefore, it is believed that development of support services; especially with regard to public awareness in par with law enforcement is the key to success in eliminating human trafficking. In addition, the governments of South Asian countries have a responsibility towards establishing a regional network in order to eliminate human trafficking.
- Sri Lanka Guardian