Human Trafficking in the Mekong Sub-Region

A Presentation by the UNIAPUnited Nations Inter-agency Project on

Human Trafficking in the Mekong Sub-region

Since 1998:

• A remarkable increase in the number of anti-trafficking projects in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region…

• … but no significant reduction in the magnitude of human trafficking.

Community ExploitationMovement

Human Trafficking: the illegal trading of human beings for the purpose of exploiting their labour.

People cross borders:

•Alone or with a “facilitator”

•Legally or illegally

Community Exploitation

Border

Exploitation

NoExploitation

Smuggling:Facilitator + Illegal migration + For Work

Trafficking:Facilitator + Legal + Exploitation

or illegalmigration

How can we support victims of trafficking when in the same time we try to limit the

number of illegal migrants?

Receiving communities:

Improve our ability to identify and support victims

Receiving communities: Reduce people’s ability to traffic and exploit migrants.

• Create a society in which abuse of migrants is not tolerated;

• Ensure that traffickers’ and exploiters’ business gets disrupted;

• Improve criminal justice responses.

Movement:

Facilitate people’s safe migration.

Sending communities:

Reduce people’s vulnerabilities to trafficking;

Increase people’s awareness of dangers;

Increase protection in village.

The UN Inter-Agency Project ’s Mandate:

To reduce the severity and harm associated with human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region by identifying gaps in responses and promoting a more coordinated approach among regional actors.

UNIAP’s four Project Components:

Build and share sound knowledge on trafficking;

Promote joint priority setting among anti-trafficking actors;

Support research and targeted interventions;

Support advocacy efforts.

Building the knowledge-base

The UNIAP has created and maintains a complete mapping of anti-trafficking interventions in the Mekong Sub-region;

The Project has compiled an impressive collection of good-practices and lessons learnt;

There is no agreement on trafficking figures:

Worldwide estimates of human trafficking victims each year vary from

600,000 (UNIFEM) to 2,000,000 (UNICEF) to

4,000,000 (United Nations).

The same blurriness prevails for the Mekong Sub-region…

Joint priority setting

The UNIAP brings together an extensive network of governments, local and international non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, and donors.

In each country, regular Working Group Meetings enable the anti-trafficking community to take stock of trends and to make common decisions for the future.

Human Trafficking is, all at once:

A Development Problem

A Legal Problem

A Human Rights Problem

A Social Problem

A Policing Problem

A Gender Problem

A Migration Problem

An Economic Problem

Targeted interventions

60 projects supported in Phase I, including:

Prevention work in receiving communities (HCC, Cambodia);

Establishment of a repatriation mechanism between Laos/Myanmar and Thailand;

Establishment of a list-serve in Cambodia, currently sending updated information on trafficking to more than 300 organisations on a weekly basis.

Adopt an evidence-based approach to anti-trafficking work:

Research

Pilot testing of interventions

Drawing lessons and good practices

Replication

Secure high-level commitment against trafficking:

supportive policies in the areas of labour, macro-economy, access to services and legal status may end up having more impact on the

phenomenon than trafficking-specific interventions.

COMMIT – The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking is an Inter-Country, Inter-Ministerial forum for the advancement of governments’ joint response to trafficking.

Advocacy

Thank you