Brussels, 19/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The conference on the trafficking in human beings, organised in Brussels from 18 to 20 September, could be the opportunity for a generalised call for the victims of the trafficking in human beings being granted a temporary residency permit if they collaborate with the law and are certainly not being sought after for infringements they may have committed while they were the victims of the trafficking. In the annex to the draft conclusions, the European Commission and the International Ogranisation of Migration propose that the representatives of governments, NGOs and international institutions present at the conference vote in favour of these two measures, as well as for granting the victims a whole series of support measures that must include lodging, psychological, legal and health assistance. The draft conclusions themselves are more general and make a point of underpinning the importance of international collaboration to combat "the trafficking chain as a whole, country of origin, transit and destination" and target the "recruiters, carriers, exploiters and other intermediaries, clients and beneficiaries". The declaration should also call for poverty and discrimination against women to be fought as these lie "at the root" of the problem. The declaration should define the trafficking in human beings as being "forced sexual exploitation, exploitation at work in conditions close to slavery, exploitation for the purpose of begging and for juvenile delinquency, as well as domestic servitude". The conference is to end Friday lunchtime with the adoption of the declaration and its annex. The European Commission should also call for a group of experts to be set up composed of representatives of governments, NGOs, international organisations and researchers to determine best practice in the prevention of and fight against the trafficking in human beings.
Renzo Imbeni, European Parliament Vice-President, opened the conference Wednesday morning calling for much greater co-operation between governments, as well as with international and non-governmental organisations, to combat "this increasingly widespread phenomenon". He called for a stronger and more coherent policy within the EU, to go beyond "dispersed" initiatives. He criticised the fact that neither the Commission nor the Council had been able to provide reliable data. Brunson McKinsley, Director General of the IOM, also placed emphasis on the importance of international co-operation, and called on the different actors to work at informing potential victims and the public at large. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhoftadt set out the principles on which he believes, according to the Belgian experience, the fight against the trafficking in human beings had to be based: research and information exchange; prevention campaigns, common administrative measures (verification of visas, marriages of convenience…); combating undeclared work, especially in the field of prostitution; severe penal policy; aid to the victims who need to be granted a temporary residence permit when they co-operate with the law. The conference continued with an evaluation of European policies and the prevention of the trafficking in human beings, before moving on on Thursday to victim protection.
Anna Diamantopoulou calls for targeted policy in combating exploitation of human beings for sexual purposes
Combating the trafficking in human beings, and more specifically women and children, is a world problem that needs a global view: we must tackle the roots of this form of modern slavery to combat it, declared Swedish Social-Democrat Maj Britt Theorin MEP, at the opening of the work of the panel on "protection for and aid to the victims" that she chaired Thursday morning. Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, for her part, considered that to beat this scourge, they needed especially to combat poverty in eastern countries (from which most victims come) and find legal ways of providing them with access to education and employment, and to increase participation of women in political and economic life. "Major destination of this trafficking, the EU has the responsibility to work with the countries of origin and of transit to stem this phenomenon. There has to be a specific policy to combat the exploitation of human beings for sexual purposes", commented Diamantopoulou, stressing that "women represent 70% of the 1.3 billion poor of the world". She also announced that the Italian committee on equal opportunities and the European Commission were organising a conference in Sicily on 5 and 6 December on the trafficking in women to raise public awareness to this scourge. "At European level, the approach revolves around common legislation and a package of activities relating to projects at European level. But the situation as a whole needs analysing according to two paths: supply and demand. We are faced with a genuine slave trade. We have to react socially. There needs to be a partnership in social terms to manage effective solutions", the Commissioner concluded.