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	Trafficking takes place because large economic interests lie behind exploitation of the global poor by Maria Grazia Giammarinaro UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children   “After more than a decade of efforts aimed at combatting trafficking in persons, we have to recognize that results are still modest. The vast majority of trafficked persons -not less than 20 million people globally- are not recognized as such, and as a result do not have access to justice and remedies.   Trafficking means extreme exploitation -often in slavery-like conditions- of women, men and children who are socially vulnerable, mostly due to their being undocumented migrants. To tackle these gross human rights violations, a policy shift is needed, and the same perception of trafficking in persons should change.   So far, trafficking has been considered mostly a law enforcement issue. Today, we should look at trafficking as an economic and social issue, linked with global trends including migration. Therefore prevention is key.   To prevent trafficking in persons, national authorities should deal with a broader area of exploitation, in the sex industry, in agriculture, fishery, domestic work, garments, and the tourist industry.   Governments and the private sector must prevent and combat exploitation wherever and whenever it takes place, especially when migrant workers are involved, and tackle the driving factors of exploitation. Among them, one of the most powerful is the lack of regular channels for migration.   In that regard, policy coherence is essential: the fight against trafficking is incompatible with restrictive migration policies that place people in a situation of irregularity and vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking.   Furthermore, within mixed migration flows, an increasing number of people migrate to flee from conflict and crisis areas. Better international cooperation is needed to ensure that people entitled to international protection are offered a viable solution in one of their preferred countries.   However, in the current situation, asylum seekers and refugees are amongst the most vulnerable migrants, often exposed to the risk of trafficking, including children traveling alone, women and girls who are raped during the journey and exploited in prostitution at destination, men, women and children obliged to accept inhuman working conditions to survive.   This is the policy shift which is much needed today: to prevent trafficking and to protect trafficked persons’ rights, it is necessary to protect the rights of all migrants, and of all vulnerable people, be they foreigners or nationals.   Once someone is recognized as being subjected to exploitation and/or trafficking, she/he should have immediate access to legal counseling, healthcare, and tailored forms of assistance, in order to be able to claim their rights.   These opportunities should be given without any condition. No legal requirements should be established which actually denies exploited and trafficked persons their right to access justice and remedies.   Trafficking - as in the case of historical slavery - takes place because enormous economic interests lie behind exploitation of the global poor. However, this can be stopped, if people of good will - both powerful people and simple citizens - feel that trafficking is morally and socially unacceptable, and take action against exploitation, injustice, and human rights violations.”   http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Trafficking/Pages/TraffickingIndex.aspx http://news.trust.org/item/20160408000917-1nyo3/?source=fiOtherNews3   50 for Freedom Campaign. (ILO, agencies)   Forced labour takes different forms, including debt bondage, trafficking and other forms of modern slavery.   The victims are the most vulnerable – women and girls forced into prostitution, migrants trapped in debt bondage, and sweatshop or farm workers kept there by clearly illegal tactics and paid little or nothing.   Some 21 million people are victims of forced labour – 11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys. Almost 19 million victims are exploited by private individuals or enterprises and over 2 million by the state or rebel groups.   Of those exploited by individuals or enterprises, 4.5 million are victims of forced sexual exploitation.   Forced labour in the private economy generates US$ 150 billion in illegal profits per year.   Domestic work, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and entertainment are among the sectors most concerned. Migrant workers and indigenous people are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.   In June 2014, delegates to the International Labour Conference that sets international labour standards voted to adopt an international treaty, known as a Protocol, that requires countries to take extra measures to combat modern slavery while helping the survivors get their lives back.   Before the treaty can make a real difference, it must be ratified by countries around the world— and this is where you can play a part in ending slavery once and for all: by calling on your country to ratify the Protocol quickly.   50 for Freedom is a campaign to help influence at least 50 countries to ratify the Protocol by 2018.   http://50forfreedom.org/ http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm Visit the related web page
	Cambodia’s NGO Bill threatens a free and independent civil society by Global Witness, agencies   July 13, 2015   A controversial law passed in Cambodia today could signal an end to the democratic freedoms that have allowed Cambodian citizens to voice any criticism of their famously corrupt government, Global Witness warns. Cambodian parliament today voted unanimously in support of the Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), that will give the government far-reaching powers over civil society, allowing it to shut down or ban any organisation that speaks out against its policies.   All 55 members of the opposition, Cambodia’s National Rescue Party, boycotted today’s vote in protest over the law, which they have called unconstitutional. Global Witness is calling on the Cambodian government to revoke it.   Cambodian groups have been marching against the LANGO for weeks, demanding it be dropped. Joining their opposition, UN human rights expert Maina Kiai described it as “a clear infringement of the right to freedom of association.”   The US has also spoken out against it, with the Ambassador to Cambodia, William Todd, warning that it could seriously deter foreign investment. On Friday, the European Parliament followed suit, issuing a resolution calling for the law’s withdrawal. But other donor governments, such as Japan and EU member states, have shied away from condemning the law publically. This despite the fact that foreign governments provide around a third of Cambodia’s annual budget.   Under the LANGO, Cambodia’s government can crack down on any activities that might ‘jeopardize peace, stability and public order or harm the national security, national unity, culture and traditions of the Cambodian national society’. It requires all civil society groups, however informal, to register with the Ministry of Interior, allowing the government complete discretion over which organisations are allowed to exist.   “We are calling for the law to be scrapped,” said Global Witness campaigner Josie Cohen. “Cambodians have struggled for decades to keep their notoriously corrupt government in check, acting as important watchdogs in the face of a kleptocratic elite that prioritises its own personal enrichment over the public good. This new law will make it almost impossible for Cambodian civil society to hold their leaders to account. The government can now ban any group that voices its criticism too loudly.”   The LANGO is the first of four planned laws that threaten to cut deeply into Cambodian democratic space. An equally repressive Trade Union Law is already in the pipeline, followed shortly by proposed Cyber Crime and Telecomms Laws, which would criminalise online criticism of the government and allow the authorities to monitor all online communication.   “With Cambodian civil society no longer able to organise on- or offline, opposition to the government and its policies will become almost impossible, guaranteeing them an easy win in the upcoming 2017 and 2018 elections”, added Cohen. “We could be witnessing the end of more than two decades of relative freedom in Cambodia.”   Following today’s National Assembly vote the LANGO will have to be passed by the Senate and ultimately the King before becoming law, steps that have traditionally been little more than a rubber stamp. Cambodian groups are still holding out hope, however.   “There is still time for foreign governments, which provide Cambodia with millions of dollars in aid, to use their influence to push for the law to be dropped,” said Cohen. “Without civil society watching over their government, donor money risks being syphoned off by corrupt elites instead of ending up where it should - helping alleviate poverty and securing a better future for Cambodia’s citizens.”   http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16240&LangID=E Visit the related web page
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