Conflict and mass migration create fertile territory for exploitation, says OSCE at international conference on trafficking in crisis areas

Vienna, 20 October 2017 – In times of interconnected challenges to security, such as emergency situations, violent extremism or large movements of people fleeing conflict, the fight to end human trafficking requires a flexible, creative and system-wide approach involving governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations, stressed participants at today’s conference on Human Trafficking in Conflict and Crisis Situations.

Organized under the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship by the Austrian Task Force on Combating Human Trafficking in co-operation with the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation and the International Organization for Migration, the event gathered about four hundred participants from several OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation and countries outside of the OSCE area as well as representatives of international organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia and the media.

In his welcoming remarks, the Austrian Vice Chancellor and Minister of Justice Wolfgang Brandstetter emphasised that “human trafficking is an ever growing and mostly underreported, gross human rights violation that increased alarmingly in the context of the mass migration flows in the last years”. “Austria is affected as a transit as well as a destination country and we are committed to end this horrendous crime”, he said.

The Head of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, Florian Raunig stressed that anti-trafficking has been a key priority of this year’s Chairmanship activities. “Trafficking in human beings is a heinous crime that has human, political and economic dimensions and robs humans of their dignity, and the OSCE, because of its comprehensive approach to security, is well placed to address this challenge,” he said. The necessity to focus on particularly vulnerable groups, such as children and people on the move, and to strengthen efforts and international cooperation, was highlighted by the Austrian National Co-ordinator on Combating Human Trafficking, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisselberger.

OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger emphasized that security crises in and around the OSCE region provide increased opportunities for criminal syndicates to flourish and go unpunished, exacerbating the vulnerability of groups at risk of being trafficked. “To confront this challenge effectively, we need to build broad and strategic partnerships. We need comprehensive, co-operative and co-ordinated solutions. The OSCE is committed to this approach. Through its inclusive concept of security, extensive field presence and regional focus we will continue to develop innovative, practical solutions to assist participating States in their efforts to tackle trafficking in persons,” Greminger said.

“The breakdown of law and order in conflict areas makes civilians vulnerable to human trafficking, which can take a variety of forms, including sexual exploitation and forced labour,” said the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Madina Jarbussynova. “An in-depth discussion on the impact of conflict and crisis situations on human suffering is not only necessary, it is also sadly well-timed.”

In her keynote address, Lamiya Aji Bashar, a Yazidi human rights activist and winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2016, reminded participants that 3500 Yazidi women are still enslaved with ISIS for more than 3 years. Aji Bashar highlighted the fact that even when women are freed from captivity, they have to live in camps, in dire conditions, and most often with no adequate care or medical treatment. “It’s not enough to hold conferences, we have to do something practical for all the victims,” said Lamiya Aji Bashar.

Two panels and three interactive workshops provided a lively forum for international experts, practitioners from the field, academia, the media, and civil society to exchange views, good practices and experiences to respond to the complex challenges of trafficking in persons stemming from conflict and post-conflict areas, as well as in humanitarian settings and crisis situations.

Through a human rights-based approach to security, extensive field presence and regional focus, the OSCE and particularly the Special Representative has been responding to emerging security crises such as conflict, large movements of people and trafficking for the purpose of terrorism by developing innovative and practical solutions to assist participating State’s efforts to tackle trafficking in persons.