UN Member States Asked To Stop Human Trafficking

The UN Secretary-General yesterday (December 20, 2016) pleaded with Member States to take steps to help victims of human trafficking and also to prevent further cases in the future.

These are heinous crimes that demand immediate, international action. International law needs to be respected and implemented, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon stated.

During an Open debate at the Security Council on Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Situations, he said that "ISIL, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and others are using trafficking and sexual violence as a weapon of terror – and an important source of revenue.

"Both ISIL and Boko Haram have engaged in the sexual enslavement of women and girls through trafficking. Yazidi girls captured in Iraq are trafficked into Syria and sold in open slave markets as if they were things, not people”.

The Secretary General lamented that the majority of trafficking victims are women and girls, stressing therefore that "our response must include special attention to their rights and also by intensifying the training on preventing trafficking in persons as well as sexual exploitation and abuse.

In this direction, he urged all countries to adopt dedicated anti-trafficking laws and national action plans pointing out that the UN is actively engaged in preventing sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by peacekeepers.

"States should consider creating multidisciplinary law enforcement units or specialized prosecutors’ offices to address this threat", the Secretary-General stated.

The out-going Secretary General remarked that it was because conflict gives oxygen to traffickers, human rights and stability suffocates them, that is why it is so important to advance the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

He said the 2030 Agenda promises a life of dignity for all people – and it focuses on helping the farthest behind first. In order to fulfill this promise explaining that "we have to stand for the human rights of all victims and vulnerable people. I call for all countries to ratify all international human rights, refugee, labour rights and crime prevention conventions and to put efforts into their effective implementation".

While indicating that this may be his last speech to this Council, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon emphasized that prevention should be at the forefront and welcomed his successor’s focus on this issue.