Human Trafficking ‘Slavery in the Modern Age’, Says Deputy Secretary-General in Briefing to Security Council

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson's remarks at the Security Council meeting on trafficking in persons in situations of conflict, in New York today:

I welcome the Security Council’s focus on the practice of human trafficking in situations of conflict and displacement.

Let us first be clear what we are discussing today:  human trafficking is slavery in the modern age.  Slavery is not just a past abomination.  Millions of people are living as slaves or in slave-like conditions as we speak today, in the year 2015, here at the United Nations.

Most of those trafficked are vulnerable women and children deceived or abducted into a life of suffering, exploitation, torture and servitude.  This ruthless practice has become a global industry and it must be stopped.

I am heartened that Member States in September have committed, as part of the 2030 Agenda [for Sustainable Development], Goals 5, 8 and 16 to take action on human trafficking.

There are more people displaced today than at any time since the Second World War.  Millions more are caught up in conflict, unable to flee.  These human beings are exposed to a wide range of human rights violations, not least trafficking.  They are sold, they are trafficked for sexual enslavement, for prostitution, for illegal adoption, for slave labour, for criminality or recruitment as child soldiers.

This Council has heard reports on almost 20 countries engulfed in conflict or trying to recover from conflict, where these practices are widespread.  The victims are mainly women and girls, but also boys and men.

Thousands of men and boys have been forcibly conscripted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and other armed groups.

The plight of women and girls held by groups such as Da’esh and Boko Haram is tragically well known.  The abduction of hundreds of school girls from Chibok by Boko Haram captured global attention.

Thousands of Yazidi women in Iraq have been abducted and enslaved by ISIL [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant].  As the Secretary-General stated in his remarks to the Security Council on 13 October, “the systematic killings, torture, rape and sexual slavery by Da’esh against the Yazidi community may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.  We must ensure accountability.”

I very much appreciate the presence here of Nadia Murad Basee Taha as a witness of the cruel and grim realities.  Trafficking in persons is a crime; it is a violation of human rights and must be treated as such.

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons provides a framework for action.  With 169 States parties, the Protocol is close to universal adherence.  I urge all countries to ratify and fully implement it.

Security Council resolution 2195 (2014) recognizes the linkage between organized crime, including trafficking in persons and terrorism.

I urge all States to become party to international treaties against trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, corruption and slavery — as well as treaties that protect human rights, especially the rights of women and children.

We also have the UN’s Global Plan of Action against trafficking, which includes provisions on addressing this problem in conflict settings.  But, we need to do more.

We should more robustly implement the Plan of Action and the International Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, particularly in conflict settings and post-conflict reconstruction work.  We should also support the important work of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking.

Ending human trafficking also means committing to resolve the conflicts in which human trafficking thrives.  Horrifying tales have emerged of how women and children are treated in captivity, but even when captivity ends, suffering continues.

Last month, the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, my friend and colleague Adama Dieng, met several Yazidi victims of trafficking at the Khanke IDP [internally displaced persons] camp near Dohuk in northern Iraq.

He asked me to convey his impressions.  He spoke to two girls who had managed to leave Da’esh and reunite with their families.  They were free from Da’esh — but they were certainly not from fear and from unbearable memories.  Indeed, the scars of such violence last a lifetime.

Victims, fortunate enough to be freed, need assistance to regain their rights and dignity to reintegrate into society.  They must be given a chance to take back their lives and build new futures.

The UN Trust Fund for the Victims of Trafficking in Persons is there to work on their behalf.  I encourage all, Member States and others, to contribute to this Fund.  It is also crucially important to fight impunity by bringing traffickers to account and to justice.

Human trafficking is often described as unthinkable and unspeakable.  But, it is our shared serious and sincere responsibility to think deeply and speak clearly about the abuses to which innumerable and nameless victims are subjected.

Human traffickers have no place in the world we are striving to build.  Let us make sure they have no space, no way to operate.