Children bear brunt of human trafficking: UN chief

by: Philippine News Agency, Aug 1, 2019

ANKARA, Turkey — Children are one of the most affected victims of human trafficking, UNited Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on July 30.

“Human trafficking is a heinous crime happening all around us. The victims — 30% of which are children — are subject to forced labor, sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse,” Guterres said in a tweet on the occasion of World Day Against Human Trafficking in Persons.

Guterres also urged the international community to “do more to bring criminals to justice, and help victims rebuild their lives”.

The issue drew more attention when Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Ezidi human rights activist who spent three months in a Daesh prison cell, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.

After moving to Germany, she also became the UN goodwill ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking.

In its latest report on human trafficking, the UN has collected information over the last 13 years on about 700 victims of trafficking for the removal of organs in 25 countries.

The majority of victims have been identified from the Americas and in Asia, the report said.

“In addition to domestic and subregional trafficking, wealthy countries are more likely to be destinations for detected victims trafficked from more distant origins,” it said, stressing the Western and Southern Europe and countries in the Middle East recorded sizable shares of victims trafficked from other regions.

In 2013, the UN General Assembly had held a high-level meeting to discuss its global action plan. Member states then also adopted a resolution and designated July 30 as the World Day Against Human Trafficking in Persons. (Gozde Bayar/Anadolu News Agency)