Transnational Human Trafficking
Transnational organized crimes have grown since mid-nineteenth century targeting prosperous states. The growth of transnational crime groups has been attributed by globalization of economies and advancement in information technology (Tymoszenko, 2019). The growing threat has affected national and international security, economic stability, public safety, and health. Organized crime groups include human smuggling, drug trafficking, weapon trafficking, c and cybercrime. The paper seeks to discuss trafficking in-person/human trafficking.
History
Trafficking in person (TIP) is a global issue where, according to the united nation, more than a hundred victims are detected and reported in every country (Tymoszenko, 2019). Two-thirds of victims are women, where seventy-none percent of the women are victims of sexual abuse. Most victims are reported from European Union compared to other parts of the world.
Trafficking in person began a thousand years back when slavery was the main economic activity; since then, victims of slavery have been subjected to sexual exploitation and physical assault. Human trafficking began with women’s international trade, which was more emphasized during the white slavery movement. White slavery involved the use of physical force and drugs into sexual activity with no consent. Black slavery and white slavery movement happened simultaneously, contributed by the movement of women for labor. The trade of women took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Trafficking of women to Europe first took place at the end of the cold war. Women moved from the eastern side of Europe to the Western as laborers. The laborers ended up being forced into commercial sex activities. Most victims in Europe originated from Ukraine, the Russian federation, Balkans, and the Soviet Union.
In the twentieth century, the victim of human trafficking was a white woman, which led to the enforcement of the white slave traffic Act of 1910. The Act was developed to maintain the morality and dignity of white women. Later during international convection, the term and perspective of white slavery were changed to human trafficking (Gregoriou, and Ras, 2018). White trafficking was considered to be racial and gender bias. Human trafficking now covers individuals from various ethnic groups, ages, races, and gender. Human trafficking was contributed by the rate of immigration and forcing women into prostitution.
Later, the United Nation convection come up with Palermo protocols designed to reduce trafficking in persons, notably women and children. The United States congress developed victims of trafficking and violence protection Act (TVPA). In 2003, the trafficking victim’s protection authorization Act was developed, proposing several ways to mitigate human trafficking. According to history, human trafficking involves issues and terms, such as organized crimes, immigration, labor, and prostitution. Human trafficking victims are not sexually abused or smuggled, while human smuggling involves an individual being exploited and abused physically, mentally, or sexually.
Location
Today transnational human trafficking is global, involving most states. Mostly, traffickers entice and move people from less privileged communities, including people from third world countries, such as Africa. According to United Nations reports, human trafficking originated from the west and central Europe. Europe holds most victims of transnational human trafficking, which are a hundred and forty thousand. The traffickers or exploiters generate an annual income of three billion dollars (Tymoszenko, 2019).
Smuggling immigrants has been common and a top issue in the United States. According to statistics, eighty percent of Latinos in America are illegally imported. Some communities enter the United States through Mexico, such as the Clandestine. Mexican enter the United States illegally, where the country’s most massive migrants are the Mexicans. People are smuggled through trucks where the migrants are collected a few miles from the border. The smuggled persons are closed under stash houses once entered in the United States or before crossing the border.
The smuggled individuals are held captive, collecting ransom or smuggling fees from family members. In case ransom is not paid, most migrants are dumped in the desert, sexually, physically abused, or held as hostages (Gregoriou, 2018). Payments are received before crossing the border to avoid mistreatment. Yearly, Latin America gets smuggled into the United States through the southern border, where the smugglers earn approximately seven billion dollars yearly. Also, African’s get smuggled to Europe, although the population and dynamics differ from those of Latin Americans. The African’s are smuggled through the European island, where most places are risky and dangerous. Smuggled Africa’s receive harassment, mostly where most routes are shut down due to the Canary Islands’ expansion.
Geopolitics
Various political; and geographical aspects influence human tracking. For instance, the end of Cold War enhanced the flow of individuals in different parts of the world. For example, movement of women from West of Europe to Western Europe (LANČOVÁ, 2019). Also, the integration of china into violence, such as Yugoslav and the world economy. The geopolitical aspect of human trafficking has expanded due to the government’s need for trade information.
Human trafficking is contributed by corruption from the government and other agencies. For example, government officials grab every opportunity to solicit money and gain influence during the trafficking chain. For example, during the transportation of victims, during the collection of documents, and the recruitment process. The corrupt act participants include the immigration officer, border control authority, intelligence/national security officials, and law enforcement agencies (Gregoriou, 2018). The agencies engaged in corruption through tolerating the illegal act, full involvement in organized crime, ignoring and participating in the illegal act. Corruption occurs in the criminal justice chain, where government officials, police officers, judiciary officials, and immigration services may obstruct the investigation.
Additionally, government officials may change the course of justice or support the organized crime for financial benefits. Also, the convection against transnational organized crime (UNTOC), a legal instrument, and the protocol developed against trafficking in persons address various topics (LANČOVÁ, 2019). For example, the protection of witnesses, extradition, legal persons’ liability, criminalization of corruption, and mutual legal Helpance. The government and non-governmental agencies hold conferences, international convection, develop declarations to address organized crimes of trafficking in persons. Some of the convection include convections to reduce the slave trade, held in 1948, and convection to suppress trafficking in persons and violation of prostitution in 1949. Nevertheless, the regional legal instrument and various legal legislations and international guidelines are implemented to mitigate human trafficking according to the protocol’s rules and regulations. International organizations, such as UNICEF, IOM, and UNODC, have published various manuals to create awareness and reduce human trafficking.
Economic
Human trafficking is a free market trade because no regulations are involved. There are no regulations, such as checking the value of the product sold. Human trafficking is like any other business due to consumers, suppliers’ labor, market, and product. The human trafficking market was primarily created to exploit labor through the supply and demand of individuals. The business begins with laborers’ supply and creates a business opportunity for the vulnerable and individuals from a poor background. The industry is considered a monopolistic type of business containing many sellers and many buyers, according to the employer’s price, taste, and preference. Other organized crimes play an essential role in human trafficking. For example, the transnational flow of illicit weapons and drug trade provides finances that support the trafficking process (Gerry, Vallabhaneni, and Shaw, 2019).
The involvement of police officers and government officials ease the trafficking process and make it expensive hence the traffickers require vast amounts of money. Due to a higher supply of laborers or products, the agents and groups conducting the activity must remain competitive and control the market price (Gerry, Vallabhaneni, and Shaw, 2019). A group of criminals conducts human trafficking with the goal and expectations of earning money. The cost of trafficking individuals is not as great as the benefits or the profit earned after a successful business. The nature of the business favors the employer because human trafficking depends on various factors. One, trafficked individuals are easily exploited or exploitative, where the individuals have no voice. The market also consists of different products, for instance, individuals to conduct business in farms, construction areas, or houses.
Organization
Trafficking in person’s networks is connected to other forms of transnational crimes, such as money laundry and drug trafficking. The traffickers conduct a malicious activity to endanger the lives of innocent people. The organized group protects illegal activities through violence, corruption, international businesses, and national boundary exploitation. The advancement in technology has promoted organizational techniques (LANČOVÁ, 2019). Today, human smugglers or human traffickers use the internet to lure and target victims. For instance, traffickers use advertisements and malicious intrusions to lure children. The criminals use cyber-criminal activities, such as hacking, to conduct smuggling, for example, phishing and malware attacks.
Victims of human trafficking are exposed to harsh labor or sexually assaulted, or forced into marriages. According to a study conducted in 2016, approximately forty million people are engaged in modern slavery and fifteen million into forced marriages. Victims are taken as domestic workers, farmers, or forced to work in construction sites. Women are the most affected by early marriages and forced labor (Gerry, Vallabhaneni, and Shaw, 2019). According to the international organization of migration, traffickers become recruiters where most recruiters are women. Children are trafficked for pickpocketing or begging while young women are lured and deceived by promising jobs, such as modeling. Traffickers make a massive amount of money, where the crime is considered the most shameful and disrespectful of human dignity.
Logistics
Human trafficking is considered the third most profitable criminal activity. The supply chain business has promoted various sectors, mainly the transport sector. Human trafficking use, vehicles, ships, and airplane for transportation leads to growth and revenue generation. For instance, in the transportation of new victims to specific destinations and transportation of current victims to different places. According to the international air transport association
(IATA), approximately twenty-four billion shillings are generated from human trafficking illegal business. Most of the ties, human traffickers use a specific airline network to conduct all business proposals (Gregoriou, 2018). Human trafficking supply chain operations include distribution, procurement, and production. The demand for sexual services, cheap labor, and body organs has increased and contributed to many victims and high income. According to the United States department, eight-hundred thousand people get trafficked yearly where the activity requires business personnel, such as logistic managers and suppliers.
Effect on Host State and Cooperation with Terror Groups
The issue of criminality is not the only issue or problem associated with human trafficking. Human trafficking affects the host country, where people trafficked for sexual exploitation may infect individuals from the host country with HIV or other sexually transmitted infections. Since human trafficking is connected with other organized crimes, trafficked individuals may cause criminality in host countries (Gregoriou, 2018). For instance, engage in a drug sale, robbery, or sale of weapons in the host countries. Labour is one of the significant reasons behind human trafficking; therefore, a low employment rate may be experienced in host countries. People in the host countries may not have jobs because foreigners dominate most jobs.
Additionally, the host country may experience gross domestic product growth due to the generation of revenue from victims (Gregoriou, and Ras, 2018). The government uses the revenue for the development of infrastructure and social amenities, such as schools. Sometimes, trafficked individuals are forced into a marriage, which leads to cultural exchange between the host country and the country of origin. The cultural exchange may positively or negatively impact the country, where the host country may learn new economic activities and languages.
Transnational organized crimes have been a major contributing factor towards terrorism. Terrorists use some of the criminal activities to conduct terrorism (AL-Amiri, 2019). For instance, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and money laundry (Gregoriou, and Ras, 2018). Human trafficking may be used to fund malicious operations or in the recruitment of people. According to research, men are trafficked mainly for terrorism where most are recruited and sent to conduct terrorism in host countries. Terrorism may affect the host country economically, and politically leading to death and damage of properties. Other forms of criminal activities may be transferred to the host country, having severe implications for the host countries’ national security.
References
AL-Amiri, S. S. (2019). The Correlation between human trafficking and terrorist phenomenon. Journal of Anbar University for Law and Political Sciences, 9(1), 217-254.
Gerry QC, F., Vallabhaneni, S., & Shaw, P. (2019). Game Theory and the Human Trafficking Dilemma. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1-19.
Gregoriou, C. (2018). Representations of Transnational Human Trafficking (p. 153). Springer Nature.
Gregoriou, C., & Ras, I. A. (2018). Representations of transnational human trafficking: A critical review. In Representations of transnational human trafficking (pp. 1-24). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.
Gupta, P. (2019). Transnational Human Trafficking: An Unsolved Issue. International Journal of Political Activism and Engagement (IJPAE), 6(2), 30-41.
LANČOVÁ, A. (2019). Transnational corporations and international law: human trafficking and forced labour (Doctoral dissertation, Masaryk University, Faculty of Law).
Tymoszenko, C. (2019). Human Trafficking as a National Security Issue. Illini Journal Of International Security, 5(1).
