Human trafficking

We have a generational opportunity to trounce the traffickers,  smugglers of human misery

Conflicts in Iraq and Syria, and economic crisis elsewhere, have produced a tide of desperate humanity sweeping through the Middle East, North Africa and across the lethal Mediterranean. These individuals are falling in and out of the hands of traffickers and smugglers as they seek sanctuary. Thousands are dying.

Last year, the New York Declaration delivered a compelling statement from the United Nations that refugees and migrants need protection and assistance. Nations agreed to return to New York in 2018 to adopt a Global Compact on migration. The Compact will be the first negotiated agreement by governments to cover every aspect of international migration.

Migration is an issue for our times, and there is a real need to go after root causes such as conflict, but we can all agree that refugees and migrants should not be treated like criminals.  This is why the Compact can take the lead, and nations can assist by adopting and implementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, and its relevant protocols on trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling.

We have the tools to disrupt organized crime networks through intelligence sharing, joint operations, financial investigations and coordination across local and regional borders. But it takes resources and an unyielding commitment.