Arab world not immune to trafficking

No country is immune to human trafficking, and those who believe it does not exist in the Arab world are living a “fantasy”, Jordan's Princess Basma said on Tuesday. Inaugurating a regional training workshop titled “A human rights-based approach to combating human trafficking”, the princess noted that human trafficking is a universal problem and called on countries to cooperate by all means to eliminate the phenomenon. Princess Basma underlined that the vast majority of human trafficking victims are women and children, who are most vulnerable to mistreatment, enslavement and humiliation through force or fraud. Young people often fall victim to traffickers when migrating illegally to improve their living conditions, she noted. “The real challenge that faces us as Arab countries is the need to address the reasons behind illegal migration to protect our youths and prevent them from falling prey to smugglers and human traffickers.” The reasons for migration, she said, include poverty, ignorance, illness, discrimination, violence and deprivation. Participants at the workshop are mainly police officers and representatives of human rights organisations from 14 Arab countries. The training is organised by the Public Security Department (PSD) in cooperation with the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for Southwest Asia and the Arab region, which works under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The workshop seeks to guide the participants on how to apply OHCHR principles and guidelines on human rights and human trafficking. Mona Rashmawi, chief of the rule of law, equality and non-discrimination branch at the OHCHR, said the number of human trafficking victims worldwide has reached 18 million according to the International Labour Organisation. She noted that the office is preparing an Arabic-language manual on guidelines related to this crime. Director of the PSD’s Criminal Investigation Department Brig. Gen. Fadel Hmoud highlighted the department’s efforts to cooperate with the concerned international bodies to combat the phenomenon.