Asian nations mull human trafficking pact

Asian nations mull human trafficking pact

Agence France-Presse
Bangkok

Senior officials from China and five Southeast Asian nations on
Friday concluded their first-ever talks to thrash out a new
framework for fighting human trafficking in the region.

United Nations officials cited substantial progress in the
closed-door discussions aimed at hammering out the basics of an
agreement expected to be signed between Cambodia, China, Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam when ministers meet in Yangon in
October.

But they also warned that the battle against trafficking could
actually be slowed by growing regional economic cooperation, the
easing of customs procedures and the opening of transnational
transport routes.

"The meeting was highly successful, and a number of tentative
agreements have been reached which will be discussed further in
the next step in the process," said Philip Robertson, program
manager for the UN inter-agency on human trafficking in the
greater Mekong River subregion.

It was the first time the countries came together to combat
what Thailand's minister of social development and human
security, Sora-at Klinpratoom, described at the beginning of the
three-day talks as a "modern-day form of slavery".

Should a memorandum of understanding be inked in Yangon it
would be the first of its kind in the world, Robertson said.

Some 800,000 men, women and children are estimated to be
trafficked annually across borders worldwide in a billion-dollar
illicit trade. Most victims of trafficking are severely exploited
and many are sexually abused.

Human trafficking is considered a surging crisis in Asia, and
several countries of the region have been strongly criticized for
failing to recognize the scale of the problem.

The UN's top official in Thailand said that while the states
involved in the talks were showing a growing recognition of the
crisis there was some way to go before a pact was agreed.

Of crucial concern was whether any cross-border framework
among the six nations would be legally binding.

"They have agreed it was binding in spirit, but in the letter
of the law that might be going a little bit far at this stage,"
UN resident representative Robert England told AFP.

He warned that socio-economic development in Southeast Asia
was hampering the battle against trafficking.

"Regional development represents a huge economic opportunity
for people, but the ease of mobility created for the purposes of
promoting economic opportunities and jobs also has a social
downside," England said.

"The downside is the increasing trafficking of drugs and
people."

The region, supported by donors such as Japan and the Asian
Development Bank, could be unwittingly fueling the crisis by
opening up transnational highways, reducing border controls, and
simplifying customs and administration procedures.

"Such steps would make it easier to traffic methamphetamines
and heroin and certainly easier to traffic people. Development is
a two-edged sword," England added.