Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Trafficking In Persons: Global Patterns

The report on "Trafficking In Persons: Global Patterns," published on Monday, April 22, 2006 identifies 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries and 137 destination countries. It shows that global efforts to combat trafficking are being hampered by a lack of accurate data, reflecting the unwillingness of some countries to acknowledge that the problem affects them.

"It is extremely difficult to establish how many victims there are world-wide as the level of reporting varies considerably, but the number certainly runs into millions," said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. "It is difficult to name a country that is not affected in some way."

The absence of reliable global data, such as UNODC compiles every year on the illegal drugs trade, makes it more difficult for governments and international organizations to fight trafficking effectively.

"Our experience in compiling this report has been that some countries of destination have great difficulty in acknowledging the level of trafficking within and across their borders," Mr Costa said.

"Efforts to counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient. The lack of systematic reporting by authorities is a real problem. Governments need to try harder."

Source: United Nations

Download full PDF Report

No comments: