Regional Consultation on the Right to an Effective Remedy for Trafficked Persons

Regional Consultation on the Right to an Effective Remedy for Trafficked Persons

CAMBODIA | CHINA | LAO PDR | MYANMAR | THAILAND | VIETNAM

Annette LythRegional Project Manager, UNIAPBangkok, 27 September 2013

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Men onto fishing boatsMen, women and children onto construction sites

Men, women and children into exploitative factoriesWomen and children for

domestic work

Typical Trafficking Cases

Women and Girls in Forced Prostitution

What is the scope of the problem? Recent research from the Asia region

Estimated number of people in forced labor in the Asia-Pacific region 9.49 million and globally: 27 million (ILO 2005)

Estimated number of Myanmar migrant workers trafficked into shrimp processing factories in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand: at least 66,000 – 99,000 (Johns Hopkins U 2010)

Estimated number of Cambodian migrant workers in labor exploitation in Thailand annually: at least 20,492. 50% cheated, 33% exploited, 30% never paid. (UNIAP 2010)

Percent of sex workers aged 12-17 in the Mekong countries: 30% (UNICEF 2009)

UK, EUR

Middle East

USA

NE Asia (Taiwan, Korea, etc.)

Sex

Labor

Both

WHERE DO PEOPLE GET TRAFFICKED

TO?

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Numbers of officially identified trafficking victims per country and year in the GMS, including key destination countries in wider East Asia

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total Key Destinations (alphabetical)

Cambodia 709 701 686 581 N/A 3,119 China, Indonesia, Malaysia Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Viet Nam

China N/A 10,820 16,568 24,118 29,853 81,359 Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand

Laos 235 155 145 195 195 925 China, Malaysia, Thailand

Myanmar 303 302 381 265 261 1,512 China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand

Thailand 520 530 509 279 N/A 1,838 China, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Viet Nam

Viet Nam 981 869 671 821 782 4,124 China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand

Total 2,748 13,377 18,960 26,259 31,533 92,877

UNIAP’s anti-human trafficking work

COMMIT

SIREN

Worst Offenders / Under-Served Victims

Policy informed by experiences of under-served victims and the NGOs serving them. Government support provided through COMMIT

Policy informed by reliable data, research, case analyses

SIREN exposes Worst Offenders and under-served victims; financial/technical support to NGOs strengthens SIREN network

• Government-led process between 6 GMS governments (China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam)

• COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding signed by 6 countries in 2004 (Ministerial level)

• Multi-sectoral COMMIT Task Forces established to oversee national activities across all 4 Ps

• Sub-regional Action Plans (COMMIT SPAs) and annual COMMIT SOMs provide operational framework

• Annual Workplans developed and implemented

Overview: The COMMIT Process

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• Identify victims, and provide age and gender appropriate care

• Ensure victims are not held in detention

• Provide victims with safe and timely repatriation, through cross-border cooperation

• Offer appropriate, individualized reintegration options

COMMIT Strategic Plan of Action III

SUPPORT TO UNDER-SERVED

VICTIMS (CSO GRANTS)

SHELTER SELF-IMPROVEMENT PROJECTAll shelters and reception centers in Vietnam; 6 pilots in China; launching in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar in 2012

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LEGAL AID/SUPPORT

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The criminal justice response to human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, 2008 – 2011

2008 2009 2010 2011

A P C A P C A P C A P C

Cambodia 172 117 N/A 231 165 N/A 242 249 215 255 247 182

China N/A 1,353 2,161 N/A 1,636 2,413 N/A 1,919 3,680 N/A 1,773 3,045

Laos 23 8 N/A 74 26 N/A 32 79 N/A N/A N/A N/A

Myanmar 127 127 127 145 145 145 170 170 170 135 135 135

Thailand 42 N/A N/A 95 22 17 70 79 18 83 67 13

Viet Nam 718 N/A N/A 748 N/A N/A 683 N/A N/A 670 N/A N/A

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ETHICS AND HUMAN RIGHTS TRAININGS

In all Mekong countries, for government, NGOs, media, academia

CHALLENGES TO REINTEGRATION

• Not at all or inadequately assisted • Forcibly assisted• Undermine victim autonomy and

empowerment• Inadequate national and transnational referral

mechanisms.• Lack of information• Under resourced

CHALLENGES TO PROSECUTIONS

• Long court processes with little incentive for victims to endure• Many entry points for cases to be sabotaged, with credible threats to life• Police case filing is often weak – little evidence, making prosecutions difficult• Weak protection of victims’ rights in fair trial standards

SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE DRAFT BASIC PRINCIPLES ON AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY