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Asian leaders urged to focus on trafficking

"Cases of trafficking are reported daily and no country is immune from the phenomenon."

-- Bruce Reed, regional representative of the International Organization for Migration

Asian governments need to do more to combat people trafficking as children are increasingly victims of the illicit multibillion dollar global trade, an international forum was told yesterday.

Despite national laws and international conventions against the crime, enforcement has been largely lacking, Bruce Reed, regional representative of the International Organization for Migration, told the Combating Trafficking forum in Manila.

"Trafficking in persons has become a serious challenge to governments and policy makers in the region," he said.

"Cases of trafficking are reported daily and no country is immune from the phenomenon," he said.

Reed told the forum that while many victims were trafficked within Asia there was an "increasing trend" of them being shipped to Europe and Africa.

Many of the victims are trafficked for sexual or labor exploitation, while others end up begging or forced into marriage.

Others end up being trafficked for organ harvesting.

The profile of the victims too has been constantly changing, he said.

"Victims are becoming younger. Children are increasingly caught up in the process and Southeast Asia is particularly characterised by high rates of child migration," Reed said, although he admitted that statistics were difficult to come by.

Poverty at home has also led to a dramatic increase in international migration, with 30 million Asians living outside their countries and in environments where they were vulnerable to abuse, Reed said.

Governments however have failed to change their migration policies that often remain "rigid and inflexible."

The lack of legal migration channels creates opportunities for illegal recruiters or intermediaries.

Anders Lisborg, the International Labor Organization's (ILO) program officer for trafficking and child labor, said human trafficking was closely linked to forced labor which could have been addressed by international conventions.

"Trafficking is often possible because of a lack of application and enforcement of such labor standards — both in countries of origin and destination," he said.

A study published by the Filipino advocacy group Visayan Forum Foundation, which also cited ILO figures, said there were at least 12.3 million people worldwide trapped in conditions of forced labor and slavery.

The majority of them are exploited by private businesses while some 2.5 million are victims of trafficking.

Every year, private enterprises earn some US$44.3 billion from forced labor, with some US$31.6 billion coming from trafficking operations, the study said.
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