World Day against Trafficking in Persons calls for stringent legislation

AMMAN — As countries globally marked World Day against Trafficking in Persons, a recent report by Jordanian NGO Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights called for severe penalties for forced labour practices.

Observed annually on July 30, this year’s World Day against Trafficking in Persons focuses on the role of technology as a tool that can both enable and impede human trafficking, according to the UN.

“The Internet and digital platforms offer traffickers numerous tools to recruit, exploit and control victims; organise their transport and accommodation; advertise victims and reach out to potential clients” the UN website said.

Celina Varouqa, a Jordanian technology expert, said that technological solutions can play a major role in fighting and mitigating human trafficking.

“Although technology may be used to facilitate recruitment of victims, technology-based tools help in monitoring and identifying victims of trafficking,” Varouqa told The Jordan Times in a recent interview. 

The Tamkeen report recommended modernising the social protection system and to establish legislation related to climate change and its impact on workplace safety. This would give specific focus to the serious impact of climate change in Jordan, which is amongst the most water-poor countries in the world.

“The climate crisis will have an impact on labour issues, which requires promoting standards for decent working conditions in Jordan,” the report said, noting that the most vulnerable to trafficking are workers in the agricultural and construction sectors.

Sociologist Hussein Khozahe said that to combat human trafficking, all forms of violence especially against vulnerable persons must be eliminated, and concrete and consistent measures and actions should be implemented.

Forced labour is a common way of exploiting vulnerable people such as migrants and socially marginalised persons, he said.

“The phenomenon of human trafficking increases during climate crises and natural disasters, therefore more emphasis should be placed on climate change and its impacts,” Khozahe told The Jordan Times.