Not just empty words; eliminate underlying causes

“Fight against trafficking in human beings”—EU

Editing, re-reporting, comment 
by Carolyn Bennett

Summary of European Union legislation

Trafficking in human beings, for whatever reason – sexual exploitation or work – is a violation of fundamental human rights.

Because it affects vulnerable groups such as women and children in particular, the European Union has focused its action on objectives aiming to protect these groups and to prevent and combat this phenomenon, especially by strengthening cooperation and coordination between the police and judicial authorities of the Member States.

The EU is introducing a framework of common provisions in order to tackle issues such as criminalization and penalties or aggravating circumstances in the case of trafficking in human beings.

To End the unconscionable

EU framework

GENERAL FRAMEWORK 

•Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings
•Group of Experts on Trafficking in Human Beings
•Combating violence towards children, adolescents and women: Daphne III program (2007-2013)
•Protocol against the trafficking of people
•Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea
•Residence permit for victims of human trafficking
•Plan on best practices, standards and procedures
•The external dimension of the area of freedom, security and justice
•Combating trafficking in human beings
•Experts Group on Trafficking in Human Beings
•Action to prevent violence against children, young people and women: the DAPHNE II program (2004-08)
•Action to combat violence against children, young persons and women: the Daphne program
•STOP II
•Incentive and exchange program for persons responsible for combating trade in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children (STOP) 

PROTECTION OF CHILDREN

•Combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
•Safer Internet program 2009-13
•Combating child pornography on the Internet
•Combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
•Search for missing or sexually exploited children
•Action plan on unaccompanied minors (2010-14)
•Protecting children in the digital world
•Towards a Strategy on the Rights of the Child
•Combating trafficking in human beings, the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
•The implementation of measures to combat child sex tourism
•Combating child sex tourism

PROTECTION OF WOMEN 

•New measures to combat trafficking in women 

•Trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual exploitation

Press TV reporting

In its news account of the EU plan, Press TV reported, though “About 1.5 million people fall victim to trafficking and forced labor in the EU and the rest of the developed countries, these official estimates are just the tip of the iceberg due to the illegal nature of the activity.”

International arms transfers
Arms trafficking

Experts and analysts of this horrendous problem have said that carrying out the provisions of the EU plan “is a difficult and uncertain journey, with many obstacles…

Arms to South Central Asia

“One of the most important things to understand in the fight against modern-day slavery is this: … when conflict and natural disasters strike, the first people to appear on the ground are not humanitarian workers, but traffickers.”

Moreover, “the authorities will likely never match the resourcefulness of traffickers” whose activities, according to official estimates, bring in an annual global return of more than “25 billion Euros” or approximately 32 billion U.S. dollars.

On its web site Europa, the EU proclaims Human Rights as “Universal and indivisible.

“Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights are the values on which the European Union is founded.… Countries seeking to join the EU must respect human rights, and so must countries [that] have concluded trade and other agreements with it.”

End international hostilities
End wars
End promotion of chaos, conflict
End Human Rights Abuse

Failing credibility test

Sounds nice but in the face of a constant condition of war, hostility toward migrants and incessant global inequalities and the profit from these — Europe unstintingly supports the United States’ maniacal war making, its perpetuating of war and conflict in the Near East, South Central Asia and beyond, its creation of mass migrations and corresponding hostility to immigrants, its trafficking (trade) in instruments of war and conflict around the world—can anyone believe (any more than the human traffickers take seriously) the EU’s high sounding words?

I think not. They are but empty words.

Sources and notes

The “Summaries of EU legislation” website presents the main aspects of European Union (EU) legislation in a concise, easy-to-read and unbiased manner. It forms part of the Europa portal, which is published by the EU institutions.

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/about/index_en.htm

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/fight_against_trafficking_in_human_beings/index_en.htm

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/index_en.htm

Press TV

“EU unveils anti-human trafficking plan— About 1.5 million people fall victim to trafficking and forced labor in the EU and the rest of the developed countries. But these official estimates are just the tip of the iceberg due to the illegal nature of the activity. In an effort to fight this, the European Commission issued an anti- trafficking strategy in Brussels. Europe is not doing enough to fight the growing problem of human trafficking, according to the EU institutions,” June 20, 2012, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/19/247043/eu-antihuman-trafficking/

"Human rights Universal and indivisible," http://europa.eu/pol/rights/index_en.htm

Images from
http://www.basetree.com/photos/sets/photography12.html




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