The phenomenon of human trafficking

The phenomenon of human trafficking and mechanisms to combat it from an international legal point of view

              Assist. Lect . Saad Jummar Nashmi

Anbar University / Center for Strategic Studies                                                   

In recent years, human trafficking has become disturbing and polarizing the human conscience. It is considered one of the contemporary forms of slavery, as it violates human rights and basic freedoms. It is a phenomenon that is not committed within the borders of a single state, but extends to be committed outside the borders of states. Trafficking in human beings is “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by coercive or fraudulent means, kidnapping, for payment or otherwise for the purpose of exploitation, which includes, for example, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or all forms of sexual exploitation, or exploitation for the purpose of forced labor or services, slavery, or similar forms of slavery, or the servitude of human beings or the removal of their organs".                                                   

Human trafficking is one of the organized crimes, as it is carried out by criminal gangs and considers it their source of income, and represents the third source after the drug and arms trade in terms of making profits, and many factors have contributed to its expansion, including economic and social ones, or because of wars or technological development represented by the Internet, and corruption is also considered to be one of the organized crimes. A major factor in its breadth and an obstacle to confronting it             In the face of this dangerous expansion of this phenomenon, the international community had to confront it through the issuance of many agreements, most notably the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 2000, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons of 2000, annexed to the United Nations Convention against Organized Crime, which is considered The international legal basis in the face of this phenomenon, as it included many of the measures that states were required to take, whether in the field of tightening border procedures as an international cross-border crime, or criminalizing acts of trafficking and deterring them with appropriate penalties, or carrying out education campaigns at the internal and international levels for the purpose of informing people On the means and methods of trafficking and its dangerous effects, in addition to that, states implement policies and programs and make them among the main activities in their policies, in addition to that states issue legislation or cancel or amend legislation that contributes to the increase in trafficking. The stipulated measures were not limited to the national scale, but extended to include international cooperation, whether in the pursuit of criminals by activating the extradition system, or providing legal assistance by providing states to each other with the necessary information and providing facilities, as well as international cooperation for the purpose of facilitating the return of victims to their countries, as well as From this, ensuring the protection of the rights of victims during criminal procedures and treating them as victims and not criminals, in addition to providing assistance to victims by providing shelter, training and education, providing physical and psychological health assistance, and providing them with means to obtain compensation.                                                                      

Although these agreements were issued and included many measures that countries must take, they did not contribute to reducing this phenomenon, as they did not include a preventive aspect that focuses on treating it from its roots by taking measures that limit its main causes to mitigate its impact on people, And then reinforce it with the measures that were mentioned.