| 1. 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report published
The United States Department of State has issued the Trafficking
in Persons (TIP) Report, June 2005. This year's report
puts the 14 countries in Tier 3: Bolivia, Burma, Cambodia, Cuba,
Ecuador, Jamaica, Kuwait, North Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Sudan, Togo, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. These countries
may face sanctions from the US Government. There are a further
27 countries which have been placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.
The report also includes data on global law enforement. During
2004, it states that there have been 6,885 prosecutions and
3,025 convictions of traffickers and that 39 new or amended
laws have been introduced. Europe, Eurasia and South Asia account
for more than 2,500 of these convictions. For the next TIP report
governments must collect and provide full law enforcement data
in order to qualify for Tier 1.
2. Italy signs Council of Europe Convention
Italy has thrown its support behind the Council of Europe Convention
on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. This Convention
provides minimum standards for the protection and support of
trafficked people. There are now 15 out of the 46 Members States
that have signed the Convention.
The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark have not signed the
Convention and they are the only EU countries who are not signed
up to the EU Council directive on the residence permit issued
to third country nationals who are victims of trafficking in
human beings or who have been the subject of an action to facilitate
illegal immigration. However, the UK Government has stated that
it is keeping the question of ratifying both the Council of
Europe Convention and the EU Directive under review. You can
see the current
status of the Convention on the Council of Europe website.
3. Syria ratifies the UN Convention on migrants
On 2 June 2005, Syria ratified the UN Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families.
This means a total of 30 States have now ratified the Convention.
To view the present status
of the Convention.
4. Counter trafficking initiatives from
Belarus
The Information-Retrieval
System Belarus Against Trafficking has been created
within the framework of EU/UNDP Project Combating Trafficking
in Women in the Republic of Belarus. The System is accessible
for free and also has a database European and CIS Organisations
Rendering Assistance to the Victims of Trafficking. For
more information on the Information-Retrieval System or the
project in general, contact the Belarusian Association of Social
Workers (BASW) at: basw_si@nsys.by
5. Report on forced migration and trafficking
from North Korea published
Anti-Slavery Interantional has published its report An
Absence of Choice: The sexual exploitation of North Korean women
in China (this is available here as a PDF file, see
bottom of page about reading PDF files).
The report looks at the forced migration, mostly of women from
North Korea to China and the subsequent human rights violations
which they endure in China. If these women come to the attention
of the Chinese authorities they will be deported to North Korea
where they face automatic detention for a minimum of one to
three months and further human rights abuses. This situation
has led to them being designated refugees sur place by
the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea.
6. Other information and conference
The latest edition of Trafficking
Watch focusses on trafficking for domestic servitude.
It also highlights two anti-trafficking organisations based
in the Washington, D.C. and includes a new section on state-level
anti-trafficking legislation in the US, along with the usual
news briefs,
resources and calendar of events. For more information go to:
The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society [COMPAS] will hold
its Annual
International Conference at Oxford University, UK on 7-8
July 2005. The Conference will focus on Irregular Migration
-- Research, Policy and Practice and includes sessions on:
the challenges of rrregular migration, moving between regularity
and irregularity in the migration process, life in irregularity
after arrival, irregular migrants and the labour market, and
regularisation programmes.
There is no conference fee, but places are limited and will
be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
|
