At
the UN, Pakistan called for addressing the root causes of conflict to combat
the heinous crime of human trafficking, says a press release received here
today from New York.
Speaking
in the Open Debate of the Security Council on Trafficking in Persons in
Conflict Situations, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Dr. Maleeha Lodhi told
the 15-member Council that as the primary body tasked with maintaining peace
and security, it also needs to address the root causes of conflict to remove
the grounds where such crimes breed.
Unless
we eliminate the breeding grounds, she said, whatever action we take may be
necessary but not sufficient.
She
also called for increasing States’ capacities with long-term
political and financial commitment to combat human trafficking.
“Growing
conflicts, economic inequality and the widening gap
between the rich and the poor provide fertile ground
to those who exploit human suffering”, she added.
Ambassador
Lodhi said that human trafficking as a consequence of conflict and
its increasingly worrisome linkages with terrorist groups is a global
concern. “On the other hand, human trafficking has also become a
cause of friction among nations”, she remarked.
Terming
trafficking in persons as the modern-day equivalent to slavery, Ambassador
Lodhi said that it was a global phenomenon that violates the principles of
morality, human rights and human dignity and undermines efforts to achieve
sustainable development.
The
Pakistani envoy referred to the report of UN Secretary General on Trafficking
in Persons, according to which, raging conflicts and
humanitarian crises have resulted in record levels of
displacement, with 24.2 million newly displaced, a majority of
them women and children.
“These
harrowing numbers, the countless stories behind each one of the
victims and the spreading patterns of exploitation by terrorist
groups call for redoubling our efforts against this scourge and united
action by all the nations”, Ambassador Lodhi said and added, “The transnational
nature of this complex crime calls for enhanced international cooperation
among the countries of origin, transit and destination”.
Ambassador
Lodhi argued for a comprehensive and rights based response given the
vulnerabilities of men, women and children to numerous forms of
exploitation, including sale and trafficking in the context of
conflict and humanitarian crisis.
In
her statement Ambassador Lodhi underscored Pakistan’s commitment to
fight the egregious crime of trafficking in persons.
Pakistan, she said was a party to the various relevant international
instruments, including the UN Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime, the International Convention for Suppression of
Trafficking in Women and Children and the Abolition of Forced Labour
Convention.
She
said that Pakistan has implemented a comprehensive policy, the
National Action Plan for Combating Human Trafficking and was also
implementing the National Strategic Framework
2016-22 on trafficking in persons and human smuggling,
under which, inter alia, a number of victims have been provided
shelter.
