The Effects Of Human Trafficking

People may think that slavery has ended, but tragically the trade in humans is a continuing practice across the world. Historic slavery already focused on the weak and the weary, but the seventeenth and eighteenth century brought the focus onto Africans being traded for racist reasons. In this regard only, modern day slavery can also be known as human trafficking , which is now truly multi-racial and tragically one of the fastest-growing segments of organized crime around the world. According to the international labor organization (ILO), it is estimated that 21 million people are thus abused by human traffickers who deprive the victims of their human rights. The majority (71%) of these victims of human trafficking are women and girls. About one third of trafficked victims are children as per the United Nation Office on Drugs and Crimes (Safe horizon). There are different reasons for human trafficking to be perpetuated: for organ harvesting, for cheap or free labor, to use trafficked children as child soldiers, and for sexual exploitation (La strada). This ongoing horrendous exploitation is committed by force, manipulation, abuse of position of power toward vulnerable victims or through myriad other forms of physical and emotional harassments. Africa prominently featured slavery during the Enlightenment period and untold numbers of its people were abused during those early modern days of the slave trade. Tragically, Africa is once again the central focus of many modern-day human trafficking victims (off) According to the article centerforglobalimpact the main contributing causes for human trafficking to occur can be summarized as follows: in the country of (the victim’s) origin certain circumstances are likely present—restrictive one party governments, authoritarian government press controls, and limited religious freedoms; transitional countries show the presence of—a shortage of international migration opportunities; and finally, the prevalent circumstances of classical destination countries with a) a need for cheap labor and b) strict adherence to rules against migrant. Unstable political situations and damaging and corrupt policies in Africa lead the majority of people habitually to face low job opportunities, persecution, unending military service and overall poverty. For these reasons people try to escape and are prepared to face the challenges of a new life. Sadly, many of these contributing factors can be found in Eritrea, an African country in the north-easterly corner of the continent. . It is one of the countries from which desperate people flee because of severe governmental mismanagement (United Nations). The migrants start to make their way to Europe for a better life, but unfortunately, they are very likely to fall into the hands of traffickers (United Nations). By studying the example of the fates of Eritrean migrants, international human trafficking tragedies which usually occur in at least three different countries (origin-, transition- and destination country) can be explained.(Refworld) .

Human trafficking differs from country to country and the cause also differ as well . The main causes of trafficking in the country of origin are influenced by social, economic, cultural and other factors. Specifically, the main cause for trafficking in Eritrea is because the government do not respect the basic human right for its own citizens(REFWORLD). According to the article from (REFWORLD), Eritrean government continue to keep its people under the compulsory military and very bad conditions. The article also mentions that the government is trafficking its people in different unknown prisons and did not report any information about the victims. Another cause for the Eritrean people to leave the country is because there is no true free press. All the media are owned by the Eritrean government and the government often arbitrarily arrests journalists only for them to rot away in unknown underground jails (Human Rights Watch)) (world report-2018). It can be said that there is no de facto internet access in Eritrea, only a few percent use internet services and all the internet that is provided is controlled by Eri-Tel (the national Eritrean telecommunication company wholly by government). (off) Neither does the Eritrean government allow the people to practice their religion freely. In Eritrea, only the followers of the Sunni branch of Islam, the Eritrean Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and Evangelical (Lutheran) churches are permitted to practice openly (Human Right Watch)(world report-2018). So, the main issue for the exodus of Eritreans and falling in the hands of traffickers are: the unlimited national services, government controls every citizen (male/Female) life from the age 16-17 and not respecting the basic human rights.(world report -20180 (Human right watch). According to the article from the United States Department of State(state.gov). “Government of Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do”, so the international communities should take a proper action against the regime and they must put pressure to the government to change the policies. Because of the mentioned causes every month 4000 to 5000 leave Eritrea to seek asylum for a better life in western countries.

According to the online article “I Want To Lie Down and Die”, after the Eritrean people start their journey for a better life they get kidnapped by traffickers on the borders of the neighboring or transition countries such as Sudan, Ethiopia and Libya. About 25,000 to 30,000 Eritrea get trafficked around the borders of Eritrea in the year between 2007 and 2012 and it is continuing with no solution . In these years it is estimates that about $600 million has been paid by the families to the trafficker to save the lives of their relatives (The Guardian) (The Guardian).When the victims kidnapped in the borders of Eritrea they get abused, tortured, beat the soles of their feet’s, electric shocks to pay the amount of money they are asked. While they are staying under the traffickers some of them die because of the tortures and abuses they face (“I want to lie down and Die”). Report states that, the senior Eritrean military authorities also have hands on this crime. Some of the authorities have connections with traffickers and they get thousands of dollars from the family’s victims. The Eritrean government and the authorities who have connections with the traffickers should face charges for involving in this crime.(The Guardian ).

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According to the article by Jordan Dianne, Organ harvesting is classified into three classifications:(1) Illegal doctors remove organs without the victim’s knowledge, (2) Convincing the victims to sell their organs for no payment or paying them way less than they agreed, and (3) Victims get tricked by the traffickers for zero cost(Jordan). When the traffickers knew their family are unable to pay the ransoms; they use their organs as means of income. The organ transplant is done illegally by doctors and some people who have a little knowledge of medical training. According to United Nations report in 2011 10,000 organs were sold, the organs are sold in high prices, for example a kidney can go for up to 200,000 in black market. The traffickers made 600 million to 1.2 billion profits from organs (Williams)(Need more research numbers). In this operation the Egyptian doctor are involved, and they do it by drugging the victims.

There are hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached Europe by boat in recent years, most fleeing conflict in the Middle East and poverty in Africa (Rankin). Traffickers usually target undocumented immigrants, runaway and homeless youth, victims of trauma and abuse, refugees and impoverished individuals (Kaylor). According to the European Union (EU), because the migrants have no knowledge of the new place and language barrier, the criminal gangs take advantage of the migrants and force them into sex work, forced labor, often as agricultural workers. Children are the most targeted victims for traffickers because they are easy to control and move them from place to place and also they are easily recruited. As it is stated in the article “Five Things Everyone Should Know About Eritrean Refugees”, Eritreans are one of the most asylum seekers in Europe. In 2015 there were about 40,000 Eritrean migrants arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean sea escaping abuses they face in the country of their origin( 5 things ). About 30,000 asked asylums in Sweden, France, Germany, Netherland, Switzerland, and Denmark (Human Rights Watch). Eritreans are also in target to fall into the hands of traffickers; it is very high because they are new to the place and, they don’t speak the destination country language. As a result, they face sexual abuses and forced labor. Eritreans flee their country of origin for a better life because the current government is not respecting their basic human right; but their expectation and problems they face in the country of destination are very different. As a consequence, they live with different psychological and mental illnesses such as, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and panic disorder (Kaylor).

Each country in the world is affected by human trafficking; some countries are where the humans are taken from while other countries are where the humans are taken to for forced labor or sex. No one has a full proof solution to human trafficking but many countries and international organizations have been working to combat it.