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Lu calls for reflection in human-trafficking fight

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday called for reflection on the "value of humans" out of humanitarian concerns and to help solve the problem of human trafficking in the region.

Making the remarks in a keynote speech delivered at the International Conference on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking from Southeast Asia to Taiwan yesterday, Lu said that the root problem behind human trafficking is political and economic inequalities, and that the public needs to reflect on whether it is just to use money to enslave others.

Lu told her audience that human trafficking has posed a major problem for Taiwan in recent years, mainly because of frequent exchanges across the Taiwan Strait and the many loopholes in the regulation of those exchanges, which human traffickers have used to their advantage.

Citing statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, Lu said that Taiwanese police arrested a total of 8,164 illegal immigrants between 2001 and last year.

Of the 5,097 women arrested, 2,224, or 44 percent, were engaging in the sex trade, Lu said.

A report by the US Department of State showed that between 700,000 and 4 million people, most of whom are women or children, are being sold every year out of their own countries voluntarily, involuntarily or semi-voluntarily, with Taiwan being one of the importing countries, she said.

The government and the public in the country has been paying close attention to UN treaties and laws against trafficking, Lu said, adding that human trafficking is a severe human-rights violation and that the victims of trafficking must be given assistance and protection.

Elizabeth Bagley, board director of Vital Voices International and former US ambassador to Portugal, said human trafficking was a global plague and a form of modern-day slavery.

The root causes of human trafficking must be addressed with cooperation between the government and civil society in order to successfully tackle the problem, Bagley said.

Brad Schlozman, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice, said that the government seeks to gain evidence and investigate who the criminals or victims of human trafficking are while care providers, such as NGOs and social workers, provide services and counseling to reverse the harm to the victims, Schlozman said.

"Law enforcement knows they cannot assist the victims to recover from their trauma and regain dignity, but care providers can," Schlozman said. "Care providers, on the other hand, cannot investigate these cases [of trafficking]."

Lin Chung-sen (林中森), Vice Minister of Interior Affairs, said the hardest task at the moment for the police and investigators in the country is clearly identifying the criminals and the victims of human trafficking.

Usually a person is deemed a victim when they are involuntarily brought to Taiwan, beaten or threatened by a broker or have their passports withheld by an agency, Lin said.

He said that effective legislation needs to be designed to prevent trafficking, combat traffickers and ensure the safe repatriation of victims.
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