PCTC
Paper on Trafficking in Persons
I.
INTRODUCTION
Migration may be viewed as a form of
socio-economic emancipation for some people, an escape from restrictive social
and political conditions in the place of origin, or a realization of a desire
for some change in lifestyle and adventure. [1]
Dictated by economic want and the need to escape from
adverse conditions at home, labor migration in the 1970s and ‘80s became a form
of individual survival strategy that many governments have since developed and
institutionalized into official economic programs that export massive numbers
of workers. To date, there are estimated seven million Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs) distributed in 129 countries. Since their remittances totaling
to US$13.16B from January to July 1998, have greatly helped in keeping the
economy afloat and uplifting their family's standard of living, their outflow
could not just be regulated nor controlled.
Over the past ten years, in some countries, the volume of
women migrant workers has gradually surpassed that of men. Being more fragile
and vulnerable than men, women often find themselves in hostile foreign
settings, unprotected by local or international laws. Some women are led to
expect legitimate work but end up in prostitution. The wages they receive, which are much lower than what they
expected or were promised, force them to submit to prostitution. Still, others
take chances and leave the country illegally either as tourist or fiancée and
engage in fixed marriages, or even be transported in cargo boxes, freezer vans
and drums. Thus, trafficking is a potential outcome of labor migration.
The illegal recruitment, clandestine transport and
exploitation of women as prostitutes, and the organized prostitution of
children of both sexes in a number of countries are well documented. A link has
been established in some places between prostitution and pornography and the
promotion and growth of tourism.[2]
The development of tourism as a world industry,
supported by international financing institutions in the 1970’s as a
development strategy, exposed the developing countries to exploitation under
the cover of new tourist destinations. Aggressive tourism promotion policies
were adopted by a number of governments in the region. Sadly, a large number of
male tourists are more inclined to sexual adventure in exotic places, thus, the
routes and the business of sex tourism were firmly established.[3]
The smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons
have increased tremendously throughout the world mainly because of the
involvement of Organized Crime Groups (OCGs). The trafficking in persons by
OCGs undermines established immigration policies of the destination countries
and often involves human rights abuses. Persons illegally brought into other
countries are treated as parties to a criminal transaction but in reality they
are themselves victims in the economic, physical or moral sense. Often deceived
by unrealistic promises and unfounded opportunities in the destination country,
most end up engaging in prostitution or criminal activities in order to pay for
the expenses incurred. Indeed, OCGs commit the offense of both smuggling and
human trafficking. This has become a major activity and a source of income of
criminal organizations at the national and international levels.
Migrant workers, recruiters and traffickers of women
prefer more developed countries with lax policies towards visitors and
immigrants. Yet, tighter immigration and entry laws, ostensibly enacted to
curtail the influx of foreigners seeking a better life, result in more women
being smuggled in. One key factor here that determines variations in laws
towards visitors and immigrants is the factor of citizenship. Citizenship
determines to a great extent the political, social and civil rights enjoyed by
people, which in turn, have a direct relationship with their economic rights
and hence, the class position and mobility that they enjoy. The futility of law
and legal reforms in the area of immigration, and the strict implementation of
citizenship laws in individual countries only point to the greater necessity of
addressing the economic and other societal problems within sending countries
which compel their women to migrate.
The nature of
trafficking in persons needs more attention, not much on the emigration of men
but on the emigration of women and children. The immigration of foreign
nationals is also considered a State concern. The emigration of women and
immigration of foreign nationals have advantages but more often than not, the
disadvantages far outweigh the social, political and economic repercussions on
both the countries of origin and destination.
For the purpose of this paper and to
be able to better describe trafficking in persons, there is a need to define
terms related to it.
1.
Trafficking in Persons
– it is the recruitment, transportation or receipt of persons through deception
or coercion for the purpose of prostitution, other sexual exploitation or
forced labor.
2.
Smuggling – the offense
of importing or exporting prohibited articles without paying the duties
chargeable upon them. The fraudulent taking into a country or out of it,
merchandise which is lawfully prohibited.
3.
Person – in general
usage, a human being though by statute term may include a firm, labor
organization, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative or
receiver. This paper will use the term person as a human being.
4.
Migrant – person who
moves from one place or country to another with the objective of making profit
or improvement of life.
5.
Migration – movement
from one place to another or from one country or region to another country or
region.
6.
Emigration – the act of
removing from one country to another, with no intention to return.
7.
Immigration – the
coming into a country of foreigners for the purpose of permanent residence.
8.
Recruitment and
placement - an act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting,
utilizing, hiring or procuring workers and includes referrals, contract
service, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad whether for
profit or not.[4]
It would also be helpful to consider the different
definitions used by local and international organizations:
Clarke defines Trafficking
in Persons as “the bringing in of individual/s
to a border bypassing normal immigration procedures”. On the same manner,
he further opines that Smuggling in
Persons is “the illegal means of
entry of individuals to another border for the purpose of illegal activities.” [5]
The United Nations offices suggest: “The smuggling
of migrants can be defined
as the procurement of illegal entry of a
person into a State of which the latter is not a national with the objective of
making profit. Trafficking can
be defined as the recruitment,
transportation or receipt of persons through deception or coercion for the
purpose of prostitution, other sexual exploitation or forced labor.”[6]
In the Regional Meeting on Trafficking in Women,
Forced Labor and Slavery-Like Practices in Asia-Pacific, held in Bangkok, Thailand
on February 19-22, 1997, the participants viewed Trafficking in Women as “all
acts involved in the recruitment and/or transport of a woman within and across
national border for sale, work or services by means of direct or indirect
violence or threat of violence, abuse of authority or dominant position,
debt-bondage, deception and other forms of coercion.”
Furthermore, the book entitled
“Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific” published by the
Coalition against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, describe Trafficking in Women as “the transport, sale or purchase of women and
girls for profit, gain and any other consideration for purposes of
prostitution, bonded labor and sexual enslavement within the country or abroad.
It often involves the use of force as in kidnapping and abduction; the use of
threat, trickery and false promises as well as all forms of enticement. It
operates in conjunction with practices when women are sexually exploited such
as in brothel prostitution, military prostitution, sex tours, or marriage
matching arrangements”. It further recognizes trafficking in women and prostitution as “situated in a continuum of sexual exploitation that perpetrates and
continually reinforces the subordinate status of women. On the same continuum
belong forms of sexual violence such as rape, incest, genital mutilation,
sexual harassment, pornography as well as sex tourism and bride trade.”
Siazon, on the other hand, defined human trafficking from the Philippine
experience as "involves the
recruitment, transfer and deployment of persons, particularly women and
children, through legal and illegal means, with or without the victim's consent
or knowledge, within or across national borders, often involving coercion,
abuse of authority, debt bondage, deception, and for settlement, work or
services, characterized by forced labor, slavery-like practices and
prostitution." [8]
Trafficking in persons as a transnational crime,
being a newly recognized reality has yet to find an officially adopted
definition from the international community. However, there is an emerging
consensus defining trafficking in persons as an offense that has an
international dimension and involves crossing of at least one border. Despite
these differences in its definition, we can draw out at least seven common
elements namely:
1.
Person or human being
is involved
2.
Profit is the primary
objective;
3.
Presence of coercion or
deception, violence or threat of violence;
4.
There is the intent to
sell, exchange or use for any illegal purpose;
5.
Illegal entry of
individual(s) to another border;
6.
Involvement of
international organized crime groups;
7.
Money laundering is
present.
Thus, we shall adopt the meaning of trafficking in persons, in the
Philippine context, as an activity “that
involves the recruitment, transfer, and deployment of persons, particularly
women and children through legal or illegal means, with or without the victim’s
consent or knowledge, within or across national borders, often involving
coercion, violence, debt-bondage, deception and for settlement, work or
services characterized by forced labor, slavery-like practices and prostitution”.[9]
A.
INTERNATIONAL
The consequence of World War II led to the creation
of the United Nations as the answer to the universal yearning for peace and
friendship among peoples regardless of color or creed. It was intensified by
sending diplomatic representatives to be able to deal more directly and closely
with each other in the improvement of their mutual interest. With these
developments, migration of people to other places or countries became rampant.
With the massive migration of people abroad, abetted
by state policies for the export of labor and the internationalization of labor
markets, it becomes the instrument of syndicated groups to proliferate their
illegal activities. These syndicated groups such as the Boryokudan (Aka Yakuza)
of Japan, Mafia, Chinese Triads, Milliardaire gang of Belgium and Nigerian
criminal enterprises are controlled and dominated by highly skilled, heavily
armed and very menacing gangs and individuals. In fact, they were able to
influence some government officials and law enforcement authorities in most
countries for their protection. Their networks are well established and well
connected all over the world, which gave rise to the globalization of sex
trafficking. The phenomenal movements of women that span the globe; from Asia
to Europe, the Americas and Africa; from Latin America to Europe and the United
States; from Africa to Europe; and since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the
traffic of Eastern Europeans to Israel and to Asian Pacific countries like
Thailand, Philippines and Australia are unprecedented.
B. REGIONAL
Trafficking must also be analyzed in terms of
structural inequality between Third World and industrialized countries, which
has made of the impoverished populations of countries of the South mere labor
and sexual commodities.
In Asia, a combination of declining incomes, economic
dislocations as a result of economic recession, natural disasters, political
and military wars and conflicts have pushed men, women and children to look for
work in other countries or in urban centers of their countries. Citizens of
these countries are easily enticed by organized recruiters to work abroad and
try their luck. Cross-border movements of refugees running away from increasing
militarization, usually women and children as those from Afghanistan and Nepal,
present an opportunity for traffickers.[10]
A number of Asian brides who used marriage to foreign
nationals as their passport to immigration have been victimized by abusive
husbands. Either they are forced into prostitution, be mere sex partners,
“punching bags” and worse, end up dead.
Asian women are traded and
exported to the industrialized world. A “surplus of women” in these regions
renders this possible. Women and children are captured not only for purposes of
prostitution, forced or bonded labor, sexual abuse but also for the sale of
their organs. Traffickers employ methods in the guise of hiring domestic
helpers, salesgirls, factory workers or "entertainers" with promises
of good compensation, high wages and benefits to lure their victims. There are
known cases of hired domestic helpers being abused by their employers and
eventually sold or rented out for sexual services.[11]
There are networks of traffickers and brokers, mostly
Pakistanis and Indians with links that extends from Bangladesh, through India
into Pakistan where the corrosive practice of slavery goes unchecked. In India,
for example, poverty, illiteracy and backwardness are the main reasons for the
increase in trafficking of women and children. Wholesale clandestine markets or
mondi are to be found in big cities
like Calcutta, Agra, Bombay and Hyderabad. Many women and children are being
trafficked from the military prostitution industry in Thailand to Germany’s
legalized brothels serving tourists, businessmen and sailors. They join the
local women and women brought in from other parts of the world to respond to
the demand.
As for children, their trafficking can be considered
as an invisible problem. The early involvement of children of acutely poor
families in economic activities for quick and easy money leads them to
prostitution either with or without parental guidance.
Another problem on trafficking of children has been
uncovered. This is the use of an innocent child usually from 4-5 years of age
for camel racing. He/she is tied on the back of the camel before the start of
the race. When the camel starts running, the frightened child starts to shout
which makes the camel run faster and makes the race more exciting for the ones
betting on it. Heavy children are not suited for these races as the camel
cannot run swiftly, thus these children are starved and not given any food
before the start of the race. These children were either kidnapped or sold by
their parents. Most of these children are smuggled into Dubai and Abu Dhabi as
these places are famous for their notorious camel races. Apprehensions have
been made to curtail further trafficking of children for this purpose but the
sad fact is that it still exists. Land routes via India and Pakistan as well as
air routes are used for trafficking children to the Middle East. There are
agents in Dhaka and in other parts of the country who are financed by the rich
Arabs to procure children. Due to the recent restrictions of Pakistani and
Indian children from going to the Middle East, the next country to fall prey
was Bangladesh.[12]
Undocumented migrant workers especially women, live
under the constant fear of arrest and deportation. Due to their situation, they
are forced to sell their bodies in order to survive, or to provide sexual
favors in exchange for work, or as bribe to the police in exchange for freedom.
One act of prostitution leads to another, until these women find themselves
deeply trapped in the trade.
The out-migration of Filipino
laborers is not new in history. Since the early 1900s, when the Philippines was
still an American colony, many Filipinos have migrated to the United States
mainland and Hawaii to work in fruit plantations, canneries and other
factories. Majorities of them were male workers from impoverished rural
provinces, notably the Ilocos Region. These migrant workers were provided
incentives by the U.S. to return to the Philippines to find marital partners
and eventually settle down with their wives. Since then, more Filipino women
who are single and with relatives in the U.S. migrated. In the 1950s and 1960s more and more
Filipino accountants, nurses, doctors and other health workers went to the U.S.
as temporary workers and later as immigrants.
By the mid 1970s, the U.S. was no
longer the main destination for Filipino migrants. Bolstered by the oil crisis
and strength of its petroleum dollars, petroleum rich Middle Eastern countries
experienced an economic boom that necessitated the importation of labor. The
Filipino labor force that went to the Middle East in the 1970’s was
predominantly male and was based in construction, manufacturing and technical
services. With the decline of the industrial construction phase of their
economies, the labor demand shifted to administrative, health and domestic
workers readily supplied by Filipino women who were dissatisfied with the low
wages and poor working conditions in the country. As more and more Filipino
women went to the Middle East as nurses, hairdressers, waitresses, and maids,
illegal recruiters and traffickers victimized many of them.
Many workers seeking overseas contract
work, mostly young women aged 15 to early 20s have been tricked by illegal
recruiters, prospective marriage partners, and other shady deals in accepting
marriage proposals or non-existent jobs abroad. They fall prey into the hands
of white slavers and prostitution rings or joins the ranks of the swelling
number of undocumented workers living under fear of harassment, arrest and
deportation.
In some parts of Europe, women who are trafficked
entered as tourists. They cross the borders on board land vehicles or on foot
to reach their country of destination. Spain and Italy are the popular
destinations.
While victims may possess travel and
employment documents, quite a number of documented cases involved the transport
of women by illegal means via air cargo, freezer vans and drums. Gert
Ranjo-Libang, Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Resources, recalls a
story a few years back of women being found dead after they were locked in
drums for weeks in a cargo vessel. Another case involved women found frozen
dead in a van while being transported across borders in Europe.
The legislation of
Republic Act 6955 in 1996 (An Act
Declaring Unlawful the Practice of Matching Filipino Women to Foreign Nationals
on Mail Order Basis or Other Similar Practices), did not prevent the
continuous increase in the number of mail-order brides. We can attribute this
proliferation to a large extent to the Internet.
IV. SCHEMES
IN TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Schemes or modes in trafficking in
persons may be categorized in the following manner:
A.
Inter-marriages
As a consequence of
inter-marriage as a form of migration, problems and issues have appeared
unexpectedly. One aspect prioritized by the Commission on Filipino Overseas
(CFO) is the Mail-Order Bride that involves a lot of Filipino women. The
following are the modus operandi in the trafficking of women:
1.
Serial/Multiple Sponsorship
Under this scheme, foreign nationals
come to the Philippines to sponsor Filipino applicants for visa to their
country. To facilitate and legitimize the application, the Filipina is
introduced as a fiancée, then arrangements for the visa is processed with the
help, for a fee, of the would-be husband. Upon approval and arrival abroad, the
fiancée either separates from her partner or pursues employment in the foreign
country or treats her for illegal employment. The foreigner then goes back to
the target country and repeats the same scheme.
2. Trafficking by
Introduction by Marriage Bureaus, Deception, Marriage for a Fee, Migration
through Marriages
According to Ms. Lucille Ronda, Representative of the
CFO during the First Conference of Trafficking on Humans at the PCTC, marriage
brokers usually get as much as P300-P400 thousand for every deal of marriage of
Filipinos to foreigners. Matchmaking schemes include personal introduction,
wedding and travel arrangements/packages. Selection of the bride is chosen from
a queue of women at selected five-star hotels. If ever marriage were not
concluded, other prospective brides/women are presented as ready substitute.
Marriage fraud happens on arrangement with the
fictitious partner. As an example, marriage brokers are given a fee of P 75,000
to P125, 000 for every Filipino going to Japan as a “bride”. Likewise, personal
contact/meeting happens only after marriage (except in the U.S.). Upon arrival
abroad, the bride separates from her partner and pursues an employment.
3.
Internet
Other schemes in matchmaking involved the use of the
Internet. It replaced the mail-order bride racket of the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Names of women seeking marriage are advertised in the Internet together with
their picture and personal profile. Internet subscribers pay the corresponding
amounts ranging from US35-US$135 just to secure a password access to the
personal data of all ladies in the Internet list (http//www.ab3.com/info/join.htm) If a bride is chosen,
correspondence and personal meetings are conducted. Upon agreement, wedding and
travel arrangements are made.
Coalition Against Trafficking of Filipino Women
director Aurora Javate de Dios reported that websites featuring Filipino
beauties are currently the most “visited” sites in cyberspace. The price could
go on as high as $5,000 if the Filipina is a show business personality. In 1996
alone, the cyberspace sex industry posted estimated earnings of $198 million.
It has also become so lucrative that websites featuring Filipino beauties have
mushroomed from 200 to 1997 to 72,000 this year.[13]
4.
Religious Movements
The “program” starts by enticing young women to join
the movement. Religious training is conducted, after which couples are matched.
Personal meeting with the foreign husband takes place only after marriage and
after services are tendered to the movement. The Filipino bride joins her
husband and his family after all ceremonies is conducted.
An example is the Korean Moonies. In 1996, nine
hundred eighty-four Filipino women were married in a Korean sect ceremony,
after being matched by a computer. A $2,000 fee is collected from the groom.
Documented cases include women eventually sold into prostitution upon arrival
in Korea.
B.
Illegal Entry/Fraudulent Documents
Under this scheme, illegal aliens
entered the country by means of air and sea transportation through the various
entry/exit points in the country. Another scheme is through the used of
fraudulent documents such as fake passports and visas. Another report says that
there are thirty-one (31) illegal Chinese in Manila and were found to be
undocumented or overstaying as they were in possession of fake visa extension
and forged official receipts. Recently, twenty (20) Chinese women believed to
be prostitutes were arrested because they had no valid travel documents or
working papers. What needs to be looked into is the reported corruption
perpetrated by Philippine diplomatic personnel and other agencies concerned.
Immigration personnel in NAIA
intercepted five Chinese nationals holding stolen Japanese passports. The five
were the first batch of a group of 25 who planned to use Manila as a jump off
point to the USA. The stolen passports were bought from a Hongkong-based
syndicate.
C.
Illegal Recruitment and Placement
Illegal recruitment is
the recruitment activities undertaken by non-lincensees or non-holders of
authority. Certain features of illegal recruitment that constitutes offenses
under the Revised Penal Code are:
a.
Estafa
by falsely pretending to possess power, influence, qualification, property,
credit, agency, business or imaginary transactions or by means of other similar
deceits.
b.
Falsification
of public official documents
c.
Complex
crime of estafa through falsification of public official documents
d.
Direct
bribery
Furthermore, Presidential
Decree No. 1693, made illegal recruitment a crime of economic sabotage, that
is, committed by a syndicate or perpetrated on large scale.
The crime of illegal
recruitment is committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3)
or more persons in conspiracy with another. On the other hand, it is deemed to
be on a large scale when the same is committed against 3 or more persons,
individually or as a group.
Illegal recruitment of
women for non-existent jobs abroad as domestics, entertainers or restaurant
workers succeed because of the presence of unscrupulous recruiters with local
and international connections, who usually operate with the protection of the
police and the military. [14]
Some even use impeccably
legitimate documents to get Filipinos out of the country, only to exploit them
upon arrival in the foreign country through low-paying jobs and sub-standard
working conditions, or by forcing them into activities like prostitution or
drug smuggling.[15]
D.
Other modes
1.
Adoption
Method
Here, Filipino
mothers who have given birth abroad are deceived into signing adoption papers
after being led to believe that such adoption can indefinitely prolong their
stay in the host country, only to find out later that they have not only lost
the right to stay in that country, but have also unwittingly signed away their
babies.
Children in the
Philippines are also being smuggled out by foreigners who pretend to adopt them
and spirit them away into child labor markets abroad. [16]
2.
Family
Tours
Allegedly
organized by unscrupulous travel agencies, a bogus family is booked on a tour
of certain countries, with one of the members of the family masquerading as the
father and another as the wife and mother. Children or minors with tampered
passports complete the bogus family.
Upon entry into
a foreign country, the bogus family is disbanded and everyone is employed in
vulnerable or illegal jobs earlier arranged for them.[17]
3.
Religious
pilgrimages
Traffickers ask
victims, mostly women to join groups for religious tours/pilgrimages and
promise employment upon arrival in the host country. Some end up in bonded
labor while others in prostitution.[18]
4.
Foreign
training or internship
Students or
newly graduates who are hired on a traineeship basis are made to work like
regular workers without the benefit of minimum wage, social benefits and
standard working/living conditions.
5.
Cultural
exchange/promotion
A group,
posting as artists, enters a country on a cultural exchange arrangement. After
the performances, the group disbands and each is fielded in other jobs. The au pair arrangement, under the pretext of
cultural exchange is also a form of exploiting women for unstable/insecure
jobs, some end in prostitution.[19]
III. INITIATIVES AND COUNTER-MEASURES
A. INTERNATIONAL
INITIATIVE
International concern with slavery and its
suppression is the theme of many treaties, declarations and conventions of the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first of three modern conventions
related to the issue is the Slavery Convention of 1926, drawn up by the League
of Nations.[20]
With the approval of the General Assembly, the United
Nations formally became the successor to the League, in the application of the
Slavery Convention in 1953. States which have ratified the Convention - by 1990
86 had done so - undertake to prevent
and suppress the slave trade to bring about the abolition of slavery in all its
forms.
In 1949, the General Assembly adopted the Convention
for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others. This legal instrument consolidated other international
agreements dating back to 1904.
The procurer rather than the prostitute is the target
of the Convention. It requires States Parties to introduce measures designed to
prevent prostitution and to rehabilitate prostitutes.
States ratifying or acceding to the Convention - they
numbered 60 by the end of 1990 - also undertake to check the traffic in persons
of either sex for the purpose of prostitution and to do away with laws,
regulations, special registration, and other requirements of persons who are
engaged or suspected of engaging in prostitution.
The 1926 Convention's definition of slavery was
broadened to include the practices and institutions of debt bondage, servile
forms in marriage, and the exploitation of children and adolescents in the
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, adopted at a United
Nations conference in Geneva in 1956. The Supplementary Convention has been
ratified or acceded to by 106 states.
Protection against abuses of human rights which fall
within the broad definition of slavery is the feature of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Committees established under each Covenant and Convention monitor their
implementation by the States Parties.
The Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
has the general responsibility in the United Nations for the study of slavery
in all its aspects.
In addition, there are United Nations channels for
receiving specific complaints of violations of human rights, including those
which merit the name of slavery.
Recently, a
Global Program against Trafficking in Human Beings was launched by the United
Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) in March 1999 in
Vienna International Center, Vienna, Austria, of which its pilot project will
be in the Philippines. This is being undertaken to enable governments and the
international community to respond to this worldwide problem. This program will
bring to the foreground the involvement of OCGs in smuggling and human
trafficking and promote the development of effective criminal justice system
and other related responses. The program consists of an integrated package of
policy-oriented research and targets technical cooperation.
E.
REGIONAL INITIATIVE
During the Regional Meeting on
Trafficking in Women, Forced Labor and Slavery-like Practices in Asia-Pacific,
held in Bangkok, Thailand on February 19-22, 1997, the participants called on
the United Nations (UN) Government and Non-Government Organizations to take
part in the initiative against this issue.
They sought the United Nations to
review the adequacy of the 1949 UN Convention for the Elimination of Traffic in
Persons and the Exploitation of Prostitution of Others in addressing the
present conditions of trafficking. The participants further suggested
amendments of the 1949 Convention with new international instruments that will
better address the contemporary situation of trafficking in women. There was a
move for the UN to appoint a special rapporteur on trafficking from the
Commission on Human Rights and that better resources to be provided to the
Committee on Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Said committee
shall investigate and make general recommendations to the UN General Assembly
on the situation of trafficking in women and specific measures to combat
trafficking.
As for the governments concerned,
the same participants sought the immediate action on addressing and minimizing
the root causes of trafficking in women; developing and enforcing international
and bilateral agreements to eliminate the issue, ratifying and enforcing the UN
Convention on the Rights of all Migrant Workers and the Members of their
Families and review other existing laws relative to this issue.
Furthermore, there was a recommendation for the
governments to adopt a definition of trafficking for use in legislation
consistent with the view that trafficking of women is: “All acts involved in
the recruitment and/or transport of a woman within and across national borders
for sale, work or services by means of direct or indirect violence or threat of
violence, abuse of authority or dominant position, debt-bondage, deception or
other forms of coercion.”[21]
In addition, the participants asked
the governments to work together with non-government organizations in
developing a comprehensive national program to prevent trafficking and assist
trafficked women with legal assistance, health care, counseling, job training,
rehabilitation and financial assistance as required.
On the part of non-government
organizations (NGOs), the participants believed that they must lobby and work
together with their government to develop national policies and programs; to
exchange information, to compile data and conduct participatory action
research; raise public awareness and encourage community involvement and
action; and cooperate with other non-government organizations working against
trafficking and other related issues.
Governments have yet to enact a
specific law on anti-trafficking in persons. Though there are laws on
prostitution, child abuse, illegal recruitment, rape and other related crimes
against persons, these are not comprehensive enough, or may even be farfetched,
to embrace the magnitude of human trafficking.
The Philippine Center on
Transnational Crime (PCTC), with its creation on January 16, 1999 under
Executive Order No. 62, is mandated to establish, through the use of modern
information and telecommunication technology, a shared central database, among
government agencies for information on criminals, methodologies, arrests and
convictions of transnational crimes to include trafficking in persons, a center
for strategic research on the structure and dynamics of transnational crime,
design programs and projects aimed at enhancing national capacity building in
combating transnational crime.
On the other hand, in order to solicit international
and regional cooperation, the Philippine Government offered to be the host of
the ASEAN Center on Combating Transnational Crime (ACTC), formerly dubbed as
the ASEAN Center on Transnational Crime (ACOT). The Center shall act as the
central body to coordinate all actions against transnational crime, for use in
the formulation of regional policies and operational planning, for the
development strategy in combating transnational crime in a holistic manner and
as a medium of dialogue between ASEAN parties. The proposal was submitted during
the 6th ASEAN Summit on December 15, 1998 at Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Philippine Government formally offered such
proposal for the creation of the ACTC in the 2nd ASEAN Ministerial
Meeting on Transnational Crime in Yangoon, Myanmar on 21-23 June 1999. As a result,
the Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to
set up a regional center in the Philippines. They also agreed to develop closer
cooperation with other countries, regional organizations and international
organizations including the United Nations.
Even before this, the government has enacted several
laws to address child trafficking. A significant law is Republic Act 7610 that
provides for stronger deterrence and special protection against child abuse,
exploitation and discrimination and corresponding penalties. It defines the
responsibilities of parents, social workers and government workers toward the
protection of the children's right. It also specifies sanctions against
individuals, establishments and enterprises that promote or facilitate
conditions that hinder the child's development. However, a specific law on human trafficking to cover all gender
and age, should be adopted. In its absence, law enforcement agencies have to contend
with existing laws related to it.
Other government agencies and non-government offices
have concerted their efforts to address the issue of trafficking in persons.
Policy-oriented researches and information drives have been conducted by
concerned agencies.
IV.
THREAT ANALYSIS
State labor exports policies and programs and the
international demand for cheap labor abroad have facilitated the massive
migration of men and women for work. Government and private sector recruiters
have developed a legitimizing system to respond to and diffuse local pressures
of unemployment. At the same time, crime syndicates, stoking and profiting from
the growing demand for bought sex have successfully exploited the possibilities
offered by the labor migration phenomenon and contributed to the worldwide
explosion of the issue.
Basically, there are a lot of
reasons for migration. In the Philippines, the main driving force for Filipinos
to migrate abroad is economic in nature, specifically poverty alleviation or
the materialistic desire for higher economic status and power. Notwithstanding
the risk of possible exploitation and danger as experienced by other overseas
workers in the past, still there are some that decide to pursue their ambitions
and venture in alien lands.
The aftermath of inter-marriages
employing the different schemes mentioned previously, as a form of migration is
considered as human rights abuses which the government and non-government
agencies have to further look into. Domestic violence is a result of
matchmaking schemes. Filipino women are unaware or have not been sufficiently
alerted to this form of exploitation to which they may be subjected. Usually,
they end up as slaves/sex slaves and/or abused by their husbands. Sometimes,
their own partners force them to prostitution. Another effect is Parental Abuse
of Authority. The parents play a vital role in matchmaking. Due to economic
difficulty, the parents sometimes become witting conduits of matchmaking by
pushing their daughters to pursue marriage with foreigners whom they believe
would relieve them from financial burden. Said scheme starts through
correspondence, phone calls, or by personal introduction. The foreigner pursues
personal visits and soon arrangement of a wedding takes place. Sometimes,
minors are even enticed, resulting to child abuse. The reports of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, according to CFO, state that
children of Filipino brides are usually victims of abuse by their
father/stepfather. This is due to the cultural and personal differences and
lack of proper engagement period of both husband and wife. Isolation and
cultural alienation are the result of having no knowledge or lack of awareness
regarding the disadvantages of matchmaking schemes. The Filipino bride is not
only locked up at home and bonded in labor to the partner, but also is also
alienated to her environment.
Outside the confines of home and
country, women and girls become more vulnerable to prostitution and
exploitation. Yet the continued and rising of mobility of women does bring
advantages and benefits, putting them in an impasse, torn as they are between
the limited but safer options at home, and the higher risks but also better
economic rewards in cities and in foreign shores.
Though the Philippine economy is
gradually improving ahead of other ASEAN nations due to the bulk of foreign
remittances by the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), which incidentally has
reached US$13.8 Billion, the sense of values within some sectors in the
government, the society and the family are slowly deteriorating. In view of
increasing number of overseas workers, the Filipinos have been regarded as “prime commodity, degrading not only the
worker but also the nation as a whole commodity.”
As of this date, much remains to be done in the area of
policy and program development to prevent and protect Filipinos from
exploitation. A wide gap still exists between the laws and the rhetoric we
adopt and the attitudes and practices we act out. Each citizen has a strategic
role to play in closing these gaps.
The influx of illegal aliens in the
country has become a worsening problem. As a matter of fact, a lot of Chinese
come in illegally as traders thus destabilizing business and commerce. As a
result, the government is deprived of revenues from this illegal activity, thereby
hampering the economic recovery.
Illegal aliens pose as a social burden and may be involved
in various criminal activities or form part of the cells of international
organized crime groups. Their entry further destabilizes our economy and
national security and stability.
The problem may lie on the
enforcement and implementation of immigration laws, focusing not on the
syndicates or OCGs but to the victims themselves. Likewise, the extradition treaties and diplomatic ties
with other countries have made the Philippines helpless in pursuing cases
against foreign nationals.
Human smuggling is so lucrative that
syndicates resort to any method they can conceive to rake in huge profits
without regard for the legal, moral or social implications of their nefarious
activities.[22] In turn,
the income generated from these illegal activities goes to the financing of
legal business ventures thereby accumulating profit that is laundered or placed
in foreign accounts. Money laundering then becomes another issue of mutual
concern. There is a possibility that the Philippines is one of the repository
of laundered money.
V. CONCLUSION:
Although there are many reports on
increasing number of local case studies on problems of smuggling and
trafficking in persons, little attention is given to the nature and development
of organized crime involvement. The lack of such study hampers the formulation
and adequate implementation of an effective national and international
strategy.
In many countries, smuggling of
human beings is not effectively controlled and prevented. Government policies
and the practice of border control, immigration, police and justice agency
concentrate on the illegal aspect of migration, leaving aside the major role of
the involvement of organized criminal groups in the smuggling of human beings.
As a consequence, the primary targets of central intervention are the illegal
migrants, not the criminal organization involved in the smuggling and
exploitation of human beings. Existing laws do not provide up to date
regulation to deal with such trafficking, particularly activities carried out
by transnational criminal organization. Moreover, national policies have yet to
provide effective tools to dismantle organized crime structure and their
transnational alliance.
Some countries do not have the
capacity to respond adequately to problem on trafficking in person. The reasons
for these are manifold: limited law enforcement capability; lack of expertise
in the judicial sectors, insufficient coordination between law enforcement
agencies, flaws on the criminal justice system and other concerned
institutions.
At the international level,
framework of cooperation among law enforcement and justice official of
different countries are inadequate resulting to inefficient investigation,
prosecution and adjudication of cases involving trafficking in persons.
Coordination on both the national and international levels is a must; it should
be the rule and not the exemption.
Victims of trafficking may often
lose more than what they gain when cooperating with the justice system. In many
countries, such persons are considered perpetrators of illegal acts rather than
victims of crime and are, therefore, persecuted for violations of immigration
laws, prostitution or criminal or statutory offenses that are legally subsumed
under the terms indecent behavior, vagrancy and the like. Lack of adequate
witnesses and witness protection programs may result in reduced efficiency of
investigation, prosecution and court proceedings.
The
lack of information on the general public on trafficking of persons, the extent
of organized criminal groups involvement in trafficking in persons, the
ineptness or corruption in concerned government agencies and the fate of the
victims of this illicit activity make the situation even worse. In fact, the
would be victims of trafficking -
women, children, their parents or guardians are unaware of and have not been
sufficiently alerted to the various forms of exploitation to which they may be
subjected to.
The solution to the worsening problem should be the
extermination of its root causes - the transnational syndicates that exploit
the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the victims, not the victims themselves.
The new paradigm on law enforcement,
focusing on international cooperation coupled with proper coordination, sincere
exchange of vital information, legislative adjustments that are tuned with the
calls of times and stricter implementation of laws by the State parties, is
viewed as an effective response to the challenges of this cancer-like problem.
VI. RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
Legislation
of a law against Trafficking in Persons, providing stiff penalties to
traffickers considering that it is a crime vs. humanity.
2.
Sustained
efforts of the Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO) with regard to community
mobilization, legislation, intensified education programs and close linkages
between service providers.
3.
Implementation
and stricter enforcement of laws not against the trafficked persons but on the
illegal recruiters and their abusive employers.
4.
More
synergy among law enforcement agencies and concerned government agencies with
the active involvement and coordination of non-government organizations.
5.
Stricter
enforcement, control and implementation of immigration laws.
6.
Adoption
of a universal law against trafficking/smuggling in persons.
7.
Conduct
of in-depth studies on effective
monitoring and control of illicit transactions through the Internet.
8.
Formulation
of house bills to consider the Internet as an illegal means of trafficking in
persons.
9.
Develop
a computerized system of monitoring citizens leaving and returning the country.
10.
Address
the problem of corruption and ineptness of the Philippine Embassies and labor
attaches abroad.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Speech
by former Labor Secretary Lina B. Laigo at the National Conference on Women, 14
November 1997. Migration; Prostitution and Exploitation of Filipino Women and
Girls.
2.
Philippine
Belgian project Against Trafficking in Women. Ateneo de Manila Research Team.
3.
Trafficking
in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific. Coalition Against Trafficking in
Women- Asia Pacific 1996. Manila Philippines.
4.
Excerpts
from the Proceedings of the Human Rights Conference on the Trafficking of Asian
Women, April 2-4 1993, Quezon City, Coalition Against Trafficking of
Women-Asia.
-
Introductory
Speech of Aurora Javate de Dios, Director, Coalition Against Trafficking in
Women-Asia
-
Ishrat
Shamin, Nature and Impact of Slavery and International Trafficking in Children.
-
Leonora
C. Angeles and the Philippine Organizing Team, Between the Devil and the Deep
Blue Sea: Transnational Issues in Trafficking of Filipino Women
5.
Poquiz,
Salvador A., Labor Standards Law of 1999
6.
Pamphlet
on Special Protection of Filipino Children disseminated by the Child Rights Center of the
Commission on Human Rights
7. Laws
and Issuances on Children, Council for the Welfare of Children.
8. Contemporary
Forms of Slavery, Centre for Human Rights United Nations Office, Geneva Fact
Sheet No. 14.
[1] Angeles, L. and the Philippine Organizing Team, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Transnational Issues and Trends in Trafficking of Filipino Women
[2] Human Rights: Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Fact Sheet No. 14. Center for Human Rights, Geneva.
[3] Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific 1996, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific
[4] Poquiz, Salvador A., Labor Standards Law of 1999, p. 109.
[5] George R. Clark, Assistant OIC of Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines.
[6] A document prepared by the UN Office at Vienna and UN Office for Drug Control and Prevention entitled “GLOBAL PROGRAMME AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS”, April 13, 1999.
[7] Shamin, Ishrat, "Nature and Impact of Slavery and International Trafficking of Children”, Human Rights Conference on Trafficking of Asian Women, April 1999.
[8] The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Domingo L. Siazon Jr. during the presentation for the UN Start-Up Mission on the RP Pilot Project on Human Trafficking, 5 July 1999.
[9] DFA Preseentation on Trafficki ng in Persons
[10] Ibid.
[11] Angeles, L.C. and the Philippine Organizing Team, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Transnational Issues and Trends in Trafficking of Filipino Women.
[12] Shamin, Ishrat, "Nature and Impact of Slavery and International Trafficking of Children”, Human Rights Conference on Trafficking of Asian Women, April 1999.
[13] 28 May 1999, Malaya, “International Flesh Trade enters Cyberspace”
[14] Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific 1996, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific.
[15] Calica, Aurea, "Gov't Vigilant vs. new human smuggling modes", Philippine Star, June 28, 1999 issue.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Centre for Human Rights United Nations Office, Geneva Fact Sheet No. 14.
[21] Asian Migrant Vol. 10, No. 2, April-June 1997 Issue “Asia and Pacific Plan of Action to Combat Traffic in Women, Forced Labor and Slavery-like Practices.
[22] Calica, Aurea, "Gov't Vigilant vs. new human smuggling modes", Philippine Star, June 28, 1999 issue.