On June 22nd, Global Human Rights Defence attended the 62nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, where discussions focused on one of the most severe human rights issues in the present day: human trafficking. The general assembly sessions were centred around human trafficking in the context of statelessness. These sessions were introduced by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The dialogue of the Special Rapporteur emphasised the need for urgent action, as international protection mechanisms are failing to protect individuals against human trafficking.
Thematic Rapport on Statelessness
The assembly sessions on human trafficking were focused on the thematic report of the Special Rapporteur. This report highlights that stateless individuals are at great risk of human trafficking, due to, for instance, the absence of legal documentation, the absence of safe migration pathways, a lack of humanitarian visas, cuts in humanitarian funds, and structural discrimination. The lack of international protection disproportionately targets children, who are at grave risk of being trafficked by armed groups, thereby showing the severity of the problem.
General Perspective of Member States
The dialogue by the special rapporteur was followed by an interactive dialogue between member states. The general perspective among member states was that human trafficking in the context of statelessness is a severe human rights violation. The vast majority of the nation states called for addressing the root causes, enhancing international cooperation, combatting impunity, and bettering early identification methods.
Countries That Were Saying Something Else
While there was broad consensus on this issue, a small number of United Nations Member States diverged from the prevailing perspective. Belarus, for instance, saw the opportunity to criticise the migration policies of the European Union. Thereby highlighting that these policies are at the basis of human trafficking.
Although Rwanda supported the findings of the Special Rapporteur and the statements made by other Member States, it criticised the Human Rights Council, arguing that it had been treated unfairly because it was not allowed to respond to or review the report before it was released.
Future Pathways
The General Assembly sessions made evident that human trafficking is among the gravest human rights violations of this century. Member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council highlighted the need to address the root causes, provide safe pathways, enhance cooperation, fight impunity, and improve early identification methods.
GHRD reaffirms this position and finds it essential that vulnerable groups are protected against human trafficking. In addition, GHRD calls for more awareness campaigns, improved victim identification, and international cooperation to combat human trafficking.