Human Trafficking in the UAE - Essay Example

? Human trafficking in the UAE Introduction Every year large number of individuals, especially women and children, are trafficked to different parts of the world for purpose of forced labour, sexual and various other types of exploitation. The socio-economic costs of this process have a large-scale impact on communities and individuals, and at an average estimate, cost of trafficking exceeds $20 billion as regards recruiting fees and salary underpayment, while human capital costs are not quantifiable (ILO, 2009, p. 4). The issue of human trafficking, from an overall perspective, is associated with various development related problems that include poverty, social inclusion, and issues pertaining to the rule of law. The term human trafficking pertains to illegal trading of humans primarily for forced labour or sexual exploitation. There are various other reasons for human trafficking that include illegal tissue and organ extraction (Joint Council of Europe/United Nations Study, 2009), and reproductive trafficking that encompasses removal of the ova or even surrogacy (Eyal, 2012). Human trafficking is considered as a lucrative trade, and comes second only to illicit drug trafficking, in the context of raking in highest profits amongst all other illicit industries worldwide (Haken, 2011). Reports revealed that total revenue earned from human trafficking in 2004 was estimated to be around $9 billion (UNECE, 2004). ILO in one of its reports on human trafficking estimated that the industry earned around $31.6 billion (in profits) each year, globally (Belser, 2005). The UN estimated that, “about 2.5 million people from 127 countries have been trafficked to 137 countries for purposes such as forced labour, sexual exploitation, the removal of organs and body parts, forced marriages, child adoption and begging” (UN News Centre, 2008). Some experts contend that statistical representation of data on human trafficking is flawed and sometimes not quantifiable. There are also suggestions that the flawed figures are often intentional, mainly to help in the functioning of anti-trafficking bodies and to frame anti-trafficking policies. Since human trafficking is considered as a process and not a precisely defined act, it is viewed as more of a dynamic procedure that displays persistently changing patterns closely connected to economic conditions; thus making a large part of the statistical analysis found in various reports flawed (Feingold, 2010). As per the definition provided by International Centre for Migration Policy development (ICMPD), human trafficking is “Crime against person – victim; violation of the rights of the victim of trafficking by definition (violation of person’s human rights; victim of coercion and exploitation that give rise to duties by the State to treat the individual as a victim of a crime and human rights violation)” (ICMPD, nd). Human trafficking victims are not allowed to leave once they reach their destination, and are held against their will through threats and coercion and made to serve or work (bonded labour or commercialised sexual exploitation) for the trafficker. The UAE forms to be a global centre point for human trafficking that deals primarily with women and children. As per some reports published in 2010, human trafficking in the UAE accounted for nearly 37 % of all illegal migration cases referred in 2009 to Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC), which is an increase of almost 28 % from 2008. UAE’s official fight against human trafficking started six years back in 2006, with the enactment of Federal Law 51 and formation of National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT). While results in the past five years hint that there has been significant progress in process of combatting human trafficking, however the government must take into consideration that various interlinked challenges at multiple levels, associated with this illicit trade, makes it necessary for the government to be on constant alert and maintain sustained vigil. In this regard, the paper examines human trafficking in the United Arab Emirates, efforts made ??in this regard, difficulties and challenges faced while combatting the illicit trade, and the right ways to deal with these kinds of crimes. Discussion What is human trafficking? Human trafficking is a procedure where individuals are recruited from communities in a particular country (country of origin) and illegally transported to another country (point of destination) where they are exploited and made to take part in prostitution, forced labour, domestic servitude, and various other types of exploitation. The globally accepted definition for human trafficking is given in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children also known as the Palermo Protocol that is addendum to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (General Assembly resolution 55/25). (a) “‘Trafficking in persons’ shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of 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 the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; (b) The consent of the victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in the subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; (c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered ‘trafficking in persons’ even if this does not involve any of the means set forth; and (d) ‘Child’ means any person under the age of 18” (UNODC, 2012). The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which forms the secretariat of Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the protocols, delineates three fundamental aspects of human trafficking. The first aspect is the process, that encompasses recruitment, transporting the individuals to be trafficked, transferring them to another location, harbouring, and receipt of individuals trafficked. The second one is the means, which includes coercion, threat, abduction, deception, force, fraud, abuse and making financial exchanges for a person to be trafficked. The third aspect is the purpose, where the main objective is exploitation for forced labour, prostitution, slavery, and removal of organs (UNODC, 2009b). UNODC suggest that “crime of trafficking be defined through a combination of the three constituent elements and not the individual components, though in some cases threes individual elements will constitute criminal offences independently” (UNODC, 2009a, p.4). Various individual aspects, such as forced labour, prostitution, slavery, have no clear delineations within the Protocol, hence leaving it to the signatory states to define and clarify these aspects further, as per their own domestic legislations (Solla and Fernanda, 2006). While the Palermo Protocol gives a broad global-based consensus on the ‘human trafficking’ definition, there is a debate revolving around some of its aspects. The definition is being rather opaque and broad in nature, leaves a wide scope for the States to interpret the term as per their requirements and comprehension thus generating controversy over the definition. As for example, according to ILO, there is a controversy as whether human trafficking involves movement of trafficked person within local or across transnational borders combined with recruitment (under the first aspect of process, as delineated by the UNODC); or whether emphasis should only remain on exploitation which is the final outcome (ILO, 2009). Another contentious issue is whether the ‘purpose’ of human trafficking, which is exploitation, necessarily involved coercion as ‘means’. Articles 3(b) and (c) within the Palermo Protocol take into consideration the matter of consent and specifies that any such consent received from a trafficked person becomes nullified if the ‘means’ involved coercion or force, while in case of child trafficking consent becomes completely irrelevant, under any ‘means’ used (Solla and Fernanda, 2006). As per the Trafficking in Persons Report or TIP Report published in 2009 by United States Department of State, shows the various misinterpretations made by different governments regarding ‘consent’ of victims. The report suggested that while an individual may agree to migrate (illegally or legally) for the purpose of getting a job, “once a person’s work is recruited or compelled by the use or threat of physical violence or the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process, the person’s previous consent or effort to obtain employment with the trafficker becomes irrelevant” (Trafficking in Persons Report, 2009, p.13). Often the traffickers use various methods to create a condition where an individual becomes vulnerable and find no other choices, but follow what the traffickers want. One very common ‘means’ adopted by traffickers, is the method of ‘debt-bondage’ where traffickers give false information to the victims regarding money owed, from living and travel expenses, holding them under ransom until the entire ‘so-called’ debt is given back. Other methods used are threats about harming the victim and his/hers family, verbal abuse, physical abuse (that include beating and rape), imprisonment, starvation, withholding of important identification papers of the victim (like passport), and forced administration of drugs. In cases of transnational human trafficking, often the victims cannot speak the local language, lack any social network that would help them to escape, hence they are completely dependent on people belonging to their same ethnic community to receive them once they arrive at the destination country. Besides these difficulties, the illegal status of the victims make it almost impossible for them to seek assistance from local government agencies, law enforcement bodies, avail medical facilities and make use of various other public services. The chief objectives of human trafficking: In the process of human trafficking, the traffickers have various different roles to play. The term ‘traffickers’ in the note prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights refer to “recruiters, transporters, those who exercise control over trafficked persons, those who transfer and/or maintain trafficked persons in exploitative situations, those involved in related crimes, those who profit either directly or indirectly from trafficking, its component acts and related offences” (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2002, p. 4). Each trafficker plays a separate role at different stages in the process of human trafficking process with the chief aim of exploiting different victims mainly for financial gains. The two major objectives of human trafficking are: Sexual Exploitation: While forced labour as an objective is gaining increasing popularity amongst traffickers, prostitution or sexual exploitation remains until date the most common objective for human trafficking, and the chief target group comprises mainly of women and children. Various common trends have been identified, that are seen while victims are recruited into sex trafficking. These are: “A promise of a good job in another country A false marriage proposal turned into a bondage situation Being sold into the sex trade by parents, husbands, boyfriends Being kidnapped by traffickers” (Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet, nd.) Trafficking for Forced Labour: Trafficking for the purpose of forced labour is less detected and less reported, than the cases that involve victims trafficked for sexual exploitation, owing to the reason that it is difficult to differentiate between migrant workers and those trafficked to serve as forced labourers. Such trafficked individuals are kept in well-hidden places, such as, private houses where they serve as slaves, mining camps, rural fields, and factories. As a result, victims of forced labour are difficult to locate than victims of sexual exploitation (UNODC, 2009b, p. 51). While mainly girls and women are trafficked, boys and men are also trafficked for the purpose of forced labour, but the number of cases pertaining to the latter group remains grossly underreported. Human trafficking for forced labour often take place under the guise of job promises made through personal contacts, job advertisements placed on internet, televisions, newspapers, and billboards. Male victims often sign papers that they thins are legal agreements with reliable and well-known recruiters, employment agencies and firms. A hazy line that exists between human trafficking and migrant smuggling disallows trafficked victims (for forced labour) from getting any sort of assistance and protection as their basic human rights. Human trafficking in the UAE A study of the DFWAC reports show that in 2009, 89 cases related to human trafficking were referred to the UAE government that included reports of domestic violence and child abuse. Out of these reported cases, nearly 45 % of the victims pertain to children below 18 years of age, and 48 % were females, as shown in fig 1 (United Arab Emirates, nd.). According to the reports, “Emiratis (24.7 percent) constituted the largest group of cases (24.7 percent), followed by Bangladeshis (19 percent), Iranians (9 percent), and Iraqis (8 percent). Other nationalities, with one to four victims each, made up the remaining cases” (United Arab Emirates, nd.). Fig 1: “Victims of human trafficking in UAE, in 2009” (United Arab Emirates, nd.). Young children, until very recently, were illegally trafficked to the UAE from various parts of Asia to take part in the camel races and serve as camel jockeys, with boys from Pakistan and Bangladesh, owing to their stature and easy availability, getting special preferences. According to reports by the Bangladeshi National Women Lawyers' Association, during the 1990s, nearly 7000 very young boys were trafficked from Bangladesh and taken to the UAE to be used as camel jockeys (United Arab Emirates, nd.). The illicit trade flourished despite a ban by the government on use boys less than fifteen years of age as camel jockeys, as early as 1980. There are various reports that reveal the ‘mean’s adopted to make the trafficked children comply with the traffickers and the racers’ demands, were physical abuse, beatings and threats. This illicit trade in very young boys has been controlled and finally completely stopped in 2005, and currently robot camel jockeys are used during the races (United Arab Emirates, nd.). However, trafficking of young girls and women, to be used as domestic servants (bonded labour) in the UAE, still continues to thrive. These victims mostly come from Indonesia, Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. For sexual exploitation, girls and women from countries in the East Europe and Central Asian are preferred. While the government has adopted various measures (as recent as 2006) to tackle human trafficking, it would require more time to gain actual positive results. Legislations in the UAE to combat human trafficking The process of combatting human trafficking in the UAE started with enactment of Federal Law 51 (2006) and creating a National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) (2007). Until date, the Federal Law 51 (2006), which is multidisciplinary in nature, continues as the main legal framework for dealing with cases pertaining to human trafficking. With the enactment of this legislation, there has been increasing awareness amongst public regarding the existence of this law. Article One of this law defines trafficking as “recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, or receiving persons by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation, engaging others in prostitution, servitude, forced labour, enslavement, quasi-slavery practices, or the detachment of organs” (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012, p.8). This delineation categorises human trafficking on certain factors, which are: “Form of trafficking – recruiting, transporting, transferring and harbouring; Means of trafficking – by use of threat or force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person; Examples of exploitation – engaging others in prostitution, servitude, forced labour, enslavement, quasi-slavery practices, or organ trade” (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012, p.8). A close review of the 2006 legislation show that it is similar to the provisions made in the Palermo Protocol, takes into consideration all forms of human trafficking, and provides for strong disciplinary measures such as life imprisonment. According to the UAE law, a life sentence is applicable when a victim is trafficked through threats, force, coercion, abuse (verbal and physical) or deceit. Furthermore, UAE law gives stiff penalties for human traffickers that vary from serving one year in prison “to life imprisonment and fines of 100,000 dirhams and one million dirhams” (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012, p.8). UAE Penal Code (article 364) safeguards victims against forced sexual exploitation while under article 365 there are penalties outlined for traffickers that are involved in creating and organising places used for prostitution. The UAE government also enacted the Federal Law 39 in 2006 based on international legal guidelines that took into consideration various articles on extradition of traffickers to legal authorities for their trial. Under the articles 6-37, there are provisions for mutual legal assistance for cases related to human trafficking (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012). As regards its global commitment in combatting human trafficking, the UAE signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2005, which makes provisions for global based cooperation against all forms of human trafficking. Furthermore, the UAE also ratified the Palermo Protocol in 2009, which is an addendum to the Organized Crime Convention. In 2010, the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) made a detailed review on possibilities of modifying the existing Federal Law 51, in order to focus on protection and rehabilitation of the trafficked victims, thus aligning the domestic law with the Palermo Protocol. The NCCHT enacted Resolution 7/18 (2010) as a regulatory procedure for relevant authorities dealing with victims of human trafficking victims. This was primarily to accord protection to the victims from public prosecutors and the UAE police, at time of investigation and when victims take refuge in various homes and shelters. This regulatory procedure helps and protects victims by acknowledging and respecting their human and legal rights (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012). The Committee also enacted the Resolution 8/21 in 2010 that addressed ethical standards for media adherence while interviewing the trafficked victims, as regards safeguarding the victims and respecting their privacy (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012). The UAE government agencies have majorly emphasised on increasing the awareness amongst public as regards the existence and correct implementation of trafficking laws established to combat the challenge. According to recent data from the UAE government, “37 human trafficking-related cases were registered under Federal Law 51 in 2011…While the police departments registered a total of 44 cases of human trafficking; the prosecution deemed 37 cases as falling under the purview of Federal Law 51. These cases involved 51 victims and led to the arrest of 111 traffickers. Notably, there were 19 convictions… [That] involved stiff penalties ranging from one year to life imprisonment and fines…only 10 cases were recorded in 2007; it increased to 58 cases in 2010 and declined to 37 in 2011” (Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE, 2012, pp. 12-13). A careful study of the report shows that there is a growing awareness on the issue of human trafficking, which has led to an increase in number of reported cases from 2006 – 2010, while also helping in limiting the illicit trade. A change in a pattern in human trafficking has also being noticed in the past few years, where besides being used for sexual exploitation, individuals are being increasingly trafficked for forced labour, servitude, and adoption, (an illegal act in the UAE). To combat human trafficking – emphasis on a developmental approach to prevent trafficking Combatting human trafficking requires an approach that is multi-dimensional in nature. In order to comprehend the intricacies of human trafficking and to distinguish the main points, more mapping, surveys, and researches, are often necessary to grasp different organizational paradigms, routes, recruitment patterns, and placement of victims. Various studies show that the most vulnerable groups, likely to be targeted by the traffickers are not easily distinguished and accessed owing to their marginalised positions and remote locations. This makes it necessary for the government to understand the locations, characteristics, and nature of vulnerability of these groups, in order to create effective policies for combatting human trafficking policies. Providing basic services like social protection, employment, education, health facilities, and protecting the very young are effective ways to prevent human trafficking. Given below are specific key actions that can be used for preventing human trafficking. More opportunities for employment: this can be addressed by creating better job opportunities and providing more training, especially within the more vulnerable communities so that the desire to go to urban areas or even to foreign countries for to obtaining jobs. Social protection: creating a system that would act as a safety net system and protect the more vulnerable members from being targeted by the traffickers. Education: educating the public about issues related to human trafficking, migration, forced labour, child abuse and the development of various different types of skills through appropriate use of school curriculum and various training programs, would help to show the dangers of trafficking while increasing the general awareness on human and labour rights, which in turn would help to curb human trafficking. Healthcare facilities: providing improved and an easy access to healthcare facilities for the vulnerable communities would help to curb the menace to some extent (as for example, educating them on HIV/AIDS and other forms of sexually transmitted diseases). Migration related issues: educating and increasing their levels of awareness on the nature and outcome of human trafficking while informing them about their labour/human rights and probable dangers of working abroad would help individuals escape the clutches of traffickers. Easy Access to the judiciary: an easy access to justice for the finally weak segments of the society and other minority communities, empower the most vulnerable to assert, their human/labour rights. Reports reveal that a majority of the victims do not know their basic rights, or are afraid of speaking against the traffickers fearing abuse and torture of themselves and their families. According to Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women or GAATW, there are two major components to accord justice for the victims: their adequate protection and right to information (Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, 2012). Victims must be made aware of their legal rights and the various options available, so that they can decide their own future; while protection measures for the victims must be strong enough to make them feel safe while identifying the traffickers. Conclusion The UAE approach in tackling the challenges of human trafficking is based on not only building domestic measures, but also coordinating at a global level. Under its Islamic legal system, human trafficking is considered as morally wrong and hence unacceptable to the social norms and values of UAE. Currently the government is adopting various measures based on a four-pillar strategy that includes strong legislation, effective enforcement, adequate victim support, and widespread global cooperation. 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