EDITORIAL: Modern-day slavery (06/12/05)

EDITORIAL

Modern-day slavery

Every day some 2,200 people are taken illegally from their homes and trafficked across international borders, according to a report released by the U.S State Department. They are carted off into a life of forced prostitution, labor or some horrid mixture of the two. They are often so desperate for work that they leave their family and homes behind, surrender their passports and identification to middlemen who lure them with the promise of jobs in foreign countries.

The International Labor Organization - the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment and social protection issues - estimates that there are 12.3 million people enslaved in forced labor throughout the world at this very moment.

The problem, however, is particularly acute in Ukraine, where some 17 organized crime organizations involved in trafficking cases were dismantled last year, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs. But the State Department document, titled "Trafficking in Persons Report," noted that "Ukraine's Criminal Code remained inadequate to address the full range of trafficking in Ukraine." So the extent of the problem in Ukraine is difficult to pin down. (Excerpts of the report appear on page 5.)

Yet, while the trafficking of people across international borders continues, the issue gets little attention in North America. In the United States and Canada it is perhaps felt only indirectly, largely because neither country is classified as a source country. Meaning, Americans and Canadians - particularly our children, daughters, sons, but also our wives and husbands, parents and grandparents - are not taken from us; they are not the source of this modern-day slave trade; they are not sold to be used as prostitutes, or for forced labor. Because of this, it is difficult for us here in North America to grasp the scope of this scourge.

The problem not only exists - it persists and is, in fact, spreading. But, thanks to the State Department report, the trafficking of humans got renewed attention in the United States, and a share of the responsibility for the problem was rightly placed at the feet of countries where the demand for trafficked people is high.

"Destination or demand countries, like the United States and other prosperous nations, whose citizens create the marketplace for trafficking, also bear a heavy responsibility," Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said on June 3 during the official release of the report.

The annual report, first mandated by the U.S. Congress in 2000, is billed as the most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat human trafficking. The findings from that report, which examined the period between March 2004 and March 2005, are meant to raise global awareness and spur countries to take action to counter the problem.

"Trafficking in human beings is nothing less than a modern form of slavery," Dr. Rice correctly noted during the release of the report. We are disheartened to see that Ukraine, in that regard, ranks poorly in the report. Listed among 26 other countries in the Tier 2 Special Watch List, the report found that Ukraine's government does not fully comply with the minimum standards of the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. However, the report did note that the Ukrainian government is making significant efforts to fight human trafficking.

"The goal of the report is not to punish but to stimulate government action to end modern-day slavery," said U.S. Ambassador John Miller, the Director of the U.S. State Department's Office for Monitoring and Combating Trafficking in Persons.

The report noted that "Ukraine's trafficking prevention efforts were woefully inadequate over the last year," and that "the government of Ukraine failed to provide adequate protection and rehabilitation services to victims of trafficking in 2004."

U.S. officials, speaking during the press conference that announced the release of the report, rightly identified the root of the problem.

"Trafficking in persons relies on coercion and exploitation," Mr. Miller said. "It thrives on converting hope to fear. It is maintained through violence and it is highly profitable."

"So I would say in this effort that we're participating in, we are trying both at home and abroad to work with other countries in trying to end a slavery that citizens around the world and, ostensibly, governments around the world, all agree is a scourge that should be ended," Mr. Miller added.

We couldn't agree more with Mr. Miller's statements. We are glad to see that the United States has taken a strong stand on the issue of human trafficking and that it has decided to continue to allocate money toward resolving this blight that deeply affects Ukraine. Last year the United States spent $96 million to help other countries combat trafficking, Dr. Rice wrote in the foreword to the report, and we hope this assistance continues in the future and that people throughout North America open their eyes and recognize the severity of this problem.

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