On a worldwide scale, human trafficking is an incredibly widespread and prevalent phenomenon, quickly turning into one of the most vital human rights issues in modern times. Human trafficking can take many forms, but are mostly restricted to labor and sex trafficking – in which people are taken from one country to another in order to be put to work or serve as sex slaves. Asia, particularly South and Southeast Asia, is one of the epicenters of labor trafficking, thus making it an ideal location to address this problem head on. While the rates of voluntary labor migration are high, a significant portion of labor migration is involuntary, as traffickers “co-opt voluntary labor migrants into involuntary labor through fraud, debt, intimidation, coercion and force” (Dinh et al. 2014, p. 2). NGOs and advocacy groups have been working to reduce labor trafficking in Asia, but the resolution to this crisis can only come from comprehensive global support, increased education, and better resources for the aforementioned NGOs to aid in their quest to stop human labor trafficking.
Trafficking for forced labor is a significant problem all across the world, and heavily involves moving people from one place to another in order to perform work and services against their will. This typically requires a recruiter or trafficker, who finds people, transports them to a new country, and sets them up with a new employer who would put them to work. South Asia’s labor trafficking problem is tremendous, particularly in Bangladesh, Nepal and India, cumulatively housing the second largest number of internationally trafficked people in the world (Uddin, 2014). Every year, approximately 150,000 people are trafficked around the world, many of them going to South Asia. Because of the demands of cheap labor to keep up with globalization, South Asia’s immigrant population is increasingly comprised of internationally trafficked laborers (Uddin, 2014). The root causes of labor trafficking in Asia stem from public and private corruption, which leads to higher vulnerability of private citizens, particularly women and those of low socioeconomic backgrounds (Uddin, 2014). Labor trafficking has a substantially negative effect on these people, stripping them of their rights, agency and freedom, turning them into contemporary slaves.
The social factors are also a significant indicator of an environment that facilitates labor trafficking in Asia. For instance, many people in Southeast Asia are extremely poor, young women of lower caste status, which offers them less This increased level of social vulnerability makes it easier for citizens to fall victim to human trafficking, as they are not given the proper recourse to repel advances by traffickers or otherwise assert their own agency as individuals (Perry & McEwing, 2013). South Asia also has a dearth of anti-trafficking policies and enforcement, and its people are particularly poorly educated on trafficking methods commonly used in that area (Perry & McEwing, 2013). The level of economic and political displacement of many people within South Asia, as well as the conflicts that arise in that region, contribute to a culture and society that makes many disenfranchised people particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking.
The policy implications of this phenomenon are great, as the issue must be addressed through comprehensive and systemic reform on a global scale. While sex trafficking is still a prevalent issue, a greater focus must be placed on labor trafficking than is currently being administered, as it is the more prevalent trend. Trafficking vulnerability must also be reduced through greater education; the greater the development level of a country and education level of its populace, the lower the likelihood will be that individuals will succumb to trafficking schemes (Dinh et al., 2014). With higher education on the risks of trafficking, people will be more likely to avoid them. On the other side of the coin, more resources should be provided to the families of those who have suffered losses due to trafficking, as skilled laborers and trafficking victims are usually the primary breadwinners of a given household. Without that individual in the home, trafficking affects the families of those victims just as much.
Central to the policy changes that need to be made is a greater emphasis on human security, which is defined as both “freedom from want and freedom from fear” (Uddin 2013, p. 68). In essence, the two factors related to human security involve both taking care of essential human needs for food, water, shelter and safety, and ensuring that the patterns of daily life are not unduly disrupted (Uddin, 2013). Human security is focused on the individual, but must also by extension cover the entirety of the nation’s population, as the safety of one improves the safety of all. Greater human security within Southeast Asia, which can only come through substantial social and political change, would help to reduce human vulnerability and the likelihood of falling victim to human labor trafficking.
Human trafficking, especially labor trafficking, is a tremendously important issue in South Asia, particularly India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Because of its status as one of the largest homes of labor traffickers and their victims in the world, South Asia is where the most progress can be done with dramatic reform and policy changes on this subject. In addition to the aforementioned sanctions, a greater sense of awareness and pressure must be placed on world leaders and businessmen to stop the effects of labor trafficking. Due to the global nature of this phenomenon, it is beholden upon administrations of every nation in the world to categorically refuse the labor of traffickers, so that they may have no place to gain profit from their endeavors.
References
Baruah, N. (2016). Labor Migration Infrastructure and Services in Countries of Origin in
Asia. LABOR MIGRATION IN ASIA, 2.
Dinh, N., Hughes, C., Hughes, J. W., & Maurer-Fazio, M. (2014). Human Trafficking in
Southeast Asia: Results from a Pilot Project in Vietnam. Available at SSRN 2528778.
Perry, K. M., & McEwing, L. (2013). How do social determinants affect human trafficking in
Southeast Asia, and what can we do about it? A systematic review. Health Hum Rights, 15(2), 138-59.
Uddin, M. B. (2013). Human Trafficking in South Asia: Issues of Human Security and Gender in
India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Special Contributions,2(1), 67.
Uddin, M. B. (2014). Human trafficking in South Asia: issues of corruption and human
security. International Journal of Social Work and Human Services Practice, 2(1), 18-27.
