Sunday, September 29, 2013

Philippines Underscores Joint Responsibility with other Nations to Combat Human Trafficking

During the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 26, 2013 the Philippines’ Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Evan Garcia, stated that the fight against human trafficking should be viewed as a joint responsibility of all UN member states.  According to recent statistics, about one-in-ten Filipinos that work overseas are indentured laborers. Garcia noted that “protection of the welfare and rights of Filipinos overseas is a pillar of Philippine foreign policy.” According to the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP), the Philippines is a major source country of trafficked individuals. The Philippines' efforts to combat human trafficking include founding the Group of Friends United against Human Trafficking to reignite awareness  of human trafficking on a global front; enhancing information sharing and human rights approaches to combat trafficking in persons; adopting of a human rights based approach to combat trafficking in persons; and promoting the ratification of the Palermo Protocol and the full and effective implementation of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

With Special Courts, State Aims to Steer Women Away From Sex Trade

The State of New York is creating a statewide system that is designed to aid victims of human and sex trafficking. It will do so by creating a statewide system of specialized criminal courts to handle prostitution cases. The program will identify trafficking victims and refer them to services like housing, healthcare, immigration assistance, drug treatment and job assistance. Those who manage to complete court-mandated programs can end up with non-criminal dispositions and reduced or dismissed charges. This kind of initiative is believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S. “Eleven new courts across the state, modeled on three narrower pilot projects in New York City and Nassau County, will bring together specially trained prosecutors, judges and defense lawyers, along with social workers and an array of other services, the chief judge, Jonathan Lippman, said in a speech to the Citizens Crime Commission in Midtown Manhattan.” Queens, Nassau County and Manhattan’s Midtown Community Court have already set up as the three pilot parts, and all of the parts will be up and running by the end of October. Steven Banks, the Legal Aid Society attorney-in-chief has said that the new system was ““an extremely important step forward nationally” to set up courts where people accused of prostitution and related offenses can be connected to programs that offer what he called “a pathway to change.”” He also added that prostitution-related convictions leave victims of human trafficking “indelibly scarred” and harm their future in many ways. The ability to erase the trafficking-related prostitution conviction as well as the establishment of the new court parts will literally provide these clients with a second chance.



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Friday, September 13, 2013

10 human trafficking victims intercepted at NAIA

Authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA 1) have intercepted ten Filipino human trafficking victims before they could board a plane bound for Russia. The ten victims claimed that they would be in Moscow to study the Russian language and would thereafter seek employment. In the 2013 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report prepared by the U.S Department of State, the Philippines was placed in the Tier 2 rank which includes “(c)ountries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s [Trafficking Victims Protection Act] minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards." Since then the country has tried to impress the U.S with its anti-trafficking drive in an effort to have Washington increase the rank. The ten victims were intercepted when five of them were initially called in for questioning as they were lining up to clear immigration. All the passengers have been turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation.

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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Cellphones banned at airports for Bureau of Immigration Officers


(Manila) – Bureau of Immigration Officers assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as well as other immigration officers in the country have been banned from using their cellphones while they are on duty. The move was implemented as an effort to crackdown on corruption within the Bureau, and thus removes the opportunity for employees to partake in dubious exchanges, says BI officer-in-charge Siegfred Mison. He gave as examples instances wherein employees were caught on CCTV using their cellphones to coordinate the exit of human trafficking victims as well as foreign fugitives.  Under the new rule, employees must surrender their phones to their supervisor for temporary custody before beginning a shift. Should they need to make an emergency phone call, they will be allowed to use the phones officially used by the duty supervisors.

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