“One in every three victims of trafficking in persons is a child, and the vast majority of these children are girls,” according to a UN report, despite the adoption of many international conventions and protocols against trafficking in persons, political conflicts, wars, and stifling economic crises in the Arab region have exacerbated the crisis of human trafficking and exploitation without any decision from them.
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, observed on July 30 each year, with this year’s theme “Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking,” the persistence of this complex and urgent global issue remains evident. Despite widespread criminalization and international conventions against such violations, nearly 50 million people are still affected worldwide, as reported by the United Nations. This issue is exacerbated by ongoing conflicts and rapid technological advances.
Trafficking in persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.
In most regions of the world, migrants make up more than half of the identified trafficking victims, 65% in Western and Southern Europe and 60% in the Middle East. In many of these reported trafficking cases, traffickers took advantage of the migration-related status of victims to maintain control over them, exploit them, prevent them from fleeing and/or report abuses, and many people were exposed annually to drowning, death, and going missing.
The risk of human trafficking is increased by many factors: high unemployment rates, lack of social protection, stranded migrant workers in countries where they do not have access to health and social services, in addition to children being exposed to multiple forms of trafficking, including forced labor, crime and begging, as well as the increasing proliferation of digital platforms and games that create additional risks, as children often communicate with these sites without adequate protection.
At the global level, according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, Article 8 states: “No one shall be held in slavery, and slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. No one shall be subjected to slavery… No one shall be compelled into forced labor or compulsory labor.”
With regard to the scope of protection for victims of trafficking in persons, Jordan had acceded to the International Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2000 and its two Protocols to Prevent and Ban Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and to Combat the Smuggling of Migrants, of 1962, and had signed 24 international labor conventions on fundamental principles and rights at work.
The Abolition of Slavery Law of 1929 and the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons of 2009, which were amended in 2021, were also issued, and the new amendments carried many advantages, including the addition of organized begging as a form of trafficking in persons, while the penalties contained therein were harsher, and the temporary residence of the victim (of other nationalities) in the Kingdom was stipulated until the completion of the necessary procedures for investigation and trial.
The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), which has participated in numerous conferences and legal policy papers to curb trafficking in persons regionally, urges the international community to play its crucial role in addressing this issue, joining forces and working together to ensure the preservation of human rights, the protectiocn of refugees and migrants and preventing their exploitation.
The organization also works through the Forum for Migration and Asylum in the Arab World (Marfa), an independent network of Arab academics, human rights activists and lawyers, to advocate for the rights of migrants and refugees and raise awareness of pressing issues relevant to the region, including statelessness, diaspora, and discriminatory actions and behaviors against them.
In conclusion, it is necessary to address the causes of this crime by working to establish security and peace in the region, improve the economic situation, raise awareness of children and their families of the dangers of this phenomenon, especially in cyberspace, raise the awareness of young people of the dangers of illegal immigration, and take comprehensive preventive measures to protect all people and help victims, which requires joint efforts at the national and international levels, by giving priority to the protection of children, strengthening deterrent laws in this regard, and concerted efforts among all concerned governments and non-governmental organizations, civil society, and the private sector in raising awareness, providing support services, advocating for related reforms, providing more resources to combat child trafficking, strengthening social safety nets, and accelerating efforts to eradicate trafficking in persons.
