…stresses need to tackle disabled children being used to beg

Chief of National Intelligence (CNI), Maj. Gen. Ruwan Kulatunga said that in spite of global efforts human trafficking has become the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry. Human trafficking is second only to drug trafficking, Kulatunga said, adding that in 2022, human trafficking generated approximately USD 150 billion in revenue globally, up from previous estimates of USD 32 billion in the early 2000s.

The CNI said so at the two-day second meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectorial Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) sub-group on Human Trafficking held this week in Colombo.

The CNI stated: In 2012, a global survey by the International Labour Organization revealed 20.9 million in forced labour. In 2022, that figure rose to 27.6 million. Of this number 39.4% are women and girls. 12% are children. More than half of these 3.3 million children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The Asia and the Pacific Region has the highest number of people in forced labour.

Furthermore, as per the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery Report published by the ILO, Walk Free and IOM in September 2022, a total of 22 million men, women and children are living in forced marriages.

According to a 2017 Report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI) on “Transnational Crime and the Developing World” Organ Trafficking conservatively generates approximately USD 840 million to 1.7 billion annually from around 12,000 illegal transplants. This estimate comprises the “sales” of the top five organs: kidney, liver, heart, lung, and pancreas. In 2022, Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation recorded 157, 494 organ transplants. It is estimated that up to 10% of all transplants rely on organs that have been illicitly acquired.

Refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers are targets of traffickers as they may be desperate to provide for themselves and their families in their host country and willing to use an organ to pay a smuggler’s fee. Also, there are reports of persons being forced to sell their organs due to extreme poverty. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the average victim is a young adult male, around 30 years old.

Forced begging is found in all BIMSTEC countries. Globally, it is estimated that traffickers who force disabled children to beg can make up to USD 40,000 a year in illegal profits through the money donated to these children.

Then there is the recent trend of trafficking young men and women for forced criminalities, such as cyber scamming and crypto currency mining, and that of trafficking persons to serve in battle fields with foreign armies.

The aforesaid illustrates the varied and profitable nature of this crime. Furthermore, it reminds us that data from our respective countries have also contributed to this grave and scary picture. The government institutions too are responsible for permitting this crime to go unpunished.

Data from cases that IOM assisted over the last ten years show that nearly 80% of international human trafficking journeys cross through official border control points, including airports.

A 2016 report by the International Bar Association’s Presidential Task Force Against Human Trafficking identifies the facilitation as well as direct involvement of public officers in sex trafficking and labour trafficking, as well as direct involvement of diplomatic officers in domestic slavery.

Research reveals that in all criminal cases reported till June 2023 in the OSCE (Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe) region, illegal transplants took place in medical hospitals and clinics with the involvement of medical staff. Organ trafficking networks are highly organized with close collaborations between the legal “upperworld” (medical doctors, notaries, lawyers) and the criminal “underworld” (recruiters, brokers).

Such facts emphasize to us, our bounden duty as government officials, to work together to combat this crime. The country presentations made during the 1st Sub-Group Meeting amply illustrated how each of us is working towards countering internal human trafficking. It was heartening to note how some of us have stepped forward for concrete actions through bilateral initiatives to address cross-border trafficking. India has entered into MoUs with UAE, Cambodia and Myanmar. Bangladesh has entered into a MoU and a Joint Task Force initiative with India. Myanmar has signed MoUs with China, Thailand, Laos and India. This is indeed in the spirit of the BIMSTEC Charter to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest.

I am happy to state that Sri Lanka has received a positive response from Thailand to a proposed MoU on Combating Human Trafficking; has conveyed its concurrence to sign a MoU on Combatting Human Trafficking sent over by India and has submitted a similar MoU to Nepal for its concurrence.

The key to successfully fighting this crime lies in fighting it together. To do this, we must first understand exactly where we stand and gauge our strengths, weaknesses and opportunities as well as those of the enemy – the traffickers. Although we see the global data, it is not easy to grasp the information on each form of human trafficking in the BIMSTEC region. There is a lack of accurate and comprehensive data. Time has come for us to put in place a Centralized BIMSTEC Regional Database.

The BIMSTEC Charter requires us to provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities. Since it is not always easy to arrange for in-person meetings for all of us, I would like to suggest that we may start small, with bilateral meetings via a suitable online platform, to share knowledge and experience on our successful ventures on counter-trafficking. Such measures will enable our counter-trafficking practitioners to get to know each other and develop a close network, and perhaps one day develop an Online Networking Platform where we could exchange information, initiatives and strategies to combat real time trafficking incidents, together.