Vatican shines spotlight on maritime trafficking and slavery at sea
(Vatican Radio) Here in Rome a meeting organized by the US Embassy to the Holy See in conjunction with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops focused on maritime trafficking and modern slavery at sea.
The July meeting shone the spotlight on the global scourge that violates the human dignity of laborers at all stages of the seafood supply chain and aquaculture industries.
Kari Johnstone, Deputy Director of the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons was at the Rome meeting to connect with the USCCB’s advisory group called Compass, which is a coalition of organizations and ministries promoting the abolition of slavery at sea.
She told Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni that it was a wonderful occasion which brought together people from both Catholic and non-Catholic organizations who are working together to combat human trafficking at sea…
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Kari Johnstone says that she deeply appreciates the fact that the meeting brought together religious organizations, other civil society groups, government representatives as well as the private sector:
“it really takes a chorus of voices to try and combat this crime that seems to be growing and evolving. To be able to get ahead of it and stay ahead of it we need to work together which is one of the reasons we are so thrilled Pope Francis has brought his voice with such moral clarity to this issue that is indeed one of the most challenging of our time” she says.
She points out that not only has he used his voice and moral authority to draw attention to and to denounce the issue, but also his convening power to bring together leaders on at least three different occasions where he has hosted summits at the Vatican.
“We’re thrilled to see that very pro-active and visionary leadership” she says.
Johnstone speaks of the incredible and precious work so many nuns and religious do in combatting trafficking and in assisting the victims.
“They are in many places around the world, on the frontline, they are the service providers; they are often the first people trafficking victims have interaction with, they may be the ones who explain to them this is a crime […] and they provide critical services to trafficking victims in many places where there are no other people providing services to them” she says.
She also points out that they are also very useful in helping experts, judges, policymakers involved in fighting the crime to better understand the problem because they often have “unique insight and access to the victims”.
Johnstone points out that during this meeting of the advisory group of Compass focusing on trafficking at sea, it is largely through the pastorship at ports for example that many of the victims receive basic assistance and perhaps a sympathetic ear.
Johnstone says a distinction must be made between trafficking at sea and migration and between smuggling and trafficking.
“Smuggling, as defined by international law, is really an immigration crime: it’s a crime against a State and its immigration policies” she says.
Many people she points out will voluntarily pay smugglers to help them cross borders (usually out of desperation) and often, somewhere along the line, many of them will eventually become trafficking victims.
“Human trafficking is a crime against individuals, where they are exploited through forced fraud or coercion. It may be sexual exploitation, it may be labour exploitation through forced labour” she says.
She says that at sea human trafficking often takes place within the fishing and seafood industries.
“Fisherman are often lured through false promises or fraudulent recruitment practices, even if they voluntarily sign up to work on a fishing boat, once they get there they are stuck on the boat for months – sometimes years – at a time, and the abuses we hear about are very disturbing” she says.
Johnstone goes on to talk about the work the US State Department Office is doing to combat and monitor the trafficking of persons and also about the importance of awareness raising and what can be done by civil society – across the board – to fight this crime.
“Civil society, religious communities, consumers, the private sector and governments all have a role to play in combatting this crime” she says and she points out some indicators to look out for.
Trafficking, she says, affects a wide range of people throughout the world, and although the victims are prevalently poor and uneducated people, in fact “it can happen anywhere to anyone”.
Johnstone also speaks about the progress that has been made in the past years to fight trafficking but points out that it is a hidden crime so it is very difficult to measure. And she says so many victims are psychologically manipulated by traffickers and are afraid to speak to authorities about their situation and this makes it very difficult to bring the extent and the gravity of the crime to light.
“That’s one of the reasons we think it is so important to identify trafficking victims as ‘victims’ – recognize them as such – and it is very important that governments don’t penalize the victims for any non-violent crimes they may have been forced to commit” she says.
It’s been good here in Rome, Johnstone concludes, meeting with the Advisory Council of Compass and seeing just how many people are bringing their voices to this so that the chorus of voices can get louder and stronger and raise awareness and improve all of our collective efforts.