Statement of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) to
the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)
Manila, Philippines, 27-30 October 2008
The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)[1] is committed to ending trafficking and to the protection of the human rights of trafficked persons and women migrant workers.
We take this opportunity to present our position on GFMD Roundtables 1.1 Protecting the rights of migrants and 2.2 Managing migration and minimizing the negative impacts of irregular migration. We call for the following:
4. Restrictive border controls and bans on women's movement should not be considered methods to stop trafficking.
5. Migration policies should not contradict the aims of anti-trafficking policies to protect trafficked persons and other migrants.
6. Migrants' rights should be upheld in practice, and central to all GFMD discussions.
Despite many governments' commitments to human rights and well-intentioned efforts to address human trafficking, the rights of migrant and trafficked women are still being violated. In 2007, GAATW published Collateral Damage, a report[2] which examines what measures states in eight countries have taken to combat trafficking and the human rights impacts of these measures. This has provided a strong evidence base for recommendations.
1. Restrictive border controls and bans on women's movement should not be considered methods to stop trafficking.
GAATW is concerned with the assumption in Roundtable 2.2 that 'irregular migration' is linked to or synonymous with trafficking, implying that managing and clamping down on irregular migration, through strict border controls, would best address trafficking. Not only does this overlook that trafficking occurs even when a person has migrated through regular channels, it also ignores the present reality in which many working class people must migrate through whatever means to survive.
Anti-trafficking laws are adversely affecting working class migrants by restricting semi-skilled women's movement from their country of origin or at border crossings. To date, trafficking prevention efforts have centered on the movement of potentially trafficked persons by tightening border security and preventing certain low-skilled migrant workers from leaving origin countries or entering countries of destination. This makes the migration process difficult for all migrants and increases the need for third-party assistance (brokers, agents) which increases migrants vulnerability to traffickers. Thus, when not properly assessed anti-trafficking laws can increase trafficking.
Anti-trafficking measures are commonly developed to 'protect women', rather than protecting their rights. This has led to women from some origin countries being denied the right to leave their country. For example, the Indian Government considered women migrant workers a "particularly vulnerable lot" and "issued an order prohibiting any female household worker below the age of 30 from being employed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under any circumstance."[3] To avoid this ban, women are having to take riskier migration options than their male counterparts, making them more vulnerable to abuse at the destination point.
Destination countries have also closed their borders in misguided attempts at protection. Many Brazilian women attempting to enter the European Union have been repeatedly denied entrance and repatriated on the grounds that immigration officials thought they looked like "prostitutes" and thus likely to be trafficked. The preventative language used here does not mask the violations of women's rights to freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination. More empowering strategies must be found.
2. Migration policies should not contradict the aims of anti-trafficking policies to protect trafficked persons and other migrants.
Under many migration management programmes, the ability of people who need to migrate for work in order to survive or to improve their well-being is being severely restricted, as people are prevented from being able to migrate legally and safely into fair and reasonable working conditions.
Migration and labour policies are discriminating against poor people and particularly poor women. Such discrimination creates opportunities for dishonest brokers, corrupt officials and ruthless employers to exploit or traffic migrants. Effective prevention of trafficking thus requires recognition of the migration-trafficking nexus and seeks to facilitate and promote safe migration and fair work for all. Migration policies should be reformed so as not to contravene the aims of anti-trafficking initiatives.
Most trafficked persons are economic migrants, but it is important to remember that the vast majority of economic migrants are not trafficked. Governments and civil society organisations therefore need to work closely with migrants to determine not only what makes them vulnerable to trafficking, but also what safeguards were instrumental in ensuring a 'safe migration' situation.
3. Migrants' rights should be upheld in practice, and central to all GFMD discussions.
The first GFMD Roundtable (1.1 and 1.2) emphasizes that "[r]especting the rights of migrants is especially relevant for lower skilled labour migrants and also for female migrants..."[4] The rights-focus in GFMD Roundtables 1.1 and 1.2 should not be forgotten in Roundtables 2.1 to 3.3, which are not explicitly about rights.
The GFMD Roundtables run concurrently, and we question whether the conversations on
human rights being discussed in one room will have any impact on the discussions on
irregular migration in another. We challenge those delegates attending
Roundtables 2.1 to 3.3 to ensure that human rights implications of
regularisation policies, anti-trafficking legislation and migration management
programmes are examined.
We urge governments to take seriously not only the human rights of regular migrants
but also those who are undocumented. Further we encourage governments to maintain
a human rights approach which does not make the protection of the
rights of
migrants and trafficked persons secondary to the perceived protection of
national security.
Trafficked persons are migrants who have ended up working in exploitative working conditions. Appropriate protection of the rights of migrants and workers is essential. Human rights such as freedom of movement, the right to migrate and freedom from discrimination should be rights given to all migrants including trafficked persons.
We appreciate that human rights have been included in this year's GFMD programme, and we would like to comment on the instrumental nature of their inclusion. The topic description for Roundtable 1.1 states: "These standards and rights are accorded to migrants on the assumption that a protected worker is a more productive worker, and thus, becomes a better agent of development."[5] We would like to emphasize the equal, universal and inalienable nature of human rights, rather than an instrumental one. Rights should not be conferred on people depending on whether the meeting of a right is deemed 'useful' for development or any other cause. Rather rights should be granted for rights' sake, rather than because they make someone a 'productive worker'.
Recommendations
1. Restrictive border controls and bans on women's movement should not be considered methods to stop trafficking.
o Protect people against discriminatory practices that particularly restrict semi-skilled women at points of origin and at border crossings.
2. Migration policies should not contradict the aims of anti-trafficking policies to protect trafficked persons and other migrants.
o Reform migration policies to be in line with national and international anti-trafficking legislation to protect trafficked persons and other migrants.
o Ensure that migrants are involved in developing appropriate mechanisms to end labour exploitation and trafficking, by their identification of safeguards instrumental to ensuring 'safe migration'.
o Allow for full migrant participation in the GFMD process and discussions.
3. Migrants' rights should be upheld in practice, and central to all GFMD discussions.
o Recognize the rights of all migrants (undocumented and documented) as equal, universal and inalienable.
o Maintain a human rights framework and impact assessment in all GFMD roundtables.
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