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Human Trafficking
Human trafficking continues to be a significant social issue that is plaguing modern societies despite efforts to end it in a bid to promote human rights. Human trafficking undermines the fundamental human rights as it fosters discrimination interferes with the right to liberty, freedom of movement, association, and gendered violence. Human rights activists are at the forefront when it comes to championing the rights of the disadvantaged who include women and children. In the same manner, most countries have established legal structures that are meant to protect citizens from being commoditized and sold. Despite these efforts, human trafficking is persistent, and the International Labor Organization estimates that about 24 million people are enslaved across the globe. The reason why human trafficking, which is equated to modern slavery, continues to thrive is conflicting priorities regarding human trafficking. While some countries have clear guidelines on deterring human trafficking, some cultures still condone modern slavery, which perpetuates the crime. An analysis and comparison of different international are crucial in understanding why human trafficking continues to thrive.
International Laws on Human Trafficking
International laws are potent avenues for combating human trafficking in this era of industrialization that expands the labor market. The United Nations (UN) has established laws that are used to define to protect individuals from modern slavery and prosecute human traffickers. In particular, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized of 2003-2004 established two protocols that criminalize trafficking of women and children as well as smuggling of immigrants (Calderoni, 2012). These conventions by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have been instrumental since they have strengthened the internal law for combating human trafficking. Moreover, the UNODC came up with the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UNGIFT), which empowers the international community to combat human trafficking. In the same manner, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the UN are other international laws that affirm human rights. These transnational human rights are universal, and they apply to anyone, including trafficked persons, irrespective of their citizenship status or nationality.
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International human rights are based on the fact that there certain groups that require specialized or additional protection since they are vulnerable and could be targeted for slavery and oppression. One of these groups is aliens who should enjoy all human rights, freedoms, or privileges as well as a chance to enjoy their cultural heritage. The other group includes children who are targeted by human traffickers to be used for sexual exploitation, made to beg or work in forced labor. The same applies to people with disabilities who could be subjected to begging or forced into exploitative labor. Women and girls are the other vulnerable group, which is forced into gender-specific exploitation such as sexual tourism and exploitative tourism. Moreover, women and girls find themselves working as forced laborers in the service and domestic sectors. This kind of servitude predisposes women and girls into forced marriages, rape, forced pregnancies, and subsequent abortions as well as sexually transmitted diseases (Albanese, 2018). An adherence to international human trafficking and human rights laws could help promote the rights of these vulnerable groups.
Complying with International Laws on Human Rights and Trafficking
The UN has the responsibility of drafting, implementing, and enforcing international laws on human rights and trafficking. The primary way of enforcing international laws is through the signing of treaties by the member states who show their commitment to adhere to human trafficking provisions. From here, the member states create their national legislation, practices, and policies that are in line and consistent with the international law on human trafficking. However, it is crucial to understand that as much as the U.N. bears this responsibility, it may not have the capacity to enforce these laws in nations that are not U.N. members. As of 2020, Holy See and the State of Palestine were yet to be recognized by the U.N. or gain complete international recognition (UN). This lack of attention means that these countries and territories cannot be part of protocols promoting human rights or deterring human trafficking.
In the same manner, the U.N. and the international community may not be in a position to intervene if these nations were to engage in human rights violations. Despite this reality, it is important to note that in as much as the U.N does not recognize these nations, they must respect and advance human rights. The reason for this proposition is the fact that the prohibition for slavery is recognized globally as a part of customary international laws. Customary international laws are binding to all states irrespective of whether they are a party to treaties that prohibit slavery and human trafficking law (Heffes, 2018). In the same manner, general principles of law, which refer to laws that are common to all legal systems, are considered as international laws, and as such, all states are obligated by the law.
Comparing and Contrasting International Laws and Conflicting Priorities as Related to Human Trafficking
International laws set a precedent for the universal respect and promotion of human rights by prohibiting slavery, abuse, exploitation, and discrimination. While international laws are clear and adapted to national and local situations, most countries are yet to ensure that all citizens enjoy their rights. Rising inequalities and widespread gender, racial, ethnic, and other forms of discrimination are common in most of the countries. One cannot confidently claim that any nation that has succeeded in promoting and protecting human rights in a bid to achieve equality. Political, social, cultural, and economic priorities have been the reason why it has been hard for nations to align with international laws on human rights and trafficking. Most countries are highly industrialized, meaning that they require high numbers of laborers to fill the employment spots. Still, other countries have higher percentages of the older population, meaning that they do not have enough labor force to fill the positions.
In a bid to fill these gaps, these countries turn to underdeveloped and developing nations, which have a surplus of labor. It is possible for the developed and industrialized nations to overwork and underpays foreign workers and, in this way, forego human rights provisions. In the same manner, workers from underdeveloped and developing nations may fall victim to human trafficking and slavery since they hope to have better lives. Sweileh (2018) notes that most developing and undeveloped nations are prone to civil unrest, political instability, internal armed conflicts and militarism. These unfortunate turn of events tend to affect the most susceptible people in the society who include women, minors, the elderly, and the disabled. In most cases, these populations are displaced or destabilized something that makes them more prone to abuse and exploitation through human trafficking and forced labor. These individuals are likely to apply for foreign jobs without conducting enough research to understand the prevailing labor and legal laws related to human trafficking. More often than not, individuals from undeveloped and developed nations have found themselves stranded in foreign countries.
Individuals from developing and underdeveloped tend to travel to foreign nations in hopes of better lives only to end up in destructive and cruel domestic and service industries. At times, their employers take away their passports and mobile phones, which means that they cannot leave nor communicate with their relatives. Additionally, these individuals find themselves confined to the workstations, which translates to the curtailing of their freedom of movement and association (Zimmerman & Kiss, 2017). Worse still some employers go to the extent of beating these employees or even harassing them sexually looking at this scenario, one cannot establish that while international laws are clear regarding the promotion of human rights, compliance is not automatic. Some nations are keen on achieving economic growth, and they would go to the extent of human trafficking and slavery to achieve this objective.
Cultures that Condone Modern Slavery
There have been numerous attempts to end slavery in all of its forms by universal human rights agencies such as the U.N. and independent human rights groups. For instance, in 2000, the U.N. came up with the Palermo protocols meant to supplement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. One of the protocols is for preventing, suppressing, and punishing individuals who traffick females and minors while the other criminalize migrants smuggling. Despite there being clear guidelines and stringent measures for preventing suppressing and punishing human traffickers, some countries encourage human trafficking. The UN establishes that trafficking of human beings is a concern for every country, considering that less developed countries are the source with developed countries being the destination for modern slaves (U.S. Department of State, 2019). Europe is considered as the major destination for trafficked human victims, with Asia being the region where most human trafficking victims originate. In as much as human trafficking affects almost all the countries some countries seem to condone and accept it.
The UN classifies nations, depending on how adequately or inadequately they advance human rights or suppress, prevent, or punish human trafficking crimes. In this case, nations are classified into Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, and Tier 3. Tier 3 states are those that have failed to implement the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's (TVPA) minimum standards. Moreover, nations that belong to tier 3 do not seem to be making efforts to meet the TVPA’s minimum standards (U.S. Department of State, 2019). TVPA identifies four minimum standards, which nations around the world are supposed to meet in dealing with human trafficking. For one, governments are supposed to outlaw and punish severe forms of trafficking of people. Additionally, governments need to recommend punishment that matches grave crimes such as sex trafficking, kidnapping, or a crime that causes death. In the same manner, the government ought to prescribe punishment that is enough to deter trafficking in persons in the future. Finally, governments are supposed to engage in serious and sustained efforts aimed at eliminating severe trafficking in-person forms (Weber et al., 2019). Countries that fail to adhere to the TPVA minimums are ranked in Tier 3, and they are likely to attract sanctions from the global community.
The 19 th annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report indicated that in 2019, 21 nations were classified into the Tier 3 category, considering that they failed to meet the minimum standards. Some of the Tier 3 countries include Belarus, Burma, China, Russia, the Gambia, Comoros, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Venezuela, Eretria, and Cuba (Weber et al., 2019). Uzbekistan ranked in the Tier 2 Watch List, although there are concerns considering that this nation condones modern-day slavery, meaning that it merits being in Tier 3. Reports indicate that the Uzbekistan government was on record for forcing up to 170,000 people to work as cotton harvesters. International Labor Organization (2020) establishes that about 102,000 people had been coerced to work as coffee harvesters. In the same breath, the government is conducting a large-scale mobilization where it is looking for workers to perform repair work and construction jobs across the nation. This nation seems to suffer from chronic non-compliance not only with international obligations but also disregards its legislation on civil liberties and human rights.
Russia is another nation that condones modern slavery that targets North Koreans who provide cheap labor in Russian oil companies and banks. Russia has a bilateral agreement with North Korea that allows for 'slave-like' conditions for workers North Korean workers. In this case, North Korea sends up to 20,000 workers to Russia every year, and doing so encourages and condone modern slavery (Napalkova, 2019). It is no surprise that both Russia and North Korea are ranked in the Tier 3 category for their disregard for human rights. Iran, which ranked in Tier 3 in the 2019 TIP report, is another nation that condones modern slavery by punishing human rights victims who have been subjected to prostitution and illegal immigration. The nation forces Afghanistan immigrants to take up combat roles in Syria besides forcing and threatening young children to work as beggars. The same case applies to Saudi Arabia, which does not seem to make efforts to eliminate human trafficking or meet TPVA minimum standards. According to the U.S. Department of State (2020), Saudi Arabia continues to jail, fine, and deport human trafficking victims for violating immigration or prostitution. The Saudi government supports employers who withhold payment of wages to laborers and passports and considers these actions as administrative labor laws as opposed to criminal offenses.
Conclusion
Human trafficking continues to be a major global issue that contravenes the universal declaration for the respect and promotion of human rights and civil liberties. The U.N. and independent human rights groups have been engaged in efforts to curb human trafficking and recent efforts by enacting and enforcing laws. Countries that are member states are obligated to align with the Palermo protocol that establishes human trafficking suppression, prevention, and punishment. These nations are expected to enact their laws that ensure the advancement of human rights. Despite there being clear laws on advancing human rights, human trafficking continues to thrive, and disproportionately affects less developed countries. Some underdeveloped countries may be prone to political instability, armed conflicts, and high poverty levels. These populations tend to fall prey to traffickers who promise them a better future once they secure employment in foreign countries. An individual can immigrate into Tier 3 countries, which fails to fulfil TVPA principles. North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, China, and Uzbekistan are some of the countries that condone modern slavery by ignoring human rights. Most of the foreign workers find themselves into forced employment and sexual manipulation, with the governments doing nothing about the abuse. To this end, the nations that violate human rights and condone human trafficking ought to be sanctioned until they respect and promote human rights.
References
Albanese, J. S. (2018). Countering transnational crime and corruption: The urge to action versus the patience to evaluate. Justice Evaluation Journal , 1(1), 82-95. doi: 10.1080/24751979.2018.1478234
Calderoni, F. (2020). U.N. Convention against transnational organized crime. In Beare, Margaret E. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of transnational crime and justice (pp. 23-40). Sage Publications Inc.
Heffes, E. (2018). Some reflections on the theory of sources of international law: Re-examining customary international law. Israel Law Review , 51(3), 485-502. doi:10.1017/S0021223718000031
International Labor Organization. (2020). Third-party monitoring of child labor and forced labor during the 2019 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---ipec/documents/publication/wcms_735873.pdf
Napalkova, A. (2019, April 25). The secret world of Russia's North Korean workers. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43802085
Sweileh, W.M. (2018). Research trends on human trafficking: a bibliometric analysis using the Scopus database. Global Health , 14(1), 106.
United Nations. (nd). Non-member states. https://www.un.org/en/sections/member-states/non-member-states/index.html
U.S. Department of State. (2019). Trafficking in persons report, June 2019 . https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf
U.S. Department of State. (2020). 2019 Trafficking in persons report: Saudi Arabia . https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report-2/saudi-arabia/
Weber, M. A., O'Regan, K. C., & Rosen, L. W. (2019). The State Department's trafficking in persons report: Scope, aid restrictions, and methodology. Congressional Research Service. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R44953.pdf
Zimmerman, C., & Kiss, L. (2017). Human trafficking and exploitation: A global health concern. PLOS Medicine , 14(11): e1002437. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002437
