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Afghan Child Refugees Flee to Europe

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As citizens of the United States, we hear a lot about the war in Afghanistan. We hear about what the U.S. is doing, our withdrawal timeline, attacks and progress. What we don’t hear about is how the war has affected Afghan citizens, and what life has been like for them.

Right now in Afghanistan, there is a mass exodus of teenage boys who are fleeing Afghanistan. These Afghan child refugees are headed on a 10,000-mile journey towards Europe, where, if they are lucky enough to live and arrive in Europe, they may be able to seek asylum. Teens are forced to trust in smugglers who transport them in secret compartments in vans and truck, or take them on dangerous water crossings with low survival rates.  Many of the boys who take on this journey die in the process, with estimates as low as 35% of boys making it to Europe.

Additionally, Afghan boys are at risk for sex trafficking on their journey. Many of the boys are sexually abused, or turned into sex slaves by their smugglers. They are powerless to the smugglers, who control their livelihood and safety. Many children may also be diverted into menial jobs as they try to save money to pay smugglers for future legs of their jouney. Boys disappear often, and anonymously. They are incredibly vulnerable and very susceptible to kidnappers.

The deaths and disappearances of these boys are, in part, a result of their vulnerability and poverty. The poorer and less educated the boys, the bigger risk they may suffer. Additionally, some of the children may be experiencing post-traumatic stress from the war-related events that they may have witnessed in Afghanistan. The children are also subject to the constant threat of deportation, as most of them do not have legal status or documentation.

The lack of legal status can have many implications on the children. They could be exposed to organized crime, physical abuse, and child labor, as well as the previously mentioned sex trafficking. In several of the countries through which the boys travel, such as Greece, unaccompanied children are not guaranteed asylum or refugee status. Those children who are caught, deported, and sent back to Afghanistan may be at an even greater risk if returned. The plight of young Afghans is undoubtedly a serious human rights violation and one that should be more widely covered by mainstream media.

– Caitlin Zusy 

Sources: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes, UNHRC
Photo: The National

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International Collaboration Needed to Fight Slavery

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Human trafficking is, unfortunately, big business. According to a 2011 report titled “Transnational Crime in the Developing World” by James Haken, it is a $32 billion annual business. The FBI states human sex trafficking alone is the third largest criminal enterprise in the world. Thus, combating such an industry is a serious challenge. There are many anti-slavery advocacy groups, fundraising campaigns, and sectors of law enforcement around the world.

However, Tim Waldron, UK anti-slavery organization Love146’s chief executive, reports that lack of collaboration among such groups makes implementing change extremely challenging. He says, “The problem is that modern-day slavery is a labor issue, it’s a human rights issue, a migration issue, a criminal issue, and work on this extends from front-line rescue operations through to high-level political lobbying, campaigning and coordinating with partners working in often incredibly dangerous and tense environments around the world.”

Unsurprisingly, different agencies and organizations have a hard time agreeing on who can do what best. Roger Plant, the head of the International Labour Organisation, says that jealousy and infighting often cause agencies to “trip over each other” and needlessly duplicate efforts.

However, recently there have been gains in collaboration. Groups like The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), The Child Labour Coalition, and the Cotton Campaign have all been lauded for their inter-organizational coordination. ATEST is actually a group of 12 United States organizations that worked together to push the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 through the Senate.

Thankfully, organizations dedicated to fighting modern slavery are starting to take note of their deficiencies in this area. With the welfare of millions of men, women, and children at stake, fighting slavery has never been more important.

– Samantha Mauney

Source: The Guardian
Photo: Release

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UN Calls for Implementation of Anti-human Trafficking Treaties

 UN Calls for Implementation of Anti-human Trafficking Treaties
At the UN General Assembly meeting Monday, UN Officials urged those in attendance to continue to work towards “full implementation” of major anti-human trafficking treaties. The treaties are central in the fight against the US$32 billion global human trafficking industry.  Global estimates of those in forced labor, sexual prostitution, and military labor range from 2.4 million to 27 million. Regardless of the numbers, the industry will continue to grow without support and implementation from UN member countries.

Vuk Jeremic, General Assembly president, opened the two day UN conference aimed at improving coordination among nations in the fight against human trafficking.  When talking about stopping the crime of human trafficking and helping victims rebuild their lives, he said “no effort must be spared.”  We must increase our attention to the matter and collaborate to fight against human trafficking.  Increased sensitivity and awareness training for law enforcement, border control, embassy officials, and peacekeepers is one such area where coordination must be improved.

The two-day meeting will also serve to provide an update on the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.  The plan was adopted in 2010 and includes measures for integrating the fight against human trafficking into broader programs within the UN as well as increasing development and security globally.  Discussions throughout the meeting built upon the plan and addressed preventing human trafficking, prosecuting offenders, protecting victims, and forming partnerships to fight human trafficking. The Plan also set up the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons. Jeremic requested member countries to provide greater support for the fund.

With almost a third of victims worldwide identified as children, the need for greater collaboration is great. Awareness on the part of government officials, humanitarian organizations, and citizens is necessary to continue in the fight against human trafficking. The UN conference is a huge step in this direction.

– Amanda Kloeppel
 Source: National News Agency of Malaysia
Photo: UN

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Chairman Royce on Human Trafficking

Chairman Royce on Human Trafficking
 “Trafficking in persons is a grievous offense against human dignity that impacts every country on earth, and disproportionately victimizes girls and children.” – Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ed Royce opened a hearing on human trafficking on May 7th, 2013. The hearing will discuss local and private sector initiatives to combat human trafficking.  Modern-day slavery, human trafficking is a growing global crime.

One of the things society must wrestle with is how the vulnerable are treated and protected as well as what their responsibility is in coming to the aid of the exploited. Human trafficking exists in every nation worldwide and targets women and children in disproportionate amounts.  Numbers indicate over 20 million victims of forced labor and forced sex work worldwide. However, bigger than the numbers are the faces and stories of the victims, largely children, who have been stripped of their hope, innocence, and youth.

Chairman Royce’s Chief of Staff, Amy Porter, spent time in India and Cambodia serving victims of human trafficking. She recounts girls as young as 3 years old in awful, disgusting situations. Closer to home, it is estimated that 100,000 children in the US are victims of human trafficking.  The Foreign Affairs Committee has worked tirelessly to get human trafficking on the minds of Congress and will continue to work hard to make the issue an urgent and pressing one in the coming weeks and years.

The hearing will look at some of the promising private sector and community partnerships going on worldwide and the implications of those innovative partnerships in eradicating human trafficking. The tools that are being developed and the relationships established on the local, community level may just be the answer to fighting human trafficking worldwide.

Videos of the Question and Answer session as well as the opening statement can be found here.

– Amanda Kloeppel

Source: House Foreign Affairs Committee
Photo: Jewish Journal

Google Donates $3 Million to Fight Modern Slavery

Google Donates $3 Million to Fight Modern Slavery
Google announced a $3 million grant that will fight modern slavery by giving anti-human trafficking organizations the ability to pool hotlines, data, and resources.  The $3 million dollar grant will go to support the Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network. This network, running between organizations in the USA, Southeast Asia, and Europe, will be the largest data-sharing effort aimed towards the fight against modern-day slavery. Google has given more than $14.5 million to anti-trafficking efforts and is committed as a company to the fight against slavery.

With an estimated 27 million human-trafficked slaves worldwide, Google’s grant brings further awareness and resources to the fight. Human trafficking is defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act as the recruitment, transportation, or harboring of people by means of force, deception or coercion. Many of these individuals are trapped in extreme poverty and feel left with little choice. Currently, many nations are working hard to address the issue, but are often working in isolation. The trends and data from Southeast Asia rarely make it back to the US where data can be combined and studied further. The Global hotline will allow countries to standardize data, identify trends, and combine statistics in order to gather a comprehensive picture and develop better tactics to fight the growing issue.

The Polaris Project, Liberty Asia, and La Strada International were jointly awarded the $3 million dollar grant from Google. In a statement from Jacquelline Fuller, director of Google Giving she says, “The bad guys have been using technology in a much more savvy way…We want to enable the good guys to use technology in highly leveraged ways, so they can innovate faster than the opposition.” The grant will go towards supporting travel expenses, building the platforms needed to share data, identifying more hotlines, and data collection.  Organization officials hope to be able to leverage the technology and use it to create additional hotlines in other parts of the world.

Bradley Myles, CEO of the Polaris Project, has seen the success with the National Human Trafficking Hotline they run in the United States. He says, “Hotlines work. Anywhere a victim is, there (should be a) hotline that covers that area.”  By creating a Global Human Trafficking Hotline, the Google grant is another step towards providing help and hope to victims worldwide.

– Amanda Kloeppel

Source: USA Today

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Sex Trafficking at Super Bowl XLVII

Super Bowl Sex Trafficking_opt
Human trafficking is one of the most prevalent, discerning issues of our time. The fact of the matter, which has been professed by organization after organization for years now, is that there are more slaves now than there have ever been in the history of mankind. In the US alone, The Huffington Post has estimated that the industry brings in over $9.5 billion annually.

While this truth is distressing, there is a silver lining. At no point in mankind has there ever been so much support against human trafficking, nor the technology or infrastructural support to combat it, as there is now.

Human trafficking generally implies either forced labor or sex trafficking, the latter occurring in higher frequency around large gatherings of people, where there may be a larger pool of potential clients. An example of such a situation was the Super Bowl XLVII, which passed on February 3rd.

Fionna Agomuoh of The International Business Times writes that there was an “estimated 10,000 women and minors that were trafficked in the Miami area during the 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., according to the Florida Commission Against Human Trafficking.” One can only assume that the issue of trafficking around this annual event has only increased in the four years since then.

In anticipation for sex trafficking at Super Bowl XLVII, local businesses, advocacy groups, and law enforcement agencies joined together in a public campaign to support victims and make themselves available to individuals looking to escape the sex work industry by raising awareness in the form of “handing out pamphlets to local clubs and bars detailing how to spot and what to do if sex trafficking is suspected, as well as distributing bars of soap to hotels with hotline numbers etched on them to aid victims looking to escape.”

USA Today also posted a full-page ad against human trafficking prior to the Super Bowl and the “A 21 Campaign, established in 2008, released several Super Bowl-related info-graphics about human trafficking this year.”

Awareness will breed more advocacy on the issue, of course, so while sex trafficking is one of the largest understated issues of American life, much like poverty, arming ourselves and our communities with knowledge and facts about the issue is definitely a step in the right direction.

– Nina Narang

Source: International Business Times
Photo: ChicagoNow