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March 21, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 6Oakland,
CA
eradicate ‘scourge’ of human trafficking
In testimony before Congress, an expert with the U.S.
bishops’ Office of Migration and Refugee Services, called for greater
efforts to aid victims of human trafficking, especially children caught
in this “modern-day form of slavery.”
“From the Catholic perspective, human trafficking represents a scourge
on the earth which must be eradicated,” said Julianne Duncan, director
of children’s services in the refugee office of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
Duncan testified before the House International Relations Subcommittee
on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations on March 9.
She offered support for a bill to reauthorize and extend the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act passed in 2000 and renewed in 2003. The act provides
for prosecution of traffickers and aid to those who have been certified
as victims of trafficking
In her testimony, Duncan said the Catholic Church has made the elimination
of trafficking a public policy priority. “We are working to raise
awareness within the Catholic community about the problem,” she
told members of the subcommittee, “including trainings to help diocesan
staff identify and assist victims of trafficking.”
Based on the Church’s experience in serving victims of trafficking,
Duncan said, the USCCB recommends several steps to strengthen services
to victims, identify victims – especially children – and refer
them for care. These steps include increased funding, more avenues for
the referral of victims for certification and services and better coordination
among federal agencies.
She urged the subcommittee to give special attention to the needs of child
victims. Out of 500 victims identified under the act since 2000, only
63 have been children, although it is estimated that one third of the
17,000 victims trafficked into the U.S. each year are children.
“While efforts to find and assist victims of trafficking have been
pursued with commendable commitment over the past several years,”
she said, “I fear that children, as a group, have fallen through
the cracks of these enforcement efforts.”
The USCCB supports several provisions in the current bill, she said:
• Appointment of guardians for potential child trafficking victims
• Access to legal counsel for victims
• Prevention of trafficking
• Enhanced efforts to combat trafficking
In calling for more funding, Duncan said that money should be available
to support victims from the time they are rescued until they are self-sufficient
and in good health. There is a need for more ways to certify victims,
she said, because, due to lack of awareness and the limited avenues for
referral, only a small fraction of those trafficked into the U.S. have
been identified.
It is estimated that at least 700,000 persons are trafficked annually
within or across international boundaries. Most of them come from underdeveloped
regions such as India, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Asia and Latin
America and are taken to Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Israel, Australia,
Japan, Canada and the U.S.
Duncan praised the “great strides” made in the U.S. Departments
of State, Justice and Health and Human Services since 2000 and called
the passage of anti-trafficking legislation “historic.” She
added, “Reauthorization of the legislation in 2005 would represent
another positive step.”
These children were among more than 100 rescued from child traffickers
during a three-day crackdown in Lagos, Nigeria, earlier this month. Fifty-six
of the children were discovered at a checkpoint in a frozen food truck.
RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/George Esiri
