Russian stakeholders call for National Anti-Trafficking Plan of Action
Trafficking in humans is one of the most cruel and malicious types of organized crime, and it is rapidly developing into a very large-scale criminal activity. Effective action against trafficking requires a focus on its forced labour outcomes, on demand aspects in the destination countries as well as on supply in the origin countries, says the memorandum adopted at the conference organized by the ILO on 26-27 January in Vatutinki, Moscow region.
27 January 2006
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The conference that brought together representatives of the parliament, government agencies, workers' and employers' organizations, international organizations and delegates from the countries of the region, called for the development of a National Plan of Action to combat human trafficking and forced labour in Russia.
Speaking at the conference, Roger Plant, Head of the ILO's Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, called trafficking in persons "one of the most urgent issues of our times". According to the ILO estimate, there are 2.4 million victims of human trafficking worldwide (200,000 in transition countries)*/1.
Trafficking must be an issue of moral outrage but it should also be looked at in hard economic terms, Roger Plant said. This is a global trade that affects origin, transit and destination countries in all regions of the world: enormous profits of almost US$ 32 billion are generated globally from the crime of trafficking every year. Exploitation of forced labour in transition countries provided income of US$ 3,4 billion.
In November 2005 the ILO adopted an ambitious four-year Plan of Action to help its member States and constituents move forward in eradicating human trafficking through assistance in law enforcement, prevention and rehabilitation. It is vital that governments, business and workers organizations work together, because combating human trafficking is a common task, Roger Plant said. He mentioned as a positive example the Global Compact meeting in Moscow where Russian employers committed themselves to action against trafficking.
To-date, the efforts of the Russian state authorities have been focused on the legal aspects of the trafficking problem. In December 2000, Russia signed the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention) with its Protocols to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons and smuggling, and in March 2004, Russia ratified both the Convention and the Protocols. The legislation committee of the Russian State Duma together with the relevant NGOs drafted a law On Combating Trafficking in Humans. In December 2003, new articles were introduced to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The new articles criminalize trafficking in humans and forced labour, and provide for criminal prosecution.
The situation now calls for long-term programmes aimed at eradicating gender, nationality or other inequality in the world of work, more effective monitoring of work of private recruitment agencies, and improvement of labour migration management to further the elimination of trafficking.
The delegates agreed that a National Plan of Action would help Russia to ensure an integrated approach to trafficking and forced labour, to coordinate efforts of all partners. Many countries of the region - Trans-Caucasus and the Baltic States, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus - have already adopted their national plans and programmes. The participants also looked at the framework of international and regional action plans against trafficking, including the ones adopted by the OSCE and the European Union.
The conference agreed that specific recommendations on the development of the draft national action plan would be submitted to the Government of the Russian Federation and to the Russian Tripartite Commission on Regulating Social and Labour Issues.
Speaking at the conference, Roger Plant, Head of the ILO's Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, called trafficking in persons "one of the most urgent issues of our times". According to the ILO estimate, there are 2.4 million victims of human trafficking worldwide (200,000 in transition countries)*/1.
Trafficking must be an issue of moral outrage but it should also be looked at in hard economic terms, Roger Plant said. This is a global trade that affects origin, transit and destination countries in all regions of the world: enormous profits of almost US$ 32 billion are generated globally from the crime of trafficking every year. Exploitation of forced labour in transition countries provided income of US$ 3,4 billion.
In November 2005 the ILO adopted an ambitious four-year Plan of Action to help its member States and constituents move forward in eradicating human trafficking through assistance in law enforcement, prevention and rehabilitation. It is vital that governments, business and workers organizations work together, because combating human trafficking is a common task, Roger Plant said. He mentioned as a positive example the Global Compact meeting in Moscow where Russian employers committed themselves to action against trafficking.
To-date, the efforts of the Russian state authorities have been focused on the legal aspects of the trafficking problem. In December 2000, Russia signed the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention) with its Protocols to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons and smuggling, and in March 2004, Russia ratified both the Convention and the Protocols. The legislation committee of the Russian State Duma together with the relevant NGOs drafted a law On Combating Trafficking in Humans. In December 2003, new articles were introduced to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The new articles criminalize trafficking in humans and forced labour, and provide for criminal prosecution.
The situation now calls for long-term programmes aimed at eradicating gender, nationality or other inequality in the world of work, more effective monitoring of work of private recruitment agencies, and improvement of labour migration management to further the elimination of trafficking.
The delegates agreed that a National Plan of Action would help Russia to ensure an integrated approach to trafficking and forced labour, to coordinate efforts of all partners. Many countries of the region - Trans-Caucasus and the Baltic States, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus - have already adopted their national plans and programmes. The participants also looked at the framework of international and regional action plans against trafficking, including the ones adopted by the OSCE and the European Union.
The conference agreed that specific recommendations on the development of the draft national action plan would be submitted to the Government of the Russian Federation and to the Russian Tripartite Commission on Regulating Social and Labour Issues.