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Eliminating the demand for trafficked and exploited
labour to provide the cheap goods and huge profits
desired by consumers and businesses the world over is
critical if global efforts to end human trafficking are
to be successful, says the International Organization
for Migration (IOM).
New Campaign
Launching a new campaign today on the third EU
Anti-Trafficking Day coinciding with the start of a
European ministerial conference on global EU action
against human trafficking in Brussels, the IOM is urging
consumers in particular to play a greater role in ending
human trafficking, encouraging the public to question
“What Lies Behind the Things We Buy?
“For too long the belief has been that poverty and
gender discrimination are root causes of human
trafficking, which can only be tackled at source. This
is short-sighted”, says IOM Director General William
Lacy Swing. “Quite simply, human trafficking is driven
by the demand for unreasonably cheap labour and goods
from around the world”.
Awareness
As well as a television spot for broadcasters to air,
the “Buy Responsibly” campaign is being launched at
Place Schuman in Brussels with a display involving an
inverted giant shopping trolley imprisoning models
representing trafficked migrant workers.
Ageing populations, falling birth rates and labour force
participation in industrialized countries coupled with
an over-supply of labour in developing countries without
sufficient channels for legal migration, have paved the
way for human traffickers to profit from the demand for
cheap foreign labour and services. Some estimates put
the number of people in forced or bonded labour and
sexual servitude in the world at any given time at 12.3
million.
Although focus has largely been on the issue of the
trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation,
greater incidences are emerging of trafficking for
labour exploitation involving all ages and both sexes.
Figures from the IOM’s Global Counter Trafficking
Database, which tracks and details assistance provided
by the organization to victims, show that over the past
11 years, the IOM has assisted an increasing number of
people trafficked for labour exploitation with the
largest increases in the last five years. This has
largely involved men and boys trafficked to work in the
agricultural, construction, fishing and domestic service
sectors.
Changing the Focus
Up until now, global counter trafficking efforts have
mainly focused on prevention and post-rescue assistance
in source countries with little work done to tackle the
equally critical demand side. “Some sectors of an
economy, such as construction and agriculture, depend on
irregular cheap labour for growth and profits. But
economic growth shouldn’t depend on exploitation”, the
IOM Director General states.
Despite the best efforts by all those involved in
countering human trafficking, indications are that it is
at least as widespread today as it was ten years ago.
“Clearly this is not acceptable. A change in mindset and
practices among consumers and businesses alike needs to
occur”, Swing adds.
Steps to be Taken
Several concrete and far-reaching steps can be taken to
achieve this. They include regulating the informal
sector in destination countries to ensure workers are
brought under the protection of labour laws; making
business and employers legally responsible for human
trafficking and migrant exploitation in their supply
chain; encouraging the creation of ethical employer
associations adhering to codes of conduct guaranteeing
the rights of migrants and workers and providing more
legal channels for migration. Equally essential is
raising awareness among consumers of products and
services provided by trafficked and exploited labour.
“Consumers who are increasingly demanding fair trade
have the power to end labour exploitation by buying
responsibly and getting business to rethink how it
operates. It’s also in the interest of business to
ensure its supply chain is not using trafficked or
exploited labour. This can make a huge difference in
countering human trafficking. There is no time to
waste”, says Swing.
Consumers are encouraged to visit www.buyresponsibly.org
to find out more about human trafficking for labour
exploitation and what they could do to end it.
Swisslatin / adapted by Stephen Hinch
(19.10.2009) |
