Vatican and Church representatives have urged tougher action by governments against human trafficking, as well as greater help for some of its estimated 40 million victims.
“Trafficking in persons and other contemporary forms of enslavement are worldwide problems that needs to be taken seriously by humanity,” said Mgr Janusz Urbanczyk, the Holy See's permenent representative at the 57-country Organisation on Security and Co-Operation in Europe.
“Priority must be given to ensuring access to social protection, education, jobs, healthcare and the justice system, since their lack is often exploited by traffickers to recruit new victims. Likewise, survivors need physical and mental health services, training programs and employment opportunities, so they can make a new start and gain legal protection from those who would compel them back into slavery”.
Addressing the OSCE's permanent council, the Polish priest said Western governments had made efforts to combat trafficking and exploitation. However, he added that over 40 million people, a quarter of them under-18s, were currently caught up as victims, while one in 20 children aged eight or less were also victims of sexual exploitation, as a decline in trafficking prosecutions added “insult to injury”.
Meanwhile, concern was also expressed by the Brussels-based Commission of European Union Bishops Conferences (COMECE), whose Spanish secretary-general also warned of a “worldwide problem” from “trafficking and other forms of modern slavery”, and urged the EU to do more.
“Human trafficking represents one of the most dramatic manifestations of the commercialisation of the other, a crime that disfigures both the victims and those who carry it out”, Fr Manuel Barrios Prieto said in a statement for Sunday's EU Anti-Trafficking Day.
“Engagement in structured collaborations with public institutions and civil society organisations will guarantee more effective and longer-lasting results in this fight, when Covid-19 is transforming trafficking into an ever-growing internet business”.
Church leaders have long urged action against human trafficking for forced labour and sexual exploitation, which is defined by the United Nations as a grave crime and human rights violation, but affects virtually every country in the world.
In his OSCE speech, Mgr Urbanczyk said “significant progress” had been made in “identifying and addressing factors that make people susceptible to trafficking”, but added that these had been exacerbated by armed conflicts and forced migration, as well as the current coronavirus pandemic.
“This is shame on humanity, which international politics must no longer tolerate,” the Vatican diplomat told OSCE delegations. “We must keep in mind that victims and survivors are human beings, who should always feel they are being treated with dignity and respect. While it is easy in discussions to present numbers, we must also keep in mind that every number has a face, a name and a story to tell.”
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