| 1. Council of Europe releases draft Convention against trafficking
The Council of Europe is made up of 45 member states and is currently
drafting a Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (the
latest version as amended in July 2004 is available here as a PDF file, see bottom of page
about reading PDF files). One of the
main purposes of the Convention is to design "a comprehensive framework for
the protection and assistance of victims and witnesses". However,
Anti-Slavery International believes the current text does not set adequate
minimum standards for the treatment of trafficked persons in a number of
areas. For example, assistance for trafficked persons (Article 10) is
limited to "emergency medical treatment" and does not include educational,
training and employment opportunities. For more detailed comments on the
draft Convention see Anti-Slavery International and Amnesty International
joint briefing paper.
The Council of Europe aims to agree a final text by the end of 2004, but
many important areas are still being discussed, including the reflection
period; residency permits; non-punishment provision; monitoring mechanisms,
etc.). Interested organisations should lobby their respective Governments
regarding these key areas. Anti-Slavery International's latest Action
Briefing highlights some areas of concern and the letter can be edited
on-line and sent to Ministers from France, Germany and the UK.
2. Trafficking developments
The July issue of Vital
Voices Trafficking Alert, includes a review of the June
Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking in Asia
conference; a focus on NATO's recently adopted "zero tolerance
policy" to prohibit forces under its command from engaging
in or facilitating human trafficking; and news on international
anti-trafficking initiatives.
The July edition of the Alliance
News, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
newsletter is out. Issue 21 deals with the prevention of trafficking.
The July
ebulletin is also available. If you have any feedback or
suggestions for future issues of either the newsletter or the
ebulletin please e-mail them to: gaatw@gaatw.org.
Issue No. 5 of Trafficking
Watch by the International Rescue Committee includes
an interview with the director of the US State Department Office
to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; a focus on the
recently released 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report;
a feature on anti-trafficking activities being carried out by
the Legal Aid Foundation Los Angeles and Project REACH; as well
as news, policy updates and a calendar of events.
3. UK policy on migrant workers
The International Development Committee's report on Migration
and Development: How to make migration work for poverty reduction
was published on 8 July. The report includes some 60 recommendations
and one of these specifically calls on the UK Government to
explain why it has not ratified the 1990 UN Convention on
the Rights of Migrant Workers and to provide evidence to
support its assumption that "there is a trade off between
migrants' rights and immigration control".
A positive development referred to by the Committee is the
approval of the Gangmasters
(Licensing) Act 2004, which became law on 8 July. This
act sets up an authority to licence gangmasters operating in
agriculture, shellfish gathering and associated processing and
packaging sectors. Regulations setting up the Authority will
be consulted on and licences should be issued in the summer
of 2005. After this, it will be illegal for gangmasters to operate
without a license and for others to make arrangements with unlicensed
gangmasters. This should help to reduce exploitation of workers
and the Act applies to all workers regardless of whether they
are regular or irregular.
4. Conference
The International Institute for the Rights of the Child and
Terre des Hommes Foundation are organising a seminar on Child
Trafficking: A fatality? From the reality in the field to best
practices. This international seminar will take place from
19-23 October in Sion, Switzerland (in French and English).
For those interested in attending, please see programme
outline and registration
form (available here as a PDF file, see bottom of page about
reading PDF files).
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