|
1. EU package on illegal immigration
The European Commission introduced a package
on illegal immigration on 19 July. It consists of a communication on the policy priorities
in the fight against illegal immigration; a proposal for a regulation
establishing Community Code on visas for short-stays and a proposal
for a regulation on the powers; and the financing of rapid reaction
teams of border guards. The set of measures aims to increase
solidarity between Member States in dealing with this issue.
The communication also brings the focus on the issue of trafficking
in human beings in line with the EU Action Plan on Trafficking.
Other areas tackled are illegal employment and punishment for
rogue employers exploiting illegal migrants and the implications
of regularisation of illegal migrants and those who overstay
their visas.
2. India announces child domestic work ban
On 1 August, the Indian Government declared a ban against employing children
under the age of 14 as domestic workers. The ban enters into
force on 10 October and also prohibits employing children
under 14 in restaurants, teashops, hotels and motels and other
recreational centres. The order supplements the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986), which prohibits
the employment of children under 14 in a range of sectors, but
does not include domestic work or work in such areas as hotels
and restaurants.
3. Nobel Peace Prize winner endorses Alliance
for Fair Food
The winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Jodi Williams praised
the Alliance for Fair Food and the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers (CIW) for their campaign to make fast-food
fair. Williams acknowledged their efforts to end forced labour
and modern-day slavery in agriculture in the United States.
CIW is a community based worker organisation. Its members are
mainly Latino, Haitian and Mayan Indians working in low-wage jobs
across Florida. The organisation works for fair wages, stronger enforcement
against those who abuse workers and campaigns to eliminate modern-day
slavery in the agricultural sector.
4. Next report of the UN Special Rapporteur
will be on forced marriage
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially
women and children, Sigma Huda, has announced her
next report will focus on the
issue of forced marriage. Questionnaires for those who wish
to provide information and evidence to the report are available
in three languages.
5. International Day for the Remembrance
of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
23 August is UNESCO International Day for the
Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The day commemorates the tragedy of the Transatlantic Slave
Trade. UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura invited the ministers
of culture of all Member States to organise events on that date
every year.
6. New publications
Anti-Slavery International has completed a series of reports
on contemporary forms of slavery in Latin America which include
detailed information on trafficking in people. The reports cover
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, all
of which can be bought
or downloaded
free from our website.
ILO-IPEC's Child-Fiendly Standards & Guidelines for the Recovery and Integration of Trafficked Children
, Bangkok, 2006. The
guidelines (which are based on a review of existing shelter-based
rehabilitation services in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia
and Thailand followed by national and regional consultations)
also include examples of good and bad practices. The guidelines
are recommended for practitioners, care providers, shelter managers
and staff, social workers, NGOs, INGOs, government officials
and policy makers.
Human Rights Watch have published a report on abuses of domestic
workers worldwide. The 93-page report Swept
Under the Rug: Abuses against domestic workers around the world
is a synthesis of research since 2001 on abuses of women and
child domestic workers from or working in El Salvador, Guatemala,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo, the United Arab Emirates and the
United States.
Human
Trafficking -- Our Response: Manual for peer education
a report on human trafficking elaborated by ASTRA in co-operation
with the Red Cross of Serbia is now available (this is a PDF document,
see bottom of page about viewing them). |
